BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
The bareback riding has been one of the most competitive events all summer long and with three-time World Champion Tim O’Connell out for the rest of the regular season due to injury, young stars Jess Pope and Cole Reiner appear poised to duke it out for the No. 1 spot.
The pair of 23-year-old cowboys are separated by about $1,000 heading into the season’s final month. No one gain any ground in July either, these two began August just $200 apart.
1. Jess Pope, $145,490
Pope finished August by taking second at the Horse Heaven Round-Up (Washington) and the Golden Spike Rodeo (Utah) as well as fourth at the Kitsap Stampede (Washington). He won close to $8,000 total as part of a month in which he added around $24,000 to his season earnings.
2. Cole Reiner, $144,463
Reiner won the Horse Heaven Round-Up in emphatic fashion, winning both rounds to claim the Average by 9.5 points. Reiner won a check on 12-of-15 rides in August and four of them were worth north of $2,000. He was less than 82 points just once all month.
3. Tim O’Connell, $137,760
Nursing a thumb injury, O’Connell will miss the remainder of the regular season. O’Connell won the Caldwell Night Rodeo in his second-to-last out of the regular season.
4. Caleb Bennett, $128,758
From Aug. 16-25, Bennett made six consecutive rides of 81 points or better and won a check on all of them. That run included four paydays of more than $2,000 and three wins, coming at the Yellowstone River Round-Up (Montana), Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo, Gooding Pro Rodeo (Idaho). He moved up two spots in August.
5. Rocker Steiner, $126,053
Steiner had only 10 outs in August, but four of them paid better than $2,000.
6. R.C. Landingham, $124,621
Landingham got on 13 horses in August and rode 11 of them to the pay window. He saved the best for last by riding Will Sanchez for 87.5 points to claim almost $5,000 for a third place finish.
7. Tanner Aus, $155,657
In the last 10 days of August, Aus won two rodeos - the Colorado State Fair and South Dakota’s Range Days. He also won the Silver Sage Ranch Rodeo (Minnesota) on Aug. 13. He is looking for his fourth straight NFR qualification.
8. Kaycee Feild, $115,566
Kaycee Feild got everything he possibly could out of his August schedule. The six-time World Champion competed in eight rodeos and left with more than $1,900 every single time. That included wins at the Bozeman Stampede (Montana) and Douglas County Fair and Rodeo (Colorado). He was 10-for-10 overall with six rides marked 85 points or better.
9. Clayton Biglow, $100,942
Biglow competed sparingly in August and finished in the Top 8 at 4-of-6 rodeos he entered, but never better than fifth.
10. Cole Franks, $100,931
Franks returned on Aug. 18 after missed three weeks with a hand injury and has already won $6,300 at six rodeos since.
11. Garrett Shadbolt, $100,758
Shadbolt has not competed since Aug. 13. Before that, he won Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo on Aug. 6 and the Dodge City Roundup on Aug. 7. To win Dodge City, he rode Gun Fire for 91.5 points.
12. Leighton Berry, $95,548
Berry was able to nick and dime his way through August as he won checks on 10 rides, but less than half were worth more than $1,000.
13. Tilden Hooper, $94,171
Tilden Hooper was one of the biggest movers of August, going from on the bubble to squarely in the NFR. Hooper, who has made eight NFRs in his career, moved up four spots in August thanks to wins at the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo (California), Fallon Couny Fair and Rodeo (Montana), Moses Lake Round-Up (Washington) and the Aulick Industries Champions Challenge (Nebraska).
14. Chad Rutherford, $86,283
Rutherford closed out August with an 89-point ride to win just over $4,000 at the Kitsap Stampede, which was his best ride and biggest payday of the month.
15. Orin Larsen, $83,189
If Orin Larsen wants to make it eight straight NFR qualifications, he will have to fight through the bubble to do it. He made about $11,000 in August, but hasn’t competed since Canby two weeks ago.
16. Ty Breuer, $83,188
Ty Breuer is in a familiar spot. Over the last six seasons, the North Dakota cowboy has finished between No. 12 and No. 19 in the World Standings. Four of those seasons ended in Vegas and two left him on the outside looking in.
17. Wyatt Denny, $81,005
Between Aug. 10-28, Denny won four rodeos and finished second at another, wins at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo (Missouri) and Cache County Fair and Rodeo (Utah) came with more than $4,000 in prize money.
18. Jayco Roper, $62,213
The bubble clearly stops at Denny as it would take a herculean effort for cowboys ranked No. 18-20 to bump someone at. But, stranger things have happened, and there’s plenty of money still on the table. If Roper can channel the version of himself we saw at the Wayne Herman Xtreme Broncs (North Dakota), where he won the event against an elite field, you never know.
19. Mason Clements, $60,507
Clements has not won a check since Aug. 7 when he won the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo.
20. Bill Tutor, $59,917
It was a tale of two August’s for Bill Tutor. In the first two weekends, he won more than $8,000 and the next two weekends, he totaled just $853.