Once again the CINCH World’s Toughest Rodeo made its way to the Xcel Energy Center as many of the world’s top cowboys and cowgirls competed for their share of the money that was up for grabs at this weekend’s tour stop. As many people may have or have not noticed, this year provides the fans and athletes a different feel as a new and improved sanctioning body has taken hold of the organization. Every other year, we have seen the same cowboys compete on both Friday and Saturday nights but one of those major changes that fans were able to witness was that each night would provide different cowboys each night which will give everyone a chance to see that many more top rodeo athletes throughout a two-night event that is held annually with the St. Paul Winter Carnival that give fans an option to head outside before or after the event to make even more memories.
WNFR Contestants Competing Saturday Night
Coming into the weekend’s event, all of the fans making their way to the Xcel Energy Center came with excitement as the rodeo arena was open for fans to walk around and enjoy some interactive participation options prior to the start of the rodeo action. During that time on Saturday night, I was able to catch up with producer Dave Morehead to talk about some of the settle and major changes that we will be seeing as the weekend progresses. One of the major points that we talked about what that of the new sanctioning body as the World’s Toughest Rodeo would align with the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association for the first time in years. This exciting news means so much more for the fans of the sport which you can see in the picture of the huge cast of previous Wrangler National Finals Rodeo contestants that were in the house on Saturday night!
One of the four events that fans would be able to see over the two nights of action would be that of the bareback riding event in which we would see many of the top ten riders in the world standings compete in by the end of the weekend. In night number one, on Friday night, all of us would be able to see some great action and solid qualified rides as many notable names would be in action on a cold Minnesota winter night. Even though it was cold outside, the action inside of the Xcel Energy Center was quite hot once the bareback riding began as the 2019 World’s Toughest Rodeo began its festivities. After all was said and done, ten of the twelve riders would cover in the long round Winn Ratliff and Jared Keylon leading way into the Crown Royal Bonus Round. Those two would fight it out as Jared Keylon would walk out of St. Paul with the Friday night win after covering Showboat for 89 points. See what he had to say about his win and competing alongside his best friend and traveling partner Winn Ratliff here in St. Paul below.
Round number two provided even more excitement in the bareback riding as many past Wrangler National Finals Rodeo contestants came together to provide all the fans with a night to remember here in St. Paul, Minnesota. Just in the bareback riding event, there would be three of those cowboys and gave the bucking horses all that they could handle on a Saturday night as the round kicked off in grand fashion. Once the qualifying long round was completed the two that would last to advance to the Crown Royal Bonus Round would be WNFR qualifier Ty Breuer, who would ultimately win the round, and young gun Jesse Pope who we were able to catch up with following his long round ride of 86.50 to top the leaderboard early on in the night. See what he has to say about the night in our interview below.
Another rough stock event that fans were able to see was the legendary and classic sport of saddle bronc riding where you can watch some of the rankest bucking horses that you can see throughout the year match up with the top saddle bronc cowboys in the world. During night number one, the horses would give the eleven cowboys here all that they could handle as four of those would come down early leaving only seven making qualified rides. Of those seven rides, two would be able to outlast the others to earn their invitation to the Crown Royal Bonus Round where we would determine a night one champion. Young gun Colt Gordon would go head to head with a seasoned veteran and Minnesota-raised cowboy Tyler Corrington to see who could outperform the other to leave St. Paul with the win on Friday night. After all was said and done, fan favorite Tyler Corrington would ride WNFR bucking horse Prom Night to the tune of 88 points to take home the event title for night number one! See what he had to say about the night’s events and his big win here in St. Paul in our interview below!
In the classic professional rodeo vent of saddle bronc riding, night number two gave us a huge sley of past Wrangler National Finals Rodeo contestants and was thought to be one of the best rounds that we have ever seen here at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The action was hot and heavy from the very first buck out to the very last ride as ten of the twelve cowboys would be able to make qualified rides to wow the crowd that packed the seats to watch some of their favorite rodeo athletes. Once things settled down there would be two past WNFR qualifiers, Sterling Crawley and Zeke Thurston, that would make it back to the Crown Royal Bonus Round. As the two went head to head, it was a close competition where Sterling Crawley would edge out Zeke Thurston 88 points to 86 points to take home the event win on Saturday night.
