BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
The Reno Rodeo is the sixth highest paying PRCA Playoff Series Rodeo of the year and was one of three Playoff Rodeos to conclude over the weekend, alongside the Crooked River Roundup (Oregon) and the West Of The Pecos Rodeo (Texas).
When a rodeo like Reno end, it oftentimes evidence of how fast the World Standings can change in the summer. It is not out of the question for a cowboy to move up 15, 20, even 30 spots in one week during this part of the rodeo season. This is a trend likely to continue, too, with events like the Calgary Stampede, NFR Open and Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo all coming up in July. And that’s all AFTER Cowboy Christmas.
As the summer goes on, we’ll do our best here to dig through every rodeo (especially next week) to find the most important stuff you need to know at the end of each weekend.
Here are this week’s notes:
- Tie-down ropers Riley Webb and Shad Mayfield have each made more than $25,000 in June. Shad Mayfield was the champion in Reno and won $15,500 for his first place finish to move from No. 4 to No. 2 in the world. There’s one problem, however, he can’t seem to gain any ground on World No. 1 Riley Webb, who took second in Reno but banked $16,400 because of his Go-Round money. Webb leads Mayfield by about $72,000 in the World Standings.
- Barrel racer Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi set the arena record in Reno to win by one one-hundredth of a second. Pozzi Tonozzi was 16.70 in the Short Round while no other barrel racer was faster than 17.1 to pull of a stunning win by the slimmest margins over Hailey Kinsel. The 16-time NFR qualifier has been the runner-up in Reno several times and finally broke through for her first win there on Saturday night.
- Bull rider Hayes Weight is now No. 15 in the world after starting June outside the Top 50. Weight has won more than $37,000 in June with more than half of that coming in the past week. He won $18,700 at the Reno Rodeo for a 2-for-2 performance and Long Round win (bull riding is the only event with only one Qualifying Round in Reno) and also won the Greeley Stampede Xtreme Bulls on June 22, which paid $4,400.
- Statler Wright became the first back-to-back champion in Reno since Dan Mortensen in 2003. The youngest Wright won the Short Round with 88.5 points on Indian Burn to edge Round 2 and two-head Average leader Kade Bruno 252-251.5. He went from No. 27 to No. 23 after making $13,300 for the victory. In 2022, Wright was 261 points on three to take the top spot.
- Bareback rider Keenan Hayes has overtaken Leighton Berry as the World No. 1. Hayes finished second at Rodeo of the Ozarks (Missouri) and the West Of The Pecos Rodeo (Texas) as well as second in Round 2 in Reno over the weekend. All three of those rides paid at least $2,500. Hayes is looking to become the first rookie to ever win PRCA Bareback Riding World Title. Berry had been No. 1 since his victory in Houston on March 19.
- Twenty athletes in Reno left with at least $10,000. The Reno Rodeo paid out $693,561 total in 2023 and no one took home a bigger piece of the pie than Hayes Weight.
- A pair of permit holders made 90+ point rides over the weekend. At the Crystal Sptrings Rodeo (South Dakota), bull rider Nick Emerson was 91 points in his third career qualified ride in the PRCA and at the Buffalo Championship Rodeo (Minnesota), saddle bronc rider Isaac Richard was 90 points to win the biggest check of his career at $2,600.
- Steer wrestler JD Struxness moved up eight spots after his win in Reno. Struxness was 4.5 in the Short Round to snag his second career Reno Rodeo title. He made $17,300 to go from No. 14 to No. 6 in the World Standings. Struxness is No. 1 in the PRCA with a Qualified Time Percentage at 92 percent.
- Two Wright brothers are going to miss some time. Recently, it was announced both Rusty Wright and Ryder Wright would not be on the rodeo trail for awhile. Rusty underwent leg surgery on June 16 and Ryder broke multiple ribs in Reno on June 22. Ryder is expected to miss only a few weeks while it is likely Rusty is out the rest of the season.
