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WNFR Bubble Update

by ProRodeo.com | Sep 26, 2016

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With just five days left in the 2016 regular season, every cowboy is jockeying for position to end up in the top 15 and qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER.

Here are some of men who made their move this past weekend:

  • Eight-time Wrangler NFR qualifier Tyson Durfey earned $2,500 for his tie-down roping win at the Cowboy Capital of the World PRCA Rodeo in Stephenville, Texas, and while that didn’t lift him out of 17th place, it did keep his Las Vegas travel plans in play. He is just $482 behind J.C. Malone for the 15th and final berth in the WNFR, and is leading the two-head average at the Sept. 24-29 Pasadena (Texas) Livestock Show & Rodeo, while Malone stands fifth and Adam Gray (who is 16th in the world) is not among the leaders there.
  • After sharing the first-round win at the Amarillo (Texas) Tri-State Fair & Rodeo, Brent Lewis found himself within $360 of JoJo LeMond for the 15th spot in the steer roping world standings, but then it was LeMond’s turn to show his competitive fire. LeMond finished second in the second round and second in the average in Amarillo and earned another check in Stephenville, Texas, to close out the last weekend of steer roping competition in 13th place. He has a $3,096 edge over Lewis, and a ticket to the Nov. 11-12 Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping in Mulvane, Kan. Lewis missed that final spot by $287 to Marty Jones of Hobbs, N.M. Eighteen-time World Champion Guy Allen earned checks in both Amarillo and Stephenville to finish 14th in the regular-season standings and secure his 34th qualification for the NFSR, a ProRodeo record for any event. It will mark his first NFSR appearance since 2008.
  • Cody Cabral’s bid to become the first Hawaiian steer wrestler to qualify for the WNFR – and the first from the Aloha State since bull rider Myron Duarte made the last of his eight appearances in 2004 – is going down to the final days. After Trevor Knowles moved ahead of him last weekend with checks in Stephenville, Texas, and Poway, Calif., Cabral is clinging to the 15th spot with $55,676, just $1,037 ahead of Jake Rinehart. Rinehart jumped from 21st to 16th last week by putting together wins at the American Royal Rodeo in Kansas City, Mo., and the Comal County Fair & Rodeo in New Braunfels, Texas.
  • Tyrell Smith of Great Falls, Mont., is the saddle bronc rider to watch at this week’s $10,000-added Pasadena (Texas) Livestock Show & Rodeo and the Young Living Rodeo in Mona, Utah. He’s 16th in the Sept. 26 WEATHER GUARD® PRCA World Standings, but just $260 behind Canadian Jake Watson for the 15th and final WNFR berth. Watson is up tonight in Pasadena on Frontier Rodeo’s Badlands Bay and Smith goes on Thursday night on Frontier Rodeo’s Texas Red.
  • Wyatt Denny was bumped down to 15th place in the bareback riding standings as a result of Richmond Champion’s big weekend (three checks, including second-place results in Amarillo and Stephenville) and is now faced with staving off challenges from Bill Tutor ($3,307 back) and Teddy Athan ($3,855).
  • Coleman Proctor made a big move to qualify for his third consecutive WNFR berth, jumping from 18th to 15th among team roping headers, bumping out Billy Bob Brown, who last week had bumped Dustin Egusquiza from the coveted 15th spot. Proctor’s lead over Brown is a precarious $871. On the heeling side, Justin Wade Davis of Cottonwood, Calif., moved up one spot to 16th and is $3,755 behind Wesley Thorp in 15th.

    • After a two-year absence from the Wrangler NFR, bull rider Trevor Kastner is making a strong finish, moving up one spot to 16th and to within $5,977 of 2011 World Champion Shane Proctor in 15th. Kastner had checks in Stephenville and in both Xtreme Bulls Division 2 events last week – Oklahoma City and New Braunfels, Texas – and will now need an even better week to claim his fourth WNFR qualification.

    Courtesy of PRCA

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