Daylon Swearingen, Leighton Berry Out Extended Time with Injuries
Bull rider Daylon Swearingen, who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in 2019, is out the rest of the winter and much of the spring with multiple injuries.
Bareback rider Leighton Berry, who made his Wrangler NFR debut in 2020, is likely out even longer with a back injury.
Swearingen suffered a right shoulder injury during a ride at a non-sanctioned PRCA event in the fall. Dr. Tandy Freeman operated on the shoulder Nov. 25.
“I was expected to be out four months with my shoulder and I’m going to have surgery on my right hip the second week of February (in Nashville, Tenn.),” said Swearingen, 21. “I have bad hips, and this has been a nagging injury I wanted to get fixed. It’s going to be arthroscopic surgery on my hip where they are going to scope it and clean it up.”
Swearingen is aiming to return to competition in May or June.
“I want to just get healthy and move forward,” Swearingen said.
In 2020, Swearingen finished 21st in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $43,798. In 2019, he finished ninth in the world standings with $179,799 – $67,962 of which he earned at the NFR. He won Round 5 with a 92-point ride – an NFR go-round record – on Big Stone Rodeo’s War City. He also placed fourth in Round 6 and second in Round 9.
Berry was injured at the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, Jan. 8.
“I got smashed in the bucking chutes and suffered some torn ligaments between my two vertebrae, my T12 and L1 to be exact,” said Berry, 21. “Those are compressed, so they are going to go in there and put two screws in those vertebrae, anchor them down and put a bone graft where the ligament is torn and then a rod to fuse them together.”
Berry is having surgery in Austin, Texas, Jan. 27.
“I’m expecting to be out between six and eight months,” Berry said. “It just depends on how my recovery comes along.”
On Jan. 2, Berry won the average and year-end titles at the RAM Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo at the Extraco Events Center in Waco.
Berry earned $4,783 during the three-day RAM TCFR. He finished ninth in the 2020 PRCA | RAM World Standings with $132,065. He earned $78,679 at the 2020 NFR at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He split second in Round 2 and was second outright in Rounds 3 and 4.
Courtesy of PRCA