The summer run of the 2023 season has officially arrived and with it comes the standings shuffles. However, your No. 1 steer wrestler in the World, Dalton Massey, has held tight to that No. 1 spot for most of the year. But in the game of rodeo nothing is guaranteed.
Take a look at your Top 20 steer wrestlers in the PRCA World Standings before they hit the ground sliding at Reno Rodeo.
No. 1 Dalton Massey, $101,895
Massey had success come his way at the Columbia River Circuit Finals where he racked up over $4,300 to start his season. From there he consistently placed and pulled checks in San Antonio, Jackson and Tucson before he hit the jackpot in Houston. With a time of 4.5 seconds, Massey was your RodeoHouston Champion and added the coveted $50,000 to his name. Since, he has had success regularly but the most recent came from Sisters Rodeo and Livermore Rodeo where 4.7 seemed to be Massey’s lucky number.
No. 2 Jesse Brown, $69,094
With three National Finals qualifications under his belt, Brown is setting himself up for a fourth. With no luck in Fort Worth, the Oregon bull dogger picked up steam in a big way in San Antonio. He threw his fastest time of the rodeo to win it with a 3.1-second run. This added $22,500 to his name. The next stop on the Texas Tour was also good to Brown, RodeoHouston, adding another $11,500. Logandale, Nevada lined his pockets as well before he finished third in the Average at the Red Bluff Round-Up.
No. 3 Tyler Waguespack, $58,091
The reigning World Champion is familiar with being at the top of the standings. After pulling a few small checks in January, Waguespack barely missed making the Finals in San Antonio but still managed to walk away with over $8,000. At RodeoHouston, he finished second to add another $19,000 to his earnings before having luck down south. Between smaller rodeos in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee, Waguespack has five wins to his name including the Old Fort Days Rodeo in Fort Smith.
No. 4 Will Lummus, $55,170
Lummus is another cowboy we are used to seeing at the top and he has also taken advantage of hitting the smaller rodeos closer to home this winter on top of the Texas Tour. He kicked it off in a big way when he won the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo with a 4.1-second run that proved to be worth $14,378. His most recent win came from Cleburne, Texas with a quick 3.3-second run giving him some momentum at just the right time.
No. 5 Jacob Talley, $52,804
Talley started this season at the pay window when he finished second at Hempstead, Texas in October 2022. In the month of October, Talley placed at four Texas rodeos to start his season with over $5,000. He went all the way to the Finals of San Antonio and RodeoHouston and placed in Jackson and Kissimmee. A 3.5 got him the win in Mercedes, Texas before he got another win in Crossett, Arkansas after winning both rounds to take the average.
No. 6 Ty Erickson, $47,066
It was success at the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals that got Erickson’s 2023 season rolling. He then finished second in Fort Worth to bring in $16,760. Tucson and Houston continued to add to his season earnings while his success in Logandale, Nevada came in the form of $6,297. Recently, Erickson placed in Clovis, California before taking the month of May off.
No. 7 Cody Devers, $45,237
Although Devers has yet to outright win a rodeo this 2023 season, he has placed and pulled checks at all the right places. It started with the RAM Prairie Circuit Finals and Cooks Rodeo Days. Between the two, Devers began the season with over $5,000. He made some big bucks at RodeoHouston when he finished second in the Finals to add more than $21,000 to his name. From there, it was success in San Angelo and Fort Smith that pushed the Oklahoma bull dogger to No. 7.
No. 8 Stan Branco, $42,470
Branco has some big wins so far this season but it all started with success at the California Circuit Finals where he finished third in the Average. He then picked up the win at the first winter rodeo in Texas, the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo. He won again during the Texas Tour when he was a 3.2 at Rodeo Austin. It was this spring that he was back in his home state having success everywhere he went including Red Bluff, Lakeside, Auburn, Woodlake, Redding, Santa Maria and more. Of Branco’s 2023 earnings, $18,980 of it has come from success on his home turf in California.
No. 9 Bridger Anderson, $40,600
Anderson found success easily on the west coast but before that, he picked up small checks in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. At RodeoHouston, he found himself adding $6,000 to his earnings before a big win came his way in Oregon at the High Desert Stampede. He followed it up with another win at the Red Bluff Round-Up. These two wins added over $11,000 to the North Dakota cowboy’s regular season money. More recently, he won a round in Weatherford, Texas that added almost another $3,000.
