BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
World No. 1 tie-down roper John Douch leads by about $25,000, but below him is a logjam of men who have proven themselves to be elite.
Outside of Douch, five of the six cowboys in the Top 7 have qualified for three straight NFRs and the one who didn’t, Tyler Milligan, made it in 2019 and 2020. Between the six of them, they have made 32 NFRs and half of them have won Gold Buckles. They’ve done all this in a limited time, too. Four of the six are 25 or younger.
1. John Douch, $97,204
Douch made $50,000 for his win in at RodeoHouston, but even without that check, he’d still be well within the Top 10. On June 11, he finished second at the Gladewater Round-Up Rodeo (Texas) with an 8.3 second run. That has been his lone check in six June rodeos.
2. Shad Mayfield, $72,688
Mayfield has placed at three of the five rodeos he has entered in June and had a qualified time on 5-of-6 runs. The 2020 World Champion’s biggest payday in June was $1,540 for a sixth place in the Woodward Elks Rodeo (Oklahoma).
3. Tyler Milligan, $71,933
Milligan came on strong to start his June by winning Old Fort Days (Arkansas) thanks to a speedy 7.3 second run to win the Second Round. The win earned him almost $5,000 and the next weekend, he was 8.1 seconds to finish third at the Eagle Rodeo (Idaho) to win over $2,000.
4. Tuf Cooper, $67,268
Cooper has competed in just four rodeos since the San Angelo Cinch Chute on April 16. On the weekend of June 12, he had a mixed bag on his two runs, his first since the weekend of May 15. The 13-time NFR qualifier was sixth place at Parker County Sheriff’s Posse Frontier Days (Texas) with a 10.1 second run, but was 20.9 seconds in Woodward.
5. Marty Yates, $60,926
Yates won more than $5,000 on the weekend of June 12 as he won Gladewater with a 7.9 second run and was fourth in Woodward with an 8.9 second run. Yates, who has been to eight straight NFRs, was No. 14 at the beginning of April.
6. Haven Meged, $53,019
Meged has entered just two rodeos, and won $0, since winning the Redding Rodeo (California) on May 21. The three-time NFR qualifier already has 19 runs of 8.5 seconds or faster in 2022, which is more than he had in 2019 when he won the Gold Buckle.
7. Ty Harris, $51,777
In his first rodeo since May 21, Ty Harris ran away with the title at the Sisters Rodeo (Oregon). He was 18.6 seconds on two, almost a full second faster than any other cowboy in the field. The win earned him just over $5,000.
8. Kincade Henry, $51,267
On June 4, Henry placed in his hometown rodeo in Mount Pleasant, Texas. Before that, he placed in rounds at his previous two rodeos, Redding and Guymon Pioneer Days (Oklahoma) on May 8.
9. Zack Jongbloed, $46,212
Since winning the Clovis Rodeo on April 24, Jongbloed has entered three rodeos and won at least $1,800 at two of them. He was third in the Second Round in Guymon and second in the Second Round in Sisters. Jongbloed was outside the Top 20 at the beginning of April.
10. Cooper Martin, $43,998
Martin is coming off of a weekend where he finished third in Livermore to take home more than $2,000. The three-time NFR qualifier had earlier success in California as well as he was second at the Rowell Ranch Rodeo on May 22 and the champion of Red Bluff on April 17.
11. Shane Hanchey, $43,007
Hanchey has been to six one-head rodeos in Texas and Oklahoma in June but has just one check, $1,512 for a runner-up finish in Durant (Oklahoma). It’s his only check since winning $7,500 at the San Angelo Cinch Chute Out on April 16.
12. Quade Hiatt, $42,937
Hiatt finished second at the Eagle Rodeo on June 11 with a 7.7 second run. It was Hiatt’s 13th run of 8.5 seconds or faster in the 2022 season.
13. Michael Otero, $33,855
Otero won over $1,500 for his sixth place finish in Woodward on June 11. The 40-year-old is looking for his second career NFR appearance
14. Cory Solomon, $33,547
Solomon entered just two rodeos in May and June and won $2,266 for a 7.7 second run in the Second Round in Guymon. He has been to eight NFRs since 2011.
15. Riley Pruitt, $31,034
Many cowboys have been on a limited schedule in April, May and June, but Pruitt has been rodeoing even less than most. Since Rodeo Austin concluded on March 26, he has entered just four rodeos and made just six competitive runs. Most recently, he won the Elizabeth Stampede (Colorado) on June 5.
16. Bryson Sechrist, $30,130
Sechrist is currently on a streak of four straight no times and 12 runs in a row without a check. He last reached the pay window the weekend of May 22 in Santa Rosa (Texas), his lone check since February.
17. Lane Livingston, $29,681
Livingston did not win a check on five runs the weekend of June 12, but the weekend prior he won the Mesquite Championship Rodeo (Texas) and finished third in Durant to bring in almost $2,500 total. The best finish of the 27-year-old’s career was No. 18 in 2019.
18. Luke Potter, $27,422
Potter has won checks of more than $1,000 in each of the last two weekends. He won Round 1 of the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo (California) on the weekend of June 5 and then last weekend finished fourth in the First Round of the Sisters Rodeo. The 2020 Resistol Rookie of the Year is searching for his first NFR after back-to-back finishes in the Top 30.
19. Marcos Costa, $26,804
Costa recently cracked the Top 20 by winning two of the five rodeos he competed on the weekend of June 12. He was 8.6 to win the Coleman PRCA Rodeo (Texas) and also stopped the clock at 8.4 seconds to win the Johnson County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo (Texas). The 2017 World Champion banked just over $5,000 total.
20. Caleb Smidt, $26,522
The reigning World Champion has entered just two rodeos since Guymon and they came last weekend.
STANDINGS VIA PRORODEO.COM. ACCURATE AS OF JUNE 15, 2022 AT 1 PM ET.
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