2023 Champions

By Patrick Everson Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi rode into the 10-day Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with a lead of $110,000 in the world barrel racing standings. Then she put the gas pedal firmly to the floor, lapping the field en route to her third world championship. Tonozzi cashed in eight of the first nine go-rounds – […]

Bull Riding Champion – Ky Hamilton

By Patrick Everson Ky Hamilton got helicoptered in a way not seen since John Elway got blasted in Super Bowl 32 against the Green Bay Packers. The difference was that Elway got smacked by a couple of reasonably sized NFL players. Hamilton’s whirling dervish was delivered by a raging bull in the fifth round of […]

All Around Champion – Stetson Wright

By Patrick Everson Oftentimes in sports these days, you hear that the regular season doesn’t matter. As the 65th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo closes, you certainly can’t say that about the sport of rodeo. Stetson Wright came into the Wrangler NFR with a serious hamstring issue. As cowboys are wont to do, he tried to grit […]

Rocker Steiner

By Patrick Everson Rocker Steiner has made a pile of money this week at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo – and figured out a creative way not to spend any of it. “I lost my freaking debit card,” Steiner said Friday night, after posting his third win through nine go-rounds. “But maybe that’s a good […]

Shelby Boisjoli

By Patrick Everson Shelby Boisjoli-Meged came into the 2021 Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping at No. 1 in the world standings. Unfortunately, she left in second place by a fraction, with Sawyer Gilbert finishing just $2,197 ahead of Boisjoli-Meged. This year, Boisjoli-Meged entered the Wrangler NFR Breakaway again at No. 1 in the world. And […]

Miss Rodeo America 2024

By Patrick Everson When you get named Miss Rodeo America, there are myriad typical questions you have to answer, not the least of which is: How does it feel? So as I do each year during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, I threw Emma Cameron – the newly minted Miss Rodeo America 2024 – a […]

Aussies

By Patrick Everson Ky Hamilton and Damian Brennan are somewhere in the range of 18 time zones from home. As they compete each night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, it’s early afternoon the next day in Australia. But the two are making themselves quite at home in Las Vegas, while repping Down Under quite […]

J.D. Struxness

By Patrick Everson Celebrating and congratulating have come a long way over the past, oh, 50 years or so. First, there was the Gimme Five, or if it was recognizing something really good, Gimme 10. Then came the High Five. Then came all manner of scripted handshakes – which are still in play – and […]

Stetson Wright Reaction

By Patrick Everson Over the weekend, a jolt of news hit the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Four-time defending all-around world champion Stetson Wright, battling a nasty hamstring injury, announced on social media Sunday that he was out for the final eight go-rounds. Obviously, it was a tough decision for Wright, who tried to fight his […]

Really Good Deeds

By Patrick Everson You know what’s really nice? When you see a good person do really good deeds for those in need, and then that person somehow gets repaid in kind. On Saturday morning, team roper Coleman Proctor took part in the Wrangler NFR’s annual visit to the Grant a Gift Autism Foundation. The foundation […]