Gabe Soileau Wins Steer Wrestling Rookie of the Year

Winning the PRCA | Resistol Steer Wrestling Rookie of the Year came down to the last round of Gabe Soileau’s final rodeo of the 2020 season.

The Louisiana cowboy posted a 4.4-second run at the West Texas Fair & Rodeo in Abilene and his second-place position in the second round was the deciding factor in the rookie race.

“It came down to a pretty close deal,” Soileau said. “I had to sit and wait for the whole rodeo to see if I would get that money. It was a little nerve-wracking.”

Soileau earned $1,225 in Abilene, which took him to the top of the PRCA | Resistol Rookie Standings for steer wrestling by a margin of $500 with $18,140. Riley Reiss finished second with $17,640.

“It was pretty much my main goal throughout the whole deal and it’s something I looked forward to for a while,” said Soileau, 22.

Soileau’s rookie title came aboard his 12-year-old American Quarter Horse gelding called Pep, the same horse he used throughout college while on his PRCA permit.

“He’s a really solid horse and he’s as good as you get every time,” Soileau said. “He scores great and really makes it easy and gives me the same opportunity on every run.”

Soileau’s rookie run didn’t go exactly as planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He graduated from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., with an ag business degree in May and then hit the rodeo road.

“It’s definitely not what I expected when I bought my card at the beginning of the season,” Soileau said. “I was planning on getting out of school and going full blast and hitting everything but it kind of got shut down around then and there was nothing so I stayed home and worked for a while.”

Soileau traveled with Zack Jongbloed and there was always a level of uncertainty about if each rodeo would be held or canceled at the last minute.

“It was just odd because everything we entered, everyone went to it,” Soileau said. “There wasn’t much picking and choosing on what you wanted to go to. From week to week you looked at the Business Journal and went to as much as possible. Anything Zack and I could possibly make, we went to it. We drove a large amount and went everywhere we could make it work.”

Of course, the 2020 season was packed with learning experiences.

“Honestly, just to stay positive and take it a rodeo at a time,” Soileau said. “When things don’t go well, move on to the next one since there’s always more. There were a couple of times this summer where I wasn’t winning as much as I wanted. The Fourth of July run was pretty tough, I didn’t win any money at all so I had to learn to keep my head up and keep moving to the next one.”

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