BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
Jess Pope will be out until August and in his absence, Cole Reiner, Tim O’Connell and Rocker Steiner have all done significant work to close the gap on the World No. 1 in the month of July.
1. Jess Pope, $121,660
Pope has not competed since the World’s Oldest Rodeo (Arizona) over the Fourth. He was 86 points on Colorado Kool Aid there to take second.
2. Cole Reiner, $109,957
On the Weekend of July 17, Reiner made three rides of 86.5 points or higher to win both the Sheridan Wyo Rodeo and the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo. The two-time NFR qualifier has made about $17,000 in the last two weeks.
3. Tim O’Connell, $106,7611
O’Connell placed in five rounds at The Calgary Stampede and made more than $15,000 toward the PRCA World Standings there. The three-time World Champion has been 86 or more points on nine of his last 11 outs dating back to June 30.
4. Rocker Steiner, $106,131
While battling multiple injuries, the 18-year-old rookie won The Calgary Stampede and moved up to No. 4 from No. 6. Steiner was 86 or more on 5-of-6 outs in Calgary and won over $35,000 toward the PRCA World Standings.
5. Clayton Biglow, $97,910
Biglow won Round 1 of his pool in Calgary and then proceeded to cash four more checks north of the border. The 2019 World Champion made over $12,000 toward the PRCA World Standings thanks to three rides of 86 or better.
6. Tanner Aus, $93,647
On the Weekend of July 10, Aus cashed checks in his home state of Minnesota as well as Wisconsin before heading ever further North to ride in Calgary, where he made about $10,000 toward the PRCA World Standings for placing in three rounds.
7. Kaycee Feild, $88,226
Feild did not compete in Calgary, opting for the NFR Open instead, and it turned out to be a great move for the six-time World Champion. Feild made four rides of 84 points or better and won the Long Round Average in Colorado Springs to bring in more than 18,000 and be the top earner in the bareback riding. He has moved up two spots in the last week.
8. Caleb Bennett, $85,926
From July 7-17, Caleb Bennett not only had time to qualify for the Four-Man Showdown in Calgary, he also placed at the Laramie Jubille Days (Wyoming), Wolf Point Stampede (Montana) and the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo (Utah). Overall, the nine-time NFR qualifier won checks on 8-of-10 outs over those 11 days and made about $18,000 toward the PRCA World Standings.
9. R.C. Landingham, $78,943
Landingham placed in four rounds and made the 10-Man Semifinals in Calgary, but has still moved down two spots in the World Standings in the last two weeks. The three-time NFR qualifier is a perfect 57-for-57 in 2022 and has an average score of 83.16 points which is more than two points better than his career high of 81.13.
10. Leighton Berry, $78,273
Berry has matched his career high with six Go-Round wins in 2022. In Calgary, he won three checks, but they were all less than $1,200.
11. Garrett Shadbolt, $75,575
Shadbolt finished second in Round 2 at the NFR Open to bank more than $4,000 and also found success at some other Colorado rodeos. At the Rooftop Rodeo, which concluded on July 11, he finished third and at the Westcliffe Stampede on July 16, he was second. Between those three Colorado rodeos, Shadbolt earned about $12,000 in a week’s worth of work.
12. Chad Rutherford, $70,497
Rutherford won the Laramie Jubliee Days on July 10 and Rooftop Rodeo on July 11 to make about $4,000. The next weekend, at the NFR Open, he brought in a little more than $6,000.
13. Orin Larsen, $66,753
Larsen has moved up from No. 17 in less than two weeks thanks to more than $23,000 in PRCA earnings since July 6. Larsen finished first or second in three rounds at The Calgary Stampede and qualified for the 10-Man Semifinals through the Wild Card. The seven-time NFR qualifier was also second at the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo on July 16.
14. Cole Franks, $65,396
The 2021 Resistol Rookie of the Year dropped from No. 12 to No. 14 after Calgary, where he made five rides marked between 82.5 and 83.5 points.
15. Ty Breuer, $61,690
Breuer has slowly moved into the Top 15 thanks to his consistency. Over the last 30 days, he has made about $30,000 by placing everywhere he goes and winning smaller rodeos. On July 9, he was the champion of the Steele Championship PRCA Rodeo (North Dakota) and the Wall Celebration on July 10. Over the Weekend of July 17, Breuer placed at the Sheridan Wyo Rodeo and the Central Wyoming Fair in addition to winning $15,000 and placing second in the Long Round Average at the NFR Open.
16. Wyatt Denny, $55,395
Denny came up empty at the NFR Open, but has taken advantage of just about every other rodeo he has competed in since the Fourth of July. On the Weekend of July 11, Denny won the Heart of the North Rodeo (Wisconsin), second at the Hamel Rodeo (Minnesota) and fourth at Laramie Jubilee Days. The three-time NFR qualifier tallied nearly $6,000 from those three rodeos. On July 16, he won the Westcliffe Stampede (Colorado) to earn just over $2,000.
17. Tilden Hooper, $52,015
Since July 6, Tilden Hooper has placed in 5-of-6 rodeos. He was one of the few Top 20 competitors who did not compete in the NFR Open or Calgary Stampede, but it paid off as he won the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo (Utah) on July 9 and the Cattlemen’s Days (Colorado) on July 16. Over the last two weeks, Hooper has made about $10,000 and rose two spots in the World Standings.
18. Mason Clements, $51,285
On the Weekend of July 10, Clements had a very profitable trip to the Midwest as he won the Heart of the North Rodeo and the Hamel Rodeo. The next weekend, however, he did not win anything at the NFR Open but salvaged the trip to Colorado with a third place finish at Cattlemen’s Days.
19. Jayco Roper, $45,268
Since his big Fourth of July weekend, Roper has competed at just three rodeos where he has won two checks totaling a little more than $1,000.
20. Bill Tutor, $41,802
Tutor did not win anything at the NFR Open last weekend, but finished third at the two other rodeos he entered. He was 84 at the Westcliffe Stampede and 83.5 at the Ute Stampede.
STANDINGS VIA PRORODEO.COM ARE ACCURATE AS OF 12 PM ET ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 19. ONLY A PERCENTAGE OF EARNINGS FROM THE CALGARY STAMPEDE COUNTED TOWARD THE PRCA WORLD STANDINGS.
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Calgary Stampede: Recap, Highlights and Payouts
NFR Open: Recap, Highlights and Payouts
