The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo came to a close on Saturday night with the ProRodeo tournament finals determining this year’s champions. Titles were based on total earnings, and those earnings topped $20,000 in each event.
Bareback rider Mason Clements was the second bareback rider to pick a horse from the list, and he got the horse he’d been hoping for: Frontier Rodeo’s Gunfire, a horse that fellow Utah bareback rider Caleb Bennett set an arena record on in Cody, Wyoming, last summer. In the end, Clements was at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday with a 91-point-ride. He earned $15,000, finishing with $24,750 in all and winning the bareback title.
This was only the second year for young gun tie-down roper Shad Mayfield to compete at San Antonio, and what he learned throughout his rookie year obviously paid off. Mayfield had the fastest time of the rodeo in the finals with a time of 6.9 seconds and was crowned the the 2020 tie-down champ.
2019 champion steer wrestler Tyler Waguespack successfully defended his title, winning in San Antonio for the second consecutive year thanks to his 3.8-second finals run. He finished with a total earnings of $23,250.
There was a tie at the top of the leaderboard in the team roping during the final round at San Antonio between Dustin Egusquiza and Travis Graves and Matt Sherwood, and Trey Yates, who turned in 4.0-second runs. Their Saturday night efforts were worth $13,500, however, Egusquiza and Graves had the highest total earnings with $24,000 each, winning the championship buckles.
Brody Cress (pictured top), who got to the finals by winning the Wildcard Round on Friday, had a 90.5-point ride on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Womanizer and took the saddle bronc title with a total earnings of $24,750.
In the barrel racing, both Brittany Pozzi-Tonozzi and Jill Wilson from Snyder stopped the clock in 14.02 seconds for the fastest time on Saturday, but Tonozzi came out on top, out-earning Wilson by just $250 and winning the championship.
There were three bull riders that made it to eight seconds on Saturday night, and Denton Fugate had the high score of 90 points on Andrews Rodeo’s Make My Day. Fugate won the bull riding title thanks to the added $16,500 for his win, which brought his total earnings to $23,000.
SAN ANTONIO CHAMPIONS
Bareback Riding | Mason Clements, $23,500
Steer Wrestling | Tyler Waguespack, $23,250
Team Roping | Dustin Egusquiza and Travis Graves, $24,000
Saddle Bronc Riding | Brody Cress, $24,750
Tie-Down Roping | Shad Mayfield, $24,500
Barrel Racing | Brittany Pozzi-Tonozzi, $23,500
Bull Riding | Denton Fugate, $23,000