In 2020 Jess Pope finished third in the PRCA World Standings. He followed that up with a second-place finish last year. Now, Pope is looking to win his first Gold Buckle and he has set himself up to do just that.
Here is a look at the top 20 in the Bareback PRCA World Standings.
1. Jess Pope, $112,177
Nobody would blame Jess Pope for taking some time off after building a $50,000 lead on the field, but that just isn’t who Pope is. In 2022, if Pope is on the daysheet, he is the favorite to win. In June he has earned $8,000 thanks to two wins and three other top-five finishes. On the season Pope has an incredible 20 go-round wins, which is already the most of his career in one season. He is also averaging an incredible 85.62 points per qualified ride and has been bucked just once in 47 outs.
2. Clayton Biglow, $68,194
Biglow has a ton of ground to make up if he wants to enter the NFR in any other spot other than number two. Biglow has had a great start to June with a win at the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo, a second-place finish at the Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo, and a win at the Livermore Rodeo. In total Biglow has already earned $8,000 in June.
3. Cole Reiner, $63,056
Reiner has three outs in June but has earned money after each ride. He began the month with a win at the Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo thanks to an 88-point ride. That win earned him $3,000. He followed that up with an 87.5-point ride in the first round of the Riggin Rally and an 84.5-point ride in the final round.
4. Tanner Aus, $62,285
After going 5-for-5 over Memorial Day Weekend and making a big jump in the standings, Aus has taken it east in June with just three outs. Aus is coming off a win at the Lake Region Stampede where he went 83.5 points. Aus has not moved in the World Standings in June.
5. Tim O’Connell, $61,511
Tim O’Connell jumped inside the top five after entering the month in eighth place in the PRCA World Standings. O’Connell’s month has been fantastic with a second-place finish at the Riggin Rally after a 92-point ride, a wub at the Woodward Elks Rodeo, and a second-place finish at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo. In total, O’Connell has won around $13,000 in June already.
6. Cole Franks, $55,726
Franks competed at just one rodeo in May and has not won a check since Clovis on April 24. He did, however, win the National Western and make the Short Round in both Austin and Fort Worth earlier in the year. Franks is averaging 83.5 points per ride and has been bucked off just once in 2022.
7. Chad Rutherford, $53,267
Rutherford is having a great season, which continued in June. In the month he placed fourth at the Parker County Sheriffs Possee and won the Gladewater Round-Up Rodeo. Rutherford is looking to make his second career NFR and if the season ended today, the seventh-place finish would be the best of his career.
8. Kaycee Feild, $51,110
Kaycee Feild is taking plenty of time off, not riding since Rodeo Houston, which concluded in the middle of March. Feild has set himself up nicely for the summer after winning both San Antonio and Fort Worth.
9. Garrett Shadbolt, $49,725
Shadbolt was in the midst of a rough stretch of riding after he posted four straight marked rides in the 70s and on buckoff. He has since placed second at the Woodward Els Rodeo and won the 101 Wild West Rodeo. The two rides of 84.5 and 83 points earned him just under $4,000.
10. Rocker Steiner, $45,847
Rocker Steiner has been a lightning rod all season long, and the only thing that has been able to slow him down is injury. Steiner broke the World Record Bareback score with a 95-point ride at the Riggin Rally. That ride earned him over $8,000 alone. If that wasn’t enough, he followed that ride up with an 85-point ride at the Parker County Rodeo which earned him the win. Steiner has jumped four spots in the standings since the beginning of the month.
11. Leighton Berry, $41,061
Berry has had a slow first half of the month but did get one win at the Parker County Sheriffs Posse Frontier Days and Rodeo after an 85-point ride. Berry has dropped one spot from the beginning of the month and has earned just over $2,000 in June.
12. R.C. Landingham, $39,951
R.C. Landingham has had a great month of June that has seen him jump three spots in the PRCA World Standings thanks to a fourth-place finish at the Riggin Rally Xtreme Broncs followed up by second-place finishes at the Sisters Rodeo and Livermore Rodeo. Landingham has already earned $9,000 in the month.
13. Caleb Bennett, $38,922
Bennett had not competed since April 16 at the San Angelo Cinch Chute Out but did make a return in June at the Riggin Rally Xtreme Broncs where he went 83 points but failed to place.
14. Mason Clements, $38,704
Mason Clements dropped two spots in the PRCA World Standings but has only competed once since mid-April.
15. Wyatt Denny, $36,250
After winning just $553 at the first four rodeos he entered in May, Denny had a huge weekend at Back When They Bucked. He won over $3,500 thanks to a win in the Long Round and a third-place finish in the Finals. Denny entered June in 16th place but jumped inside the top 15 after a second-place finish a Glennville Round-Up Rodeo.
16. Orin Larsen, $34,665
Larsen has looked really good since returning from a PCL injury suffered in San Angelo at the beginning of April. In his first ride back, he finished second in Redding on May 21 to bank over $4,000 and then placed in both rounds at Back When They Bucked over Memorial Day Weekend. Larsen has only competed once in June, failing to place at the Riggin Tally Xtreme Broncs.
17. Jayco Roper, $29,636
Jayco Roper entered June in 19th place, but thanks to a second-place finish at the Crossett Riding Club Rodeo jumped to 17th place in the PRCA World Standings. Roper has already passed his career-high earnings and is looking for his first career NFR at just 20 years old.
18. Ty Breuer, $28,617
Breuer has had a quiet month of June thus far, competing at two rodeos where he failed to earn a check,
19. Bronc Marriott, $27,870
Marriott earned one of his biggest paychecks of his season at the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo where he placed second with an 85-point ride and earned $2,000. The win propelled Marriott inside the top 20 and he is now under $10,000 away from 15th place.
20. Lane McGehee, $27,543
McGehee has not earned a check since mid-May where he placed fifth in the Deep South PRCA Rodeo and eighth at the End of the Trail Western Festival.