BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN
Stetson Wright has not slowed down after winning his first PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding World Championship and after a big win in San Antone, he’s on top of the world standings again in 2022.
Wright has now made $57,217 for the season and has opened up a lead of more than $15,000 on world No. 2 Sterling Crawley. The difference between Wright and the 10th ranked saddle bronc rider, Chase Brooks, is more than $30,000. In Fort Worth and San Antonio, Wright had four rides of 90 or more points.
WRIGHT’S 90.5 POINT RIDE IN SAN ANTONIO FINALS
No. 3 man in the world Layton Green first cracked the Top 10 after making the Finals in Fort Worth and he has risen even more since then. The Canadian continued his ascent by finishing second in San Antonio with a 90 point ride in the Finals. Every ride Green made in Fort Worth and San Antonio was marked at least 83.5 points.
Just like after Fort Worth, five-time NFR qualifier Brody Cress is No. 4 in the standings after San Antonio. Cress won three Go-Rounds in San Antonio and also was the champion of La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros, which concluded a day after San Antonio. Cress set a new rodeo record in the Finals of La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros with 92 points on Beutler & Son’s Killer Bee.
CRESS’ 92 POINT RIDE IN TUCSON
Rounding out the Top 5 is another Canadian, Kolby Wanchuk. Wanchuk wasn’t even in the Top 20 at the start of February, but he won the Dixie National, won a Semifinal in San Antonio and finished second in the Finals in San Antonio. All three of those rides earned him $5,000 or more.
Five Canadian saddle bronc riders made the NFR in 2021 and Wanchuk and Green are far from the only cowboys born north of the border to be back in NFR contention.
Kole Ashbacher is No. 8, Lucas Macza is No. 12, Logan Hay is No. 13, Dawson Hay is No. 14 and two-time World Champion Zeke Thurston is 15th.
DAWSON HAY’S 90 POINT RIDE IN SAN ANTONIO
As for some more Americans making moves up the leaderboard, Wyatt Casper has gone from outside the Top 20 at the beginning of February to No. 9. Casper placed in both rounds at La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros and also made the Finals in San Antonio. In San Antonio, his five rides were all between 87 and 88.5 points and he earned $8,500.
| RANK | NAME | EARNINGS |
| 1. | Stetson Wright | $57,217 |
| 2. | Sterling Crawley | $41,690 |
| 3. | Layton Green | $37,527 |
| 4. | Brody Cress | $34,283 |
| 5. | Kolby Wanchuk | $31,868 |
| 6. | Sage Newman | $30,468 |
| 7. | Ryder Wright | $28,687 |
| 8. | Kole Ashbacher | $28,403 |
| 9. | Wyatt Casper | $27,893 |
| 10. | Chase Brooks | $26,851 |
| 11. | Kade Bruno | $23,841 |
| 12. | Lucas Macza | $22,648 |
| 13. | Logan Hay | $22,583 |
| 14. | Dawson Hay | $22,096 |
| 15. | Zeke Thurston | $20,377 |
| 16. | Leon Fountain | $20,219 |
| 17. | Lefty Holman | $20,056 |
| 18. | Cole Elshere | $19,310 |
| 19. | Parker Kempfer | $18,511 |
| 20. | Jacobs Crawley | $17,868 |
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