WEATHER GUARD PRCA World Standings Watch: Standings Shuffle – 15 Cowboys Move Up
With $422,665 up for grabs between 12 PRCA rodeos across the country this past weekend, 15 cowboys saw their position improve within the WEATHER GUARD® PRCA World Standings’ Top 15.
An interesting note about this week’s standings is that 11 of the Top 15 saddle bronc riders competed at the 2016 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER – and two more were ranked No. 16 and No. 17 (Tyrell Smith and Taos Muncy) at the end of the 2016 season.
Veteran and rookie cowboys alike know it’s easier to maintain a position at the top than it is to play catch-up when trying to qualify for the WNFR. It’s important to build a solid lead as the summer season approaches.
Several of the Top 15 cowboys saw their position in the world standings improve, largely thanks to the $87,785 payoff at the Beef Empire Days PRCA Rodeo in Garden City, Kan., and the $70,959 payoff at the Will Rogers Stampede in Claremore, Okla.
The following cowboys saw their position in the world standings improve between May 22 and May 30:
• Clay Smith moved from 18th to 12th in team roping heading.
• Randall Carlisle moved from ninth to seventh in tie-down roping.
• Matt Reeves moved from 10th to eighth in steer wrestling.
• J.D. Struxness moved from 13th to 11th in steer wrestling.
• Jeremy Buhler moved from 15th to 13th in team roping heeling.
• Cory Solomon moved from 17th to 15th in tie-down roping.
• Tim O’Connell moved from second to first in bareback riding.
• Vin Fisher Jr. moved from third to second in steer roping.
• Jason Evans moved from sixth to fifth in steer roping.
• Tim Bingham moved from eighth to seventh in bull riding.
• Chris Glover moved from 12th to 11th in steer roping.
• Dustin Bowen moved from 12th to 11th in bull riding.
• Paul Eaves moved from 12th to 11th in team roping heeling.
• J.R. Vezain moved from 16th to 15th in bareback riding.
Cowboys on the bubble for a spot in the Top 15 can find themselves just a few dollars short of making a WNFR qualification. Bull rider Jeff Askey moved from 19th to 16th and is $121 away from breaking into the Top 15.
With two Wrangler Champions Challenge events happening this week in Santa Maria, Calif., and in Spanish Fork, Utah, the outcome of these rodeos and others are sure to impact the world standings in a big way, and possibly give a glimpse at who will compete at the 2017 WNFR.
Check back with prorodeo.com next week to see who the new leaders are in the world standings.
Courtesy of PRCA