BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
In the final weekend of August, Riley Webb clinched the Horse Heaven Roundup tie-down roping title with a record-setting 6.6-second run in the Short Round, reigning World Champion Tyler Waguespack continued to show why he might be the one to beat in the bulldogging, and Kolby Wanchuk surged in the PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding World Standings.
Also, why anyone ranked in the Top 10 should feel pretty good right now and a trio of saddle bronc riders reaching a mark PRCA cowboys rarely do in the regular season.
All of that and more is in this week’s Monday Notebook.
- No. 1 tie-down roper Riley Webb won the Horse Heaven Roundup (Washington) with an arena record in the Short Round. Webb was 6.6 seconds in the Finals to bring his aggregate time to 24.7 seconds. He also had a 7.3-second run at the Kitsap Stampede (Washington) and a 7.4-second run to win the Gem State Stampede. For the weekend, he won about $16,000 to extend his PRCA regular season earnings record. He has now made more than $245,000 this season, besting the old record by more than $40,000 with a full month left to go in the regular season.
- Bareback riders Clayton Biglow and Richmond Champion have combined to win 12 rodeos in August. The two have combined to make 14 NFRs and have been cleaning up this month. Biglow’s most notable win was the Canby Rodeo (Oregon), where he was 90.5 on Yippee Kibbitz while Champion claimed the Lea County PRCA Rodeo, which came with a payday of almost $6,000, among others. Both cowboys won a PRCA Playoff Series Rodeo over the weekend as Biglow was victorious at the Golden Spike Rodeo (Utah) and Champion was first at the Horse Heaven Roundup.
- Saddle bronc rider Kolby Wanchuk went from outside the Top 20 to within $1,000 of the No. 15 spot over the last three weeks. The veteran of the last two NFRs is right back in the picture after looking like he made fade down the stretch. He won about $15,000 at the Home On The Range Champions Ride on Aug. 5 and has since added second place finishes at the Northeast Montana Fair and Rodeo and the Bear Paw Rodeo (Montana) in addition to Round wins at the Caldwell Night Rodeo (Idaho) and the Bozeman Stampede (Montana).
- Bull rider Tristen Hutchings won over $12,000 at the Kitsap Xtreme Bulls. Hutchings continues to cement himself as one of the top bull riders in the world as his 89-point ride on Big Stone Rodeo’s Hostile was enough to beat out fellow Top 15 cowboys Cullen Telfer, Trey Kimzey and Jeff Askey for the $12,690 payday. Hutchings is now riding 44 percent of his bulls for an Average Score of 85.02.
- Steer wrestler Tyler Waguespack leads the PRCA in Qualified Times (95), Average Time (5.61), 4.5 Second or Faster Runs (34) and Go-Round Wins (17). Waguespack sits No. 2 in the world, but still leads essentially every statistical category. He cut further into Dalton Massey’s lead with by winning two of three rounds and the Average to take home $11,600 from the Horse Heaven Roundup.
- Three saddle bronc riders have cleared $200,000 in earnings already. Sage Newman leads the way with $221,360 with a chance to break his own regular season earnings record ($253,191) with Stetson Wright and Zeke Thurston, winners of the last two World Titles, right behind him at $207,967 and $204,141 respectively. There are only a handful of instances of PRCA saddle bronc riders making more than $200,000 in a full regular season.
- Every cowboy ranked in the Top 10 entering September last season made the NFR. Nothing is a sure thing in rodeo, especially when injuries happen, but based on last season’s World Standings, those currently in the Top 10 are more than likely heading to Las Vegas in December.
- Saddle bronc rider Damian Brennan won the Horse Heaven Round-Up despite entering the Short Round in eighth place. The Aussie picked up his fourth win in August despite riding for just 82 points in the Long Round. He delivered with 90.5 on Calgary’s Xplosive Skies in the Short Round to win the Average by a half point over Q Taylor.
