BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
In the midst of the Texas Swing, Easter provided a break from the ultra-competitive big indoor rodeos.
There were 10 events total from March 29-30, but only one paid more than $50,000.
Rest up for San Angelo, here’s what you need to know from the past weekend.
- A pair of Top 20 bareback riders took most of the money at the Cinch World’s Toughest in Raleigh, North Carolina. No. 11 Sam Peterson took home the rodeo win with an 86-point ride on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Happy Trails and he left with $3,620, a total that No. 20 Jake Lees barely edged out by finishing second in the First Round ($2,775) and first in the Bonus Round ($1,000). Only the winner gets paid in the Bonus Round of Cinch World’s Toughest events. Peterson and Lees have cleared the 85-point mark
- Marcus Theriot leads the PRCA All-Around World Standings with nearly double the next closest cowboy, Wacy Schalla. Stetson Wright has won every All-Around Gold Buckle since 2019, but with him sidelined, the Mississippi tie-down roper and team roper has taken up the No. 1 spot. He has $40,550 compared to Schalla’s $20,348. However, he may need a bigger cushion before Wright’s June return. Last year at this time, Stetson Wright had $136,110 in the All-Around World Standings.
- The distance between saddle bronc rider Damian Brennan and No. 2 in the PRCA World Standings is greater than the distance between No. 2 and No. 15. Brennan’s $116,120 is the most of any PRCA athlete so far in 2024. He leads Statler Wright by about $49,000 while Wright and No. 15 Kolby Wanchuk are separated by about $35,000.
- Bareback rider Ethan Mazurenko got the biggest check of his career with a win at the MSU-Northern PRCA Extreme Bares and Broncs. The 21-year-old received a first place check of $5,386 for riding Think Pink for 87.5 points. His previous high for a single ride was $3,630 for a win at the Cinch World’s Toughest in St. Paul, Minnesota in February.
- Bull rider Trey Holston is 6-of-9 at Cinch World’s Toughest events this year. The 21st ranked cowboy in the PRCA World Standings has made $32,234 and $19,819 of that has come at Cinch World’s Toughest events. Holston won World’s Toughest Rodeos in Columbia, South Carolina, Columbus, Ohio and St. Paul, Minnesota. Over the weekend, he took second in Raleigh.
- Barrel racer Jenna Lummus, wife of six-time NFR steer wrestler Will Lummus won the Central Ark PRCA Rodeo. Jenna ramped up her rodeo schedule by making 24 runs in 2023 after only a handful in 2021 and 2022. In 2024, she has already competed at 16 rodeos and notched her first win over the weekend with a time of 15.80 seconds. Oh, and she does all of this while working full time as a pharmacist.
- Justin Thigpen won the steer wrestling and tie-down roping at the Bartow Citrus Roundup Rodeo (Florida). In a well earned all-around title, Thigpen was 4.6 seconds in the bulldogging and 8.4 in the tie-down roping to to win a pair of $677 checks.
