BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
We are more than halfway through 100 Rodeos in 100 Days, which means there are less than 50 days in the regular season.
It has been a nail-biting year in ProRodeo with incredibly close World Standings to show for it. In every event except barrel racing, the No. 2 position trails the leader by less than $25,000, with some gaps even narrower. Moreover, an unusually high number of competitors are just an NFR Average payout away from catching the leader in the World Standings.
These tight races aren’t just fueling anticipation for the NFR—they’re setting up a dramatic and unpredictable finish to the regular season. Expect more leaderboard shakeups than in previous years as we head down the final stretch.
- Bareback rider Rocker Steiner won multiple rodeos in a weekend for the fourth time since the beginning of June. Just like the first weekend of August, Steiner won two rodeos again this past weekend - the Missoula Stampede (Montana) and the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo (Missouri) with 86 and 90 points respectively. Steiner won half of the rodeos he has entered in August and has already totaled about $35,000 this month. On Aug. 1, he was $37,000 back of Keenan Hayes at No. 4 in the World, now, he is No. 2 and within $11,000.
- Saddle bronc rider Brody Cress won the highest-paying rodeo of the weekend for the second straight weekend. Cress won the Playoff Rodeo in Dodge City a week ago and added two more Playoff wins on Aug. 10 by claiming both the Farm-City Pro Rodeo (Oregon) and Lea County PRCA Rodeo (New Mexico). No matter how you interpret “highest paying,” it belonged to Cress. Lea County had a slightly higher total payout than Farm-City, but he himself won a little more in Hermiston. Semantics aside, he made rides of 89 and 90 pints and collected more than almost $17,000 combined across the two events. He is No. 7 in the World, up from No. 11 just two weeks ago.
- Barrel racer Andrea Busby won two more rodeos over the weekend, working her way from outside the Top 20 to comfortably inside the Top 15. Busby has been steadily climbing the WPRA World Standings all summer. After beginning 100 Rodeos in 100 Days at No. 31, she got to No. 21 by the beginning of August with a three-check weekend getting her to No. 14 by Aug. 6. She improved on that further by winning the Cache County Fair and Rodeo (Utah) and the Farm-City Pro Rodeo which paid her more than $15,000 combined. By the time her weekend loot is counted, she will be No. 12 or 11 in the World.
- Bull rider Wacey Schalla swept Lea County’s Xtreme Bulls and PRCA Rodeo. Schalla is another rapid riser in August, going from No. 17 to No. 8 in the bull riding after the best weekend of his career. With a pair of 89.5-point rides, he swept his way through Lovington, New Mexico before adding another win in Lawton, Oklahoma. He has made four rides of 88 points or more since August 6. Previously, he had only managed one throughout his career. The 18-year-old has already made about $40,000 this month.
- Tyler Wade/Wesley Thorp both moved up again and are both in the Top 5. The reigning World Champions are on a similar run to the one that kickstarted their Gold Buckle run in late July a year ago. Since a Semifinal win and Finals appearance in Cheyenne, they have added an additional nine checks of $1,000 or more including wins at the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo (Colorado) and Mountain Valley Stampede (Utah). Over the weekend, they won a round at the Lea County PRCA Rodeo and took third in the Average at Farm-City. Wade is No. 4 in the World and Thorp is No. 3 and after both starting August more than $40,000 behind the World No. 1s in their respective events, both men are now within $25,000 of the top spot.
- Bull rider Tristen Hutchings has been 90+ points on three of his last seven qualified rides. The two-time NFR qualifier did it again in Cache County over the weekend with 90 points aboard Don Juan of Legacy Pro Rodeo. He won the War Bonnet Round Up (Idaho) on Aug. 3 with 90 on Salinas of Korkow Rodeo and was 92.5 on Cold Roll at the Fiesta Days Rodeo in the middle of July. Hutchings has a PRCA-leading six rides of 90 or more.
- Tie-down roper Trevor Hale gets back on right side of NFR bubble after win at Lea County PRCA Rodeo. Hale’s second PRCA Playoff win of the season came when he really needed it. He won about $7,888 for his victory there and added about $4,000 more in Hermiston to jump from No. 19 back to No. 15. He leads Bryce Derrer by about $2,500 for the final NFR spot, which would be the first of his career.
- Bull rider Hayes Weight has ridden six in a row to start August to get to No. 2 in the PRCA World Standings. Not only is Weight a perfect 6-for-6 this month, half of those rides have resulted in wins and all of them have been worth 90 or more points. This past week, he pulled checks from the Cache County Fair and Rodeo, Farm-City Pro Rodeo and Missoula Xtreme Bulls in addition to a $6,300 win at the Summit County Fair and Rodeo (Utah). He was No. 4 to start this month.
