PRCA Standings Shuffle: 16 Move Up in Top 15
By Matt Naber
With only one week left in the 2019 regular season, ProRodeo athletes are racing to the finish line in hopes of making the Top 15 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings to qualify for the $10 million Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
The third week of September featured 14 ProRodeo competitions across North America worth a collective $502,139, the bulk of which stemmed from the Amarillo (Texas) Tri-State Fair and Rodeo’s $118,183 payout.
Every dollar counts, and each remaining rodeo is more crucial than the last as opportunities to advance dwindle. Veteran and rookies alike are well aware of this as 16 cowboys cashed in enough to see their positions improve within the Top 15.
Nobody knows this better than team roping header Erich Rogers, saddle bronc rider Chase Brooks and steer roper Roger Branch, as all three cowboys moved up three spots in their respective events last week.
Rogers moved from 15th to 12th for team roping heading thanks to placing third in Amarillo for $2,577. The Arizona cowboy has qualified for the Wrangler NFR the last eight years, winning the world title in 2017.
Brooks jumped from seventh to fourth for saddle bronc riding thanks to winning the Lion’s Dixie Roundup in St. George, Utah, with an 88-point ride on Bar T Rodeo’s Lady Vain for $3,751. The Montana cowboy competed at his first Finals last year and was this year’s winner of the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla.
Branch was the only cowboy in any event to break the bubble last week by launching from 18th to 15th in steer roping thanks to placing third in the average and taking home $1,770 in Amarillo. The Oklahoma cowboy has ended multiple seasons on the bubble – 2004 (17th), 2014 (19th) and 2018 (16th) – but this year could be his first trip to the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping if the next few days turn out in his favor.
With 20 ProRodeo competitions left in the regular season, there are plenty of opportunities to climb the world standings and finish the season within the Top 15.
In the last week, the following cowboys moved up within the Top 15 of their respective events, but any of them could change between now and the end of September.
Two Spots
• Riley Pruitt moved from ninth to seventh in tie-down roping.
• Daylon Swearingen moved from 15th to 13th in bull riding.
One Spot
• Jacobs Crawley moved from sixth to fifth in saddle bronc riding.
• Chad Masters moved from eighth to seventh in team roping heading.
• Joseph Harrison moved from eighth to seventh in team roping heeling.
• Josh Frost moved from eighth to seventh in bull riding.
• Mitch Pollock moved from 10th to ninth in saddle bronc riding.
• Jess Tierney moved from 10th to ninth in steer roping.
• Bridger Chambers moved from 12th to 11th in steer wrestling.
• Bradley Harter moved from 13th to 12th in saddle bronc riding.
• Garrett Hale moved from 13th to 12th in steer roping.
• Tate Kirchenschlager moved from 14th to 13th in team roping heading.
• Tanner Brunner moved from 15th to 14th in steer wrestling.
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.
• Team roping heeler Paden Bray moved from 17th and is $1,973 away from breaking into the Top 15.
• Saddle bronc rider Isaac Diaz moved from 17th and is $532 away from breaking into the Top 15.
With the Pasadena (Texas) Livestock Show & Rodeo underway through Sept. 26 and the 50th Annual Cowboy Capital of the World PRCA Rodeo in Stephenville, Texas, and the Omaha (Neb.) River City Rodeo slated for this week, last-minute jumps into the Top 15 could happen.
Check back with ProRodeo.com next week to see who the leaders are in the PRCA | RAM World Standings. All qualifications for the 2019 Wrangler NFR will be unofficial until audits are completed later this fall.
Courtesy of PRCA