Colton Brittain, Joseph Guze Just Outside Top 15
Although they didn’t win the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, last weekend, team roping heeler Colton Brittain and steer wrestler Joseph Guze left feeling almost like they did.
Brittain and Guze found themselves just a few dollars shy of breaking into the Top 15 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings of their respective events earlier this week after having strong showings in Odessa.
Alongside team roping header Cyle Denison, Brittain picked up $2,514 by winning Round 1, launching the Rockwall, Texas, cowboy from 38th in the team roping heeling standings to 16th – a mere $4 away from 15th.
“To be honest, I haven’t even looked at it (the standings) because it’s so early,” said Brittain, 21.
Brittain also scored $1,417 by winning Round 3 of the RAM Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo in early January.
“Cyle heads really good and does a good job for me, and my horse is about the same and does an awesome job, too,” Brittain said.
Brittain’s horse is Hot Rod, an 11-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding.
“He’s really fast, doesn’t like to miss the corner and just finishes the run really good for me,” Brittain said.
Placing third at Odessa to earn $3,507 launched Guze up the steer wrestling chart with $15 separating him and the No. 15 position. It also put him in the Stockyards Shootout, a qualifier for the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
“I’m pretty excited about it, especially since it’s still early in the season, but placing third qualified me for Fort Worth, which is a qualifier for San Antonio, and that’s a big opportunity as well,” said Guze, 26.
Neither cowboy intends to stay outside the Top 15 for long.
“We (Brittain and Denison) are going to try to get to everywhere we can and win as much as possible, just like everyone else,” Brittain said. “I’d like to win San Antonio, that’s a great goal for me and would be a good way to start the year.”
Brittain finished 37th in the 2020 world standings with $20,005. Guze hadn’t competed within the PRCA since 2018 when he won $14,430.
Guze will increase his odds for success when he picks up his primary mount, a 15-year-old American Quarter Horse mare called Bobby. She’s being brought across the Canadian border on Monday, and Guze will pick her up in Spokane, Wash.
“She’s the one I made the CFR (Canadian Finals Rodeo) on in 2017,” Guze said. “She’s just consistent, scores good and really tries to cross the line and leaves flat. She gives a guy a good go every time.”
Guze is a steer wrestling powerhouse on his home turf in Canada but is learning the ropes on how to approach rodeo in the U.S. by getting tips from Curtis Cassidy, a seven-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier.
“It’s definitely a bigger scale, and the guys down here are the best in the world,” Guze said. “And there are just so many of them that it’s definitely a step up.”
Courtesy of PRCA