2022 Wrangler NFR Round 6 News & Notes
Round 6 – Dec. 6, 2022 Round 6 Daysheet
Country music singer Ben Gallaher is the opening act, and the national anthem will be performed by country music singer Wyatt McCubbin. Resistol is the performance sponsor. It is also Resistol Rookie Night. The 2022 PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Years will be recognized on the arena dirt.
WRANGLER NFR LIVE ON TELEVISION AND INTERNET
The 2022 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo® presented by Teton Ridge airs nightly from Dec. 1-10 at 5:45 p.m. PST/8:45 p.m. (EST). The Cowboy Channel is the official network partner of PRORODEO® and the exclusive broadcast and streaming partner of the NFR. Live coverage of the NFR can be found on The Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV through its cable and satellite partners, and online at cowboychannelplus.com.
R.C. LANDINGHAM’S ROUND 5 WIN HAS SPECIAL MEANING
Competing during Round 5 Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge had special meaning to bareback rider R.C. Landingham. “It is pretty emotional,” said Landingham, 32. “My mom, Wendy Skiver, passed away of ovarian cancer (Feb. 3, 2017). This is her rodeo dream, and she is living it with me.” Landingham’s mom would have been proud of her son’s performance on Monday night. Landingham had a 90.5-point ride on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Top Notch for the win.
BAREBACK RIDER LARSEN, BULL RIDER STRATFORD OUT IN ROUND 6
Bareback rider Orin Larsen, who is making his eighth Wrangler NFR appearance, doctored released out of Round 5 and as such will also have to miss Round 6 because of a broken right thumb. Larsen broke his thumb during his 63-point ride on Legends Rodeo Stock’s Illegal Smile in Round 3. Larsen is 14th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $133,784. He has earned $22,125 at the NFR, highlighted by him taking fourth in Round 1 with an 86-point ride on Harper & Morgan Rodeo Company’s Sippin’ Firewater. Joining Larsen on the sidelines in Round 6 is bull rider JR Statford, who is making his NFR debut, and suffered a left ankle injury during Round 4 when he failed to make the whistle aboard Stace Smith Pro Rodeos’ Con Air. According to Dr. Tandy Freeman, the co-medical director and orthopedic surgeon for Justin Sportsmedicine, Stratford, 20, doctored released out of Round 5 and as such will also have to miss Round 6. He’s eligible to return for Round 7 of the Wrangler NFR. Stratford is ninth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $142,943. He has earned $35,882 at the NFR.
NEWS & NOTES
In bareback riding, defending NFR Average Champion Jess Pope has drawn Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Shady Nights. In Round 1, Tilden Hooper was 86.5 points on the horse. Cole Reiner looks for his second go-round win on Tuesday night. Reiner gets on Harper & Morgan Co.’s Sippin’ Firewater. Caleb Bennett went for 88 points on the horse at the Mandan (N.D.) Rodeo Days in July… Saddle bronc rider Layton Green hopes to build off his third-place finish in Round 5, by drawing Rubels of Big Stone Rodeo Inc.’s for Round 6. Sage Newman won Round 1 of the NFR on the horse with an 89-point trip. Zeke Thurston aims to regain his footing in Round 6 after missing the pay window for the first time Monday night. The two-time PRCA World Champion matches up with Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s Lunatic Party. Dawson Hay rode the bucking horse to a second-place finish in Round 1, notching an 87.5-point ride…In bull riding, Stetson Wright hopes to hear the eight-second horn for the fifth time in six nights. Wright has boasted an impressive NFR thus far, collecting $98,400 in bull riding alone. The Utah native drew Four Star Rodeo’s Bit a Bad News, a bull Trevor Kastner rode to an 89-point ride in Round 1. Five-time NFR qualifier Jeff Askey wants to turn the tide on his NFR showing, looking to notch his first qualified ride since Round 1. Askey matches up with Burch Rodeo’s Burning Bush. In three qualified rides this season, bull riders have sustained an average score of 86.83 points on him.
Record times and scores for Round 6 of the Wrangler NFR:
Bareback riding: 91 points, Orin Larsen, 2021
Steer wrestling: *3.0 seconds, Bryan Fields, 1986
Team roping: 3.5 seconds, Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 2011
Colby Lovell/Russell Cardoza, 2012
Saddle bronc riding: 89.5 points, Cort Scheer, 2018
Zeke Thurston, 2018
Ryder Wright, 2020, 202
Tie-down roping: 6.8 seconds, Haven Meged, 2020
Barrel racing: 13.37 seconds, Taylor Jacob, 2021
Bull riding: 94 points, Jerome Davis, 1996
*Denotes Arena record
Courtesy of PRCA