No. 10 Tucker Allen, $39,793
Allen is another California steer wrestler who’s 2023 success started in his homestate. Two wins back-to-back came by way of the Industry Hills Charity Pro Rodeo and the Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo and the payday was almost $4,000. It was followed by paydays at the California Circuit Finals and the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. His Texas swing continued to add to his earnings with money earning runs in both Houston and San Antonio. Since, he has found the pay window multiple times but Livermore, California is the most recent.
No. 11 Cash Robb, $38,084
Robb is a rookie coming in just outside of the Top 10 in the World. After a successful Permit Finals and Wilderness Circuit Finals, Robb had almost $5,000 already counting towards this season. The young gun got into San Antonio where he won a round with $2,250 4.0-second run. He went on to San Angelo where he cinched another round win, this time, with a 3.2-second run. He picked up another $6,000 in Guymon before his most recent win that came in Herriman, Utah for $1,370.
No. 12 Stockton Graves, $34,428
Graves’ season started with a win in Lubbock, Texas in November that totaled over $4,000. It was then a Go-Round win and making it to the Finals of Fort Worth that added to his earnings before San Antonio. The Santa Rose Roundup came with some winnings and Abbyville Frontier Days came with the win: a 3.9-second run and $1,458. Old Fort Days in Arkansas was also good to the eight-time NFR qualifier along with Hugo Pro Rodeo.
No. 13 Stephen Culling, $33,335
Culling found some momentum in Houston to get his season rolling and from there picked up checks in Arcadia, Florida and Rodeo Austin. A second-place finish in Austin proved to be worth $7,520. His next payday came in Logandale, Nevada where he finished second in the Second Round and eighth in the average to add a total of $2,707 to his 2023 earnings.
No. 14 J.D. Struxness, $31,103
Struxness picked up two checks before he found his stride in San Antonio. He placed in two of three rounds and won the Wildcard before leaving San Antonio with $8,500 added to his earnings. RodeoHouston was another successful trip for Struxness where he won Round 1 and collected a total of $8,250. The next place that he found the pay window was Guymon, Oklahoma. A second-place finish in the average and Struxness earned another $6,870.
No. 15 Kyle Irwin, $30,990
With two checks coming his way in Florida to start his 2023 season in November, Irwin brought in a big payday from San Antonio. Finishing second in the Finals and winning a Go-Round, the Alabama Slamma added $17,000 to his name. Next up, was Rodeo Austin with a Go-Round win and third-place finish in another, it brought in more than $ 7,000.
No. 16 Joshua Hefner, $28,370
Hefner was one Go-Round win away from sweeping the Southeastern Circuit Finals to start his season on the right foot. It earned the Tennessee cowboy over $10,000 to get started. The Florida rodeos have been money earners for him as he collected $2,200 from Kissimmee and another $2,400 from Arcadia. He did get a home state pay day in Franklin, Tennessee when he was a 3.9 at the Franklin Rodeo.
No. 17 Nick Guy, $28,206
The Mountain States Circuit Finals got things going for Guy but it was Rodeo Rapid City and San Antonio where he picked back up after the NFR. He then had a $5,000 pay day in Tucson before winning a Round and placing in two more at RodeoHouston. His largest pay day between Houston and now came in Clovis, California and came in at $6,196.
No. 18 Eli Lord, $32,142
With a win in Go-Round 1, a second-place finish in Go-Round 2 of the Badlands Circuit Finals and a fourth-place finish at the NILE Prorodeo, Lord started his season with over $4,500. He found success in San Antonio and San Angelo before a streak of California pay days came. Clovis, Lakeside and Livermore have helped him land just outside the Top 15.
No. 19 Josh Garner, $26,729
Garner’s biggest success of the winter came at one of the richest rodeos of the year: RodeoHouston. He left there with $6,750 to his name. He has had a few pay days since but his momentum has picked up recently. He has pulled a check in every Go-Round and the average of the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo and Sisters Rodeo before he placed in Livermore. Altogether, Garner added over $9,000 to his earnings in the month of June.
No. 20 Justin Schaffer, $26,378
Schaffer has picked up just the right size checks here and there to get him where he is in the standings. An early season win came in Seguin, Texas for almost $1000 before he pulled almost $4,000 in Denver when he won the second round. A second-place finish in San Angelo added another $5,200 while the Red Bluff Round-Up brought in another $7,000. Go-Round wins in Santa Rosa and Liberty Hill also each added over $1,000.
Reno Rodeo and their current place in the standings is like the starting line for cowboys to hit the road hard for the summer. There are big paydays to be had and big moves to be made as they aim for a Top 15 finish in the PRCA World Standings by September 30 to cinch their spot at the NFR in Las Vegas.
Standings current as of PRCA on Wednesday, June 14 at 3:30 PM EST.
