The month of July is a very busy one for the cowboys and cowgirls of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. The season deemed “Cowboy Christmas” drew to a close as July is now in our rear view mirrors. Throughout the month many new champions were crowned across the country and a few lucky contestants did all but guarantee their spot among the top 15 in the world that will head to Las Vegas this December for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo!
As we look forward a few months to the WNFR we can look back to the month of July for many of these cowboys and cowgirls to see just how important this year’s summer run was to their end of the year outcomes. From new up and coming superstars to veteran contestants making huge comebacks after devastating injuries, we have all seen some exciting things happening within the sport of professional rodeo as the new blood is quickly making their names known and having the seasoned veterans looking over their shoulders in anticipation for what is to come in December!
When we talk about a cowboy making his mark upon his competition this year there is one man that should come to your mind and that is non other than saddle bronc rider Sterling Crawley. In 2015 he tore his groin in the middle of the cowboy christmas run which effectively ended his season since he was out 4-6 weeks. One short year later this cowboy has done a complete 180 after taking home the event win at the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo in Utah.
Crawley who currently sits in the number 12 spot in the WEATHER GUARD PRCA World Standings is primed and ready to make is way back to the Thomas & Mack this December to vie for the World Championship title. He spoke about his big win in Spanish Fork by saying, “She was a great bareback horse, but since they moved her over to bronc riding, she’s been just as good. I saw her in Corpus Christi (Texas), and I felt like if a guy does his job, he should be good. It’s always great to put up a score that big, and you have to credit that to being able to get on a great Frontier (Rodeo Company) horse.”
PRCA Bareback Rider Tanner Aus
One cowboy should be thinking about moving out of Minnesota and making his way towards Idaho after a huge win and record setting performance at the Snake River Stampede. Tanner Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota put on a showcase to take home the decisive victory at this year’s rodeo. Aus scored 175 points on two head which broke the arena record set by bareback riders Kaycee Feild and Steven Dent who put up 174 point score in 2009 and 2013 respectively.
This gut wrenching performance just proves to any of the doubters that his 2015 WNFR appearance was not a fluke as he makes his way back up the world standings and to the Thomas & Mack once again. After claiming victory and a sweet $3,803 payday he spoke about his aspirations to surge to the top by saying, “Making the Finals allowed me to carry a little bit of momentum into this year, and it definitely helped with my confidence.” He went on to say, “That was a lifelong goal of mine to qualify for the Finals, and once I made it, that allowed me to make plans for the future and see what I wanted to accomplish from there.”
It is quite easy to follow all the breaking news and excitement with the Rodeo Round Up simply by copying this website into your favorites in your web browser for easy one-click access to event statistics. You can also like and follow us on Facebook here, or by liking and following us on Instagram and/or Twitter at @therodeoroundup. Jason has also made it easy for you to be a part of his interviews by opening up a listener comment line. If you have a question for a certain rodeo star simply call in and leave your name, where you are from, who the question is for and what your question is and he will do his best to get it answered for you during his interviews!
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