The last rough stock event that fans would be able to watch at a World’s Toughest Rodeo would the that of the much-anticipated event of professional bull riding where with the sanctioning body change for the 2019 year would provide fans with many of the top names in the industry. In the first night of action on Friday night, there would be ten of the best bull riders in the world competing against one another to try and earn an event win here in St. Paul. Once the dust settled and the scores were tallied there would be half of those, five in total, that would make the eight-second buzzer to earn a score in the long round. Brett Custer and Roscoe Jarboe would advance to the bonus round later in the night where neither would be able to cover their bovine athletes for the required eight seconds but would, in turn, split a nice pocket full of earnings for their efforts. I was able to catch up with both of them prior to the beginning of the Crown Royal Bonus Round to see what they had to say and wanted to share our conversation with all of you in our interview posted below.
Coming into Saturday night’s bull riding action, the contestants were unknown until we were able to get to that point of the night even though the sightings backstage and behind the chutes left those that could see very excited for what was about to come. Just as in the other two events, twelve would compete and of those twelve was especially one cowboy that has made a name for himself both within the ranks of the PRCA as well as the PBR. Fan favorite Shane Proctor would end up doing what it would take to advance to the Crown Royal Bonus Round to pair up against a bright-eyed Coleman Rude where he would be able to outlast Proctor while earning the sole score of 91 points to take home the event win on Saturday night. I was able to catch up with Shane Proctor prior to the start of the action to find out what he has been up to since leaving the PBR and get caught up on what is happening in his life in our interview that I will post below!
Although the two nights of World’s Toughest Rodeo action would center around the three traditional professional rodeo rough stock events we could not have a weekend full of what everyone wanted to see without some beautiful looking girls on some very fast horses. The cowgirls of women’s professional barrel racing would take center stage for a few moments each of the two nights to try and earn their own share of the pot here in St. Paul. Each night, we would watch twelve of the most talented ladies make a cloverleaf pattern run all while trying to keep each of the three barrels standing upright to make the fastest run possible. These ladies put on an amazing show of athleticism and blazed one of the quickest trails that we have seen over the years here at the Xcel Energy Center to leave the crowd speechless heading into the Crown Royal Bonsu Round!
Along with all of the exciting rodeo action, Dave Morehead and company spare no expense to bring some of the best rodeo and musical entertainment that you can find anywhere in the country all to one place on one given weekend. This year, the World’s Toughest Rodeo graced its St. Paul, Minnesota stop with a couple of the fan-favorites from year’s past which generated a lot of buzz with fans, media outlets, and the general public all weekend long. Roman and trick rider from the Dolly Parton Stampede made her return to the Xcel as Dusti Dickerson graced us with her presence once again while up and coming country music artist Travis Denning showed us the pipes that have been making him famous in recent years as he closed out the weekend Saturday night with a free concert for all of the rodeo-goers that came through the doors.
Even with those two talents, there was still one more that needed no introduction what so ever, even if you are not a rodeo fan as Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey and his trusty dog Boogie would make their way back to the frozen tundra of St. Paul. This has been a magical place for the famous monkey as he had previously been crowned a knight of the St. Paul Winter Carnival festivities that happen right outside if the arena doors and is very popular among media venues. I was able to catch up with Kenny Pettit, owner of Whiplash, along with Whiplash himself to talk about the excitement they bring to towns across the country and to the vast majority of families that may see him on television from time to time as well. Take a listen to see where you can find them next and how you can get your hands on some of the famous Whiplash merchandise that is available for purchase in our exclusive interview below!
Closing Thoughts
Another year of the World’s Toughest Rodeo has come and gone here in St. Paul, Minnesota but along with the closing of another year brings excitement for what is to come in the future years as it gains momentum for change. We saw the first of those changes with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association as the sanctioning body that brought many of the top rodeo athletes in the country to St. Paul over the last two days along with some of the best entertainment that could be offered in one place. I was able to get even more one on one interview with some of those individuals and would like to direct you to our Facebook page and other related social media platforms over the next couple of weeks to be able to watch them in their entirety so that you can see even more of what goes on behind the scenes of the World’s Toughest Rodeo throughout the country!
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