Scottsdale, Valley City, Okeechobee, Arcadia, In The Books

There were four full-event PRCA rodeos that wrapped up over the weekend: the Parada Del Sol in Scottsdale, Arizona; the North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City, North Dakota; and two in Florida: the Okeechobee Florida Cowtown Rodeo and the Arcadia All-Fla Championship Rodeo.

The Arcadia All-Fla Championship Rodeo saw the biggest payout of the weekend and, according to the PRCA's "For The Record", the record payout for the event was $102,357 in 2016, making the 2018 purse of $103,380 a record breaker for the rodeo.

Cashing in on that record payout was bareback rider and four-time world champion Kaycee Feild, who also tied the record on the bareback riding with his 90-point ride aboard Frontier Rodeo’s "Gun Fire." The original record was set back in 2009 by Jared Smith. 

Field now sits just outside the top 15 in the standings in 18th spot thanks to the $4,547.00 he earned at Arcadia to bring his PRCA season total to $16,818.98.

Rodeos last weekend had a total payout of $295,583 for PRCA/WPRA competitors — including the M.M. Fisher Jr. Memorial Steer Roping. 

Rodeo Austin Kicks Off

Rodeo Austin kicked off its two weeks of action with the opening performance on Saturday night. The event has over half a million dollars up for grabs between the long round, semifinals, and finals.

The long round will go until March 22. The top 16 contestants are split in to two semifinals days March 23 and 24, with the top eight competing in the finals on March 25. 

Top contestants in the long round after two performances include:

Bareback - Orin Larsen – 87 points on Beutler and Son Rodeo’s “South Suds”

Steer Wrestling – Cole Edge – 3.2 seconds

Team Roping – Clay Smith/Paul Eaves – 5.9 seconds

Saddle Bronc Riding – Wade Sundell – 81 points on Beutler and Son Rodeo’s “Four Aces”

Tie Down Roping – Tyson Durfey – 7.9 seconds

Barrel Racing – Kaitlyn Eben – 15.49 seconds

Bull Riding – Jordan Spears – 88 points on Beutler and Son Rodeo’s “Muley Madness”

Houston Semifinals Nears

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is quickly nearing its end with the final super series starting on Sunday with the last bracket of competitors trying to battle their way in to the semifinals. The top four from each bracket move on to one of the two semifinals, where the top four again from each semifinals move straight on to the finals; the rest will battle it out for two more finals spots during the wildcard round. 

Winners of each completed bracket include: 

Round two of the final super series before the semifinals kicks off tonight with Reese Reimer in the lead in the tie-down after his 9.5-second round one win. Florence, Montana’s Buck Lunak won round one in the bareback with a score of 85 points to lead the way with his $3,000 check. 

Garrett Rogers and Russell Cardoza were 5.3 last night for the round win in the team roping, while Cort Scheer continued his winning ways in the saddle bronc with an 85-point score to win the first round of the bracket. A 4.4-second run for Kyle Irwin gave him the $3,000 check.

Barrel racing’s “wild outfit” sensation, Fallon Taylor laid down a 14.9-second run to win round one of the barrel racing, just one 0.01 ahead of Lisa Lockhart. Rounding out night one of Super Series V, Clayton Foltyn scored 88 points to win the bull riding. 

PRCA/WPRA Standings Watch

The most impressive lead in the standings currently comes from the 2015 world champion saddle bronc rider Jacobs Crawley. While the rest of the top five bronc riders remain in a tight race — Sterling Crawley, Brody Cress, CoBurn Bradshaw, and Wade Sundell all sit within $2,000 of each other — Jacobs Crawley has been dominating his competition and sits almost $30,000 ahead with $63,793.80 in the bank.

Tremonton, Utah’s Caleb Bennett leads the way in the bareback riding with $41,486.86 in earnings at press time. The top three in the steer wrestling are running a tight race with Dakota Eldridge leading the way with $32,291.24 in earnings, Jacob Talley in second with $31,655.81, and Tyler Waguespack in third with $31,230.15. 

Clay Smith and Paul Eaves lead the team roping by over $6,000 right now with $37,879.94 each on the board. Tie-down roper Blane Cox finished last season in the crying hole for the 2017 WNFR, but shows he doesn’t want to be in that position again as he leads the way in his event with $42,824.41 in earnings.

In the WPRA standings (last updated March 5) Amberleigh Moore and Hailey Kinsel are locked in a runaway battle with the standings. Moore sits in the No. 1 spot with $64,189.54 at press time, while Kinsel is in second with $58,331.74.

Bull riding fans will probably not be surprised to see the name Sage Kimzey atop the leaderboard, as it seems to be a spot he never leaves. The four-time consecutive world champion has $78,498.67 to his name for the 2018 standings. 

With $65,666.56, Tuf Cooper leads the all-around standings by nearly $15,000 over Ryle Smith ($40,799.22) and Trevor Brazile ($40,091.87). 

To view the standings for the top 50 in the world, go to prorodeo.com or wpra.com.