Wrangler NFR Round 3 News and Notes

by ProRodeo.com | Dec 03, 2016

Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band is the opening act and the national anthem will be performed by country music star Lerin Thomas, a winner of the Las Vegas Events national anthem contest. Hesston by Massey Ferguson is the performance sponsor.

WRANGLER NFR LIVE ON TELEVISION, RADIO AND INTERNET
Tonight’s Wrangler NFR presented by Polaris RANGER will be televised live and in HD on CBS Sports Net (DISH Network channel 158 and DirecTV channel 221) from 7-10 p.m. (PT) with Jeff Medders and Butch Knowles announcing, Joe Beaver and Don Gay providing commentary, Suzanne Alexander hosting the pre-show and Kadee Coffman as the sideline reporter. All 10 performances of the 2016 Wrangler NFR will be available live with a video-on-demand option via pay-per-view through FloRodeo.com exclusively in Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. ProRodeo Live is airing coverage on a network of radio stations, including Rural Radio, and also online at www.prorodeolive.com with Steve Kenyon as the lead announcer.

ONE FOR COOPER
There was a special moment in the bull riding during Round 2, which involved the bull that round winner Roscoe Jarboe teamed up with. Jarboe scored 88.5 points on Wayne Vold Rodeo’s Cooper’s Comet, but the story was who was pulling the flank strap for the bull – Nansen Vold. Vold’s brother, Cooper Tonneson, is who the bull is named after. Tonneson died at age 19, due to complications from lupus, exactly two years ago to the day of Jarboe’s winning ride on Cooper’s Comet – Dec. 2, 2014. “It’s been an emotional day,” Vold said. “It doesn’t make any sense, it’s crazy.”

FAMILY TRADITION
Ryder Wright is attempting to become the fourth member of his family to win a saddle bronc riding gold buckle – a Wright has won the event’s title every even year since 2008. His father Cody is a two-time world champ (2008, 2010), while his uncles Jesse (2012) and Spencer (2014) both also have gold buckles. In 2014, Spencer set a saddle bronc riding record when he came from 13th at the start of the WNFR to win the world title. This year, Ryder entered the field 14th, and is looking to break his uncle’s record. He’s off to a heck of a start. After winning Round 1 with an 87.5-point ride on Frontier Rodeo’s Times Up, Ryder then won Round 2 thanks to an 86-point ride on Northcott Macza’s Get Smart. Ryder, 18, is looking like a baby-faced assassin, as he has already moved to fourth in the world in just two nights, and has opened up a 7.5-point lead over the rest of the field in the WNFR average race.

TONIGHT’S TOP MATCHUPS
Bareback rider J.R. Vezain has a grand opportunity to go to the pay window tonight when he climbs aboard Powder River Rodeo’s Craig At Midnight, the 2016 PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year. The horse had 11 outs during the 2016 regular season, with eight of the 11 riders making it to the whistle. All eight of those cowboys earned a check, with two of them placing first, and two others placing second. Evan Jayne has yet to earn a check at the 2016 WNFR, but he has a great chance to change his fortunes tonight as he matches up with Calgary Stampede’s Special Delivery, the horse who tied for third in the 2015 Bareback Horse of the Year voting. Special Delivery is the son of multiple-time Canadian Finals Rodeo and WNFR qualifying mare Z-38 Zippy Delivery, and was sired by six-time world champion Grated Coconut. Saddle bronc rider Ryder Wright will try and make it three round wins in a row when he faces Powder River Rodeo’s Lipstick N Whiskey. Ryder’s brother, Rusty Wright, won Round 8 at the 2015 WNFR on Lipstick N Whiskey with an 87-point ride. Shane Proctor, the 2011 bull riding world champion, draws Andrews Rodeo’s Midnight Bender, the 2016 Bull of the Year. Midnight Bender – a 5-year-old, 1,700-pound beast – is the first Andrews bull to win Bucking Stocking of the Year since Bodacious in 1994-95. Midnight Bender has only been ridden once in PRCA competition in the past three years – Wyatt Mecham, 79 points in Belton, Texas, in 2014. Jeff Askey draws D&H Cattle’s Bruiser tonight, who was voted as top bull of the 2015 WNFR.

Record times and scores for the third round of the WNFR:
Bareback riding: 91.5 points, Justin McDaniel, 2007 (equal to the arena record)
Steer wrestling: 3.1 seconds, Ricky Huddleston, 1985
Team roping: 3.8 seconds, Wade Wheatley/Kyle Lockett, 2002; Daniel Green/Kory Koontz, 2003; Travis Tryan/Michael Jones, 2009
Saddle bronc riding: 90 points, Billy Etbauer, 1999 and 2005
Tie-down roping: 6.6 seconds, Cody Ohl, 2014
Barrel racing: 13.65 seconds, Sherry Cervi, 2010
Bull riding: 94 points, Colby Yates, 2002

Courtesy of PRCA