BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
After making the NFR for the first time in 2021, Sage Newman’s next act was winning the Montana Circuit Finals, RodeoHouston and Back When They Bucked to take a commanding lead in the PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding World Standings heading into the summer run.
Holding off the rest of the Top 5, however, will be no easy task. In second and third in the world are Brody Cress and Stetson Wright, who finished as the NFR Average Champion and PRCA World Champion last year. Right below them, it doesn’t get any easier as Wyatt Casper and Ryder Wright are No. 4 and 5. Ryder Wright has won three World Titles, most recently in 2020, when Casper was the Reserve Champion.
There’s a lot that still can happen in the saddle bronc riding.
1. Sage Newman, $132,400
From May 27-30, Newman won the Fallon County Xtreme Broncs (Montana) and Back When They Bucked (South Dakota) and he did so by sweeping all four rounds. Overall, that weekend brought him in close to $14,000. He has followed it up by winning checks on three of his four outs in June.
2. Brody Cress, $108,754
Cress has won nine rodeos in the 2022 season with the most recent coming at the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions (South Dakota) on June 4. From May 20-June 4, Cress was 8-for-8 with five rides marked 87 points or higher.
3. Stetson Wright, $108,754
After winning more than $12,000 for rides of 88 and 88.5 at the Miles City Extreme Bronc Ride (Montana), Wright has since entered six events and won checks at three of them.
4. Wyatt Casper, $82,057
Casper was able to keep pace with the rest of the leaderboard by placing in both rounds at Battle of the Best (California), Miles City and Back When They Bucked. All three were event that featured the best bronc riders in the world in a two-head competition.
5. Ryder Wright, $71,798
Ryder Wright has not produced eye-popping scores as often as he has in other seasons, but the six-time NFR qualifier is still consistently winning money. He was won 14 Go-Rounds this year after winning 19 all of 2021 and was the champion at the Livermore Rodeo (California) on June 11 and at the time of this writing, he also leads the Strawberry Days Rodeo (Utah).
6. Layton Green, $61,032
Green is on a streak of six rides of 82 points or more dating back to May 27. The two-time NFR qualifier won checks for five of those rides, the largest of which was $3,632 for a second place finish in the Long Round in Fallon County.
7. Sterling Crawley, $54,130
Crawley placed in three of the four rodeos he entered the weekend of June 12, including a win at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo (Texas). The seven-time NFR qualifier had a streak of five straight trips to Vegas snapped due to injury in 2021.
8. CoBurn Bradshaw, $49,893
The weekend of June 12 was very kind to Bradshaw. He won the Sisters Rodeo with a new arena record and also placed second in Livermore and third at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show. The four-time NFR qualifier is averaging 81.4 points per qualified ride and if that number holds, it will be his first time finishing the season with an average score in the 80s.
9. Leon Fountain, $47,754
Fountain hs made three qualified rides in June, but it has ended in just one check. Fountain won the Pioneer Days Rodeo (New Mexico) with 81.5 points.
10. Kolby Wanchuk, $47,280
Since the Clovis Rodeo (California) ended on April 24, Wanchuk has only gotten on seven horses in the PRCA. He has won two checks of more than $1,000 on those seven.
11. Chase Brooks, $46,986
Brooks claimed the title at the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse Frontier Days (Texas) on June 11 and has since followed it up by finishing fifth at Battle Born Broncs and sitting second at Strawberry Grove Days at the time of this writing.
12. Kole Ashbacher, $46,306
Asbacher snapped a streak of five straight rides in the 70s on June 5 by going for 85.5 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Cat Walk to win the Elizabeth Stampede (Colorado).
13. Lefty Holman, $45,765
Holman has gotten on five horses in June and won checks on all five of them. The most recent was the biggest, $6,075, for a second place finish at Battle Born Broncs. Overall, Holman has already made nearly $10,000 this month.
14. Zeke Thurson, $41,605
Thurston has placed on three of his four horses in June, which includes an 89 point ride on Korkow Rodeo’s Chester to win the First Round of the Casey Tibbs Xtreme Broncs. The two-time World Champion has 17 rides of 85+ points which is just five shy of how many he had in 2021.
15. Kade Bruno, $41,317
Bruno has won four checks and three checks of $1,000 or more on a total of seven outs so far this month. He notched second place finishes at the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo (California) and Pony Express Rodeo (Utah).
16. Jacobs Crawley, $37,436
Crawley has had runner-up finishes at Old Fort Days (Arkansas), Durant Pro Rodeo (Oklahoma) and Woodward Elks Rodeo (Oklahoma) this month. In June, the 10-time NFR qualifier is 9-for-9 and has made around $7,000.
17. Spencer Wright, $36,570
Wright has won just over $1,300 on six outs so far in June and has just one ride in the 80s. On May 22, he earned $5,197 for a third place finish in Round 1 in Miles City.
18. Mitch Pollock, $36,223
Pollock has won more than $7,000 in the last five days thanks to a second place finish at the Sisters Rodeo, a fourth place finish at the Eastern Livestock Show and a third place finish at Battle Born Broncs.
19. Damian Brennan, $35,120
Brennan, the only rookie in the Top 20, immediately vaulted himself into NFR contention by winning Battle Born Broncs and taking home $7,924.
20. Dawson Hay, $32,360
Since the conclusion of RodeoHouston on March 19, Hay has won one check.
STANDINGS VIA PRORODEO.COM. ACCURATE AS OF JUNE 17, 2022 AT 1 PM ET.
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