PRCA Standings Shuffle: 30 Move Up in Top 15
By Matt Naber
The ProRodeo Tour is in its final countdown of the season, and cowboys were racing across the Northwest last week to earn as many points as possible at the five Tour events in Montana, Idaho and Oregon.
With more than $1.85 million on the table across the 38 ProRodeo competitions around North America, Aug. 12-18, there were plenty of opportunities to gain some ground in the PRCA | RAM World Standings or make a jump in the ProRodeo Tour Standings.
Six of last week’s competitions featured six-figure payouts, five of which were ProRodeo Tour events:
• Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo: $327,501
• Fallon County Fair & Rodeo in Baker, Mont.: $179,737
• Canby (Ore.) Rodeo: $175,258
• Gooding (Idaho) Pro Rodeo: $158,971
• Yellowstone River Round-Up in Billings, Mont.: $128,052
The non-Tour rodeo to break the six-figure-payout mark was the Moses Lake (Wash.) Round-Up Rodeo with $158,349.
With so much money on the table, 30 cowboys saw their positions improve within the Top 15.
Cowboys know it’s easier to maintain a position at the top than it is to play catch-up when trying to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Every dollar counts, and making the Top 15 in the world standings during the summer run builds a cowboy’s confidence and establishes a foundation for the race for the gold buckle at the Wrangler NFR.
Nobody knows this better than steer wrestler Will Lummus and saddle bronc rider Mitch Pollock as both cowboys jumped five spots in their respective events last week. Lummus moved from 10th to fifth in steer wrestling and Pollock moved from 18th to 13th in saddle bronc riding.
Lummus was co-champion in Gooding with a 3.7-second run that was worth $3,321. He also placed third in Caldwell for $5,672 and in Billings for $2,070.
Lummus, 27, made his Wrangler NFR debut in 2018 where he placed third in the average and ended the season third in the world standings. Since, he’s cashed big checks such as $14,750 at RodeoHouston, $6,353 at the Snake River Stampede in Nampa, Idaho, and $5,835 at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede.
Pollock posted one of the highest scores of the week with a 90-point ride on Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s Lunatic Party during the first round in Caldwell. He went on to win the average with 176.5 on two head and took home $7,156. He also was named co-champion in Canby for $3,712.
He posted another high score, 89 points, to place second at the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo in Kalispell for $2,050.
Pollock, 26, ended the 2018 season with a personal best of 31st in the world standings with $36,918. So far, he’s won 10 ProRodeo competitions this season, including the Lakeside (Calif.) Rodeo and Iowa’s Championship Rodeo in Sidney.
With some of the biggest checks on the line in the coming weeks, big jumps like Lummus’ and Pollock’s are sure to happen again.
The following cowboys also moved up within the Top 15 last week.
Four Spots
• Tyler Milligan moved from 12th to eighth in tie-down roping.
• Nick Guy moved from 14th to 10th in steer wrestling.
• Paul David Tierney moved from 16th to 12th in team roping heading.
• Jess Tierney moved from 18th to 14th in steer roping.
Three Spots
• Billie Jack Saebens moved from 17th to 14th in team roping heeling.
• Ruger Piva moved from 18th to 15th in bull riding.
Two Spots
• Tuf Cooper moved from sixth to fourth in tie-down roping.
• Tyler Wade moved from 12th to 10th in team roping heading.
• Josh Frost moved from 12th to 10th in bull riding.
• Landon McClaugherty moved from 13th to 11th in steer roping.
One Spot
• Trevor Brazile moved from second to first in steer roping.
• Ty Blasingame moved from fourth to third in team roping heading.
• J. Tom Fisher moved from fourth to third in steer roping.
• Chad Masters moved from seventh to sixth in team roping heading.
• Chris Glover moved from seventh to sixth in steer roping.
• Clay Tryan moved from eighth to seventh in team roping heading.
• Garrett Hale moved from eighth to seventh in steer roping.
• Garrett Smith moved from 10th to ninth in bull riding.
• Cole Patterson moved from 11th to 10th in steer roping.
• Jake Brown moved from 12th to 11th in bareback riding.
• Wesley Thorp moved from 13th to 12th in team roping heeling.
• Colt Gordon moved from 13th to 12th in saddle bronc riding.
• Taylor Broussard moved from 14th to 13th in bareback riding.
• Westyn Hughes moved from 14th to 13th in tie-down roping.
• Jordan Hansen moved from 14th to 13th in bull riding.
• Tate Kirchenschlager moved from 15th to 14th in team roping heading.
• Matt Reeves moved from 16th to 15th in steer wrestling.
• Shad Mayfield moved from 16th to 15th in tie-down roping.
Cowboys on the bubble for a spot in the Top 15 can find themselves a few dollars short of qualifying for the Wrangler NFR. This was the case for tie-down roper John Douch as he moved from 17th to 16th and is $285 away from breaking into the Top 15.
Check back with ProRodeo.com next week to see who the leaders are in the PRCA | RAM World Standings.
Courtesy of PRCA