Cooper Cooke put together two solid years to begin his professional career. In his rookie season, he finished in the Top 40 with over $32,000 in earnings. In 2023, he took a big step forward, growing his earnings that year to over $82,000 for a Top 25 finish.
This season, the 22-year-old Cooke continued his growth as a bareback rider, earning nearly $140,000 and finishing No. 9 in the PRCA Bareback Riding World Standings.
Wilderness Circuit Finals, $9,820
Cooke got his year started in a big way at the Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo. Cooke not only won the rodeo, but it was a clean sweep. He won all three rounds with an 86, 87, and 88-point ride. That led to an Average win as well after going 261 on three, the next closest bareback rider was Mason Clements who was 246 on three.
Cooke avenged a second place finish from his first appearance at the Circuit Finals in 2023.
Chase Hawks Rough Stock Rodeo, $7,770
Cooke’s great start to the season continued at the Chase Hawks Rough Stock Rodeo. It was an early Christmas present for Cooke who won the rodeo on December 23 after an 87-point ride on Mustard to win over $7,750.
When the calendar turned to 2024, he was No. 1 in the PRCA World Standings.
RodeoHouston, $18,500
The biggest payday of the season for Cooke came at RodeoHouston where he took home nearly $20,000. Cooke earned $5,500 in his Super Series and was the No. 1 qualifier out of his bracket for the Semifinals. From that moment on, Cooke was 87 points to win the Semifinal and earn another $3,000, but more importantly, he moved on to the Finals.
In the Shootout Round, Cooke placed third with an 86.5-point ride to earn another $10,000.
San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo, $17,070
The impressive Texas Swing continued for Cooke at the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo where he was 88.5 points in the Long Round. In the Finals, Cooke was again 88.5 points to get the win and bring his earnings to over $9,300. It was his first career Texas Swing victory and he won almost twice as much as the next closest bareback rider.
Cache County Rodeo, $5,675
The early season was great for Cooke, but he also put together some nice wins towards the end of the year. One of those wins came at the Cache County Fair and Rodeo where he was 87.5 points on Rosie’s Fight to win over $5,675. The win was one of four wins over the course of two weeks in August for Cooke as he also won the War Bonnet Round Up, Jerome County Fair and Rodeo, and the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo in the first 15 days of the month.
Omaha River City Rodeo, $3,737
From Aug. 17 on, Cooke only got on six horses and at his second-to-last rodeo of the year, he won in Omaha with 89 points to earn his final $3,737 of the season. The win brought his season earnings to a career-best $139,067 and locked in his first NFR appearance as the No. 9 bareback rider.
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