Duo of Rogers and Bray Tied for Early Lead at Tour Finale
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Team ropers Erich Rogers and Paden Bray posted a 4.5-second run in the first round of the 2020 Gold Buckle Beer ProRodeo Tour Finale in Rapid City, S.D., Sept. 22 to split the No. 1 position with Matt Sherwood and Trey Yates.
“Having the Tour Finale is so nice since it’s been so thin this season,” said Bray, 21. “This year has been hard to win and had a lot of one-headers, so it’s go as fast as you can just about everywhere. So, it’s nice to go against 24 teams instead of 50, and we can make businessman decisions.”
Making a splash early in the race is precisely Rogers’ and Bray’s style. Earlier this season they dove into the competition after the COVID-19 hiatus and won the most money among ProRodeo athletes who competed during the first week of July.
Their Cowboy Christmas haul launched Rogers (the 2017 team roping heading world champion) from 20th to 10th among headers and took Bray into the Top 15 for the first time in his ProRodeo career, going from 20th to eighth among the heelers. Since, they’ve remained strong contenders in the PRCA | RAM World Standings while maintaining a spot near the top of the Tour standings.
Rogers entered the Tour Finale fourth in the Tour standings among team roping headers, while Bray was fifth among heelers. In Rapid City, they’re up against the Top 24 team roping pairs on the Tour.
As for the world standings, Rogers is ninth among headers with $7,124 separating him from No. 15, and Bray is 11th among heelers with $7,894 separating him from No. 15. But they’re not about the competition behind them, they’re looking at what’s ahead.
“Man, if you do well here you win quite a bit of money and get a better seat going into the Wrangler Finals – and it all helps pay the bills,” said Rogers, 34.
Bray narrowly missed the cut last season to what would have been his first trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo when he finished 17th in the world standings. The Texas cowboy is set for his Wrangler NFR debut alongside Rogers, who will be celebrating his 10th consecutive Finals.
Both cowboys made their run on horses owned by Bray’s family – Rogers on a 15-year-old bay named Woodrow and Paden on a 12-year-old gelding named Slider.
The ropers are optimistic about the upcoming days of competition.
“We just need to draw good and keep catching, that’s the secret to rodeoing,” Bray laughed.
Fans can catch the action live on the Cowboy Channel and the PRCA on Cowboy Channel Plus app, Sept. 23-26 at 9:30 p.m. (ET).
For nightly coverage of the Gold Buckle Beer ProRodeo Tour Finale, visit ProRodeo.com through Sept. 26.
Other first-round event leaders are bareback rider Caleb Bennett (87.5 points on J Bar J’s Yum Bug); steer wrestler Rowdy Parrott (3.5 seconds); saddle bronc rider Brody Cress (88 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Covergirl); tie-down roper Tyler Milligan (7.6 seconds); barrel racers Ryann Pedone and Shelley Morgan (16.21 seconds each); and bull rider Stetson Wright (87 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Quid Pro Quo).
Courtesy of PRCA