PRCA Standings Shuffle: 36 Move Up in Top 15
By Matt Naber
Cowboy Christmas is under way, and 36 cowboys got a jump-start to the most lucrative time of the regular season by improving their position within the Top 15 of their events in the 2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings. With $2,068,657 on the table across 27 ProRodeo competitions, June 24 through July 1 saw many of the top cowboys winning large checks across the continent.
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 PRCA | RAM World Standings during the summer run establishes a solid base and builds a cowboy’s confidence as the summer run picks up pace.
Nobody knows this better than steer wrestler J.D. Struxness, who launched 17 spots in the world standings, from 32nd to 15th, thanks to picking up $12,725 at the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo.
Struxness, 24, is a two-time qualifier for the Wrangler NFR (2016-17) and has collected more than $500,000 in career earnings since his rookie year in 2014. This season, the Minnesota cowboy has won the Tulsa (Okla.) State Fair PRCA Rodeo, the Woodward (Okla.) Elks Rodeo and the Reno Rodeo.
Cowboys will have 45 PRCA competitions to choose from through July 7, including ProRodeo Tour stops at the World’s Oldest Rodeo in Prescott, Ariz.; the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede; the Livingston (Mont.) Roundup; the St. Paul. (Ore.) Rodeo and the Oakley Independence Day Rodeo in Oakley City, Utah.
With some of the biggest checks on the line in the coming weeks, big jumps are sure to happen again.
The following cowboys also moved up within the Top 15 last week.
Six Spots
• Joseph Harrison moved from 13th to seventh in team roping heeling.
• Cody Lee moved from 16th to 10th in steer roping.
Five Spots
• Tanner Brunner moved from 11th to sixth in steer wrestling.
• Lefty Holman moved from 20th to 15th in saddle bronc riding.
• Nick Guy moved from 18th to 13th in steer wrestling.
Four Spots
• Brenten Hall moved from 18th to 14th in team roping heading.
Three Spots
• Garrett Hale moved from ninth to sixth in steer roping.
• Marty Yates moved from 10th to seventh in tie-down roping.
• Chad Masters moved from 12th to ninth in team roping heading.
• Ty Harris moved from 14th to 11th in tie-down roping.
• Tyler Milligan moved from 16th to 13th in tie-down roping.
Two Spots
• Hunter Cure moved from fifth to third in steer wrestling.
• Sterling Crawley moved from seventh to fifth in saddle bronc riding.
• Jeff Askey moved from 10th to eighth in bull riding.
• Westyn Hughes moved from 11th to ninth in tie-down roping.
• Tanner Aus moved from 15th to 13th in bareback riding.
• Brady Garten moved from 15th to 13th in steer roping.
• Chase Tryan moved from 16th to 14th in team roping heeling.
One Spot
• Trevor Brazile moved from second to first in steer roping.
• Coleman Proctor moved from third to second in team roping heading.
• Ty Breuer moved from fourth to third in bareback riding.
• Brady Minor moved from fourth to third in team roping heeling.
• Chase Brooks moved from fourth to third in saddle bronc riding.
• Clayton Sellars moved from fifth to fourth in bull riding.
• Luke Brown moved from sixth to fifth in team roping heading.
• Tony Reina moved from sixth to fifth in steer roping.
• Tyler Bingham moved from seventh to sixth in bull riding.
• J. Tom Fisher moved from eighth to seventh in steer roping.
• Garrett Smith moved from eighth to seventh in bull riding.
• Hunter Koch moved from ninth to eighth in team roping heeling.
• Rhen Richard moved from ninth to eighth in tie-down roping.
• Taylor Broussard moved from 10th to ninth in bareback riding.
• Junior Nogueira moved from 10th to ninth in team roping heeling.
• Rusty Wright moved from 10th to ninth in saddle bronc riding.
• Dawson Hay moved from 14th to 13th in saddle bronc riding.
Cowboys on the bubble for a spot in the Top 15 can find themselves a few dollars short of qualifying for the Wrangler NFR. The following cowboys climbed the standings to No. 16.
• Bareback rider Steven Dent moved from 19th and is $439 away from breaking into the Top 15.
• Steer wrestler Juan Alcazar Jr. moved from 19th and is $118 away from breaking into the Top 15.
• Team roping header Bubba Buckaloo moved from 26th and is $1,001 away from breaking into the Top 15.
• Team roping heeler Kory Koontz moved from 17th and is $1,959 away from breaking into the Top 15.
• Saddle bronc rider Kolby Wanchuk moved from 17th and is $406 away from breaking into the Top 15.
• Bull rider Daylon Swearingen moved from 23rd and is $9,424 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