BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN
Amanda Welsh started winning early and never stopped in 2021. She qualified for her first Wrangler NFR this year with $76,919 in earnings, which puts her No. 7 in the world.
All the way back in October of 2020, Welsh won her third straight Badlands Circuit Championship and $5,676 to kickstart her 2021 campaign.
Thanks to her win in Minot, North Dakota and her second-place finish in February’s San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, Welsh was No. 2 in the WPRA World Standings at the beginning of March.
At San Antonio, she had the fastest time in her Semifinal and was second in the Short Round to bank more than $11,000.
WELSH’S SEMIFINAL RUN IN SAN ANTONIO
In March, Welsh won two circuit rodeos, the North Dakota Winer Show and PRCA Championship Rodeo in Bismarck.
After modest success in April and May, she finished third at the Cedar City Championship Rodeo (Utah) and Reno in June. She won close to $6,000 in Reno.
In July, Welsh won more than $1,000 at the Black Hills Roundup, Livingston Roundup (Montana), Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo (Utah), Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, Cattlemen’s Days (Colorado) and Ogden Pioneer Days (Utah). She closed the month in style by winning Nebraska’s Big Rodeo with a time of 17.43 seconds.
WELSH IN PIKES PEAK
In August, she won the Cache County Fair and Rodeo (Utah) and finished third at the Gooding Pro Rodeo (Idaho) before ending the season on a tear in September.
Welsh entered seven rodeos in the season’s final month and won more than $2,000 at five of them.
Over Labor Day weekend, she won about $5,000 total for placing third at both the Magic Valley Stampede (Idaho) and Walla Walla Frontier Days (Washington). On Sept. 11, she was the champion at the Lewiston Roundup (Idaho) and the same weekend, she also won over $3,000 at the Washington State Fair Pro Rodeo and won the Spokane Interstate Rodeo.
WELSH’S 16.92-SECOND RUN IN LEWISTON
Welsh finished the season by winning more than $3,000 for finishing fourth in Round 1 at the Pendleton Round-Up.
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