Saddle Bronc Rider Will Pollock Snares Win in Casper
Saddle Bronc rider Will Pollock was minding his business, packing up his gear when he started doing the math his head.
“I had no idea I was winning the average. Then I started thinking about it, and I was like ‘I guess I have to be, right?'” Pollock correctly recalled.
Pollock posted an 82.5-point ride on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Hero and an 84-point ride on Mo Betta Rodeo’s Sue City Sue. The combined score – 166.5 points – gave Pollock the average title at the Central Wyoming Fair and PRCA Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., a stop on the NFR Playoff Series presented by Pendleton Whisky.
Although Pollock got the win it wasn’t before some anxious moments for Pollock as Isaac Richard and Isaac Diaz had re-rides.
“I was a little bit nervous,” Pollock admitted.
The victory completed an eye-opening week for the 22-year-old.
Before Wyoming, he claimed the title at the Camas County Pro Rodeo in Fairfield, Idaho.
“It’s been a good run. I have to keep the ball rolling,” said Pollock, who earned more than $4,500 in prize money for the wins.
It started in Idaho aboard Blade. Pollock sliced through the competition with an 84-point ride on King Rodeo and Wentz Bucking Bulls’ Blade on July 9.
“That horse, I didn’t know anything about. I knew he was really big and was going to go out really good and then get long and strong. He worked out,” Pollock said. “He was kind of hard to ride. There were a lot of guys there. I got a lucky.”
Humility is an admirable quality, but Pollock has earned his success. He was born to rodeo. His dad Johnny is a retired cowboy and horse trainer who competed in the PRCA for 20 years.
“I was around it all the time. I just loving going down the road every day and competing,” Pollock said.
In Casper, Wyo., Pollock turned a blend of unknown and a sure thing into a winner. He rode Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Hero for the 82.5 score with very little intel.
“That horse some of the buddies of my mine knew what he was. I didn’t. But most of the fellas knew, and he was a good one in the short round,” Pollock said.
When he drew Sue City Sue from Mo Betta Rodeo, he smiled, knowing a victory was within reach.
“She’s been good for a long time, maybe 10 years,” said Pollock, who is headed to events in Kansas this week and will resume classes at Clarendon (Texas) College in August. “I was super excited when I got that draw. Now, I have to keep it going. The plan is always to get to the NFR. I want it to be this year. But if not, then definitely next year.”
Other winners at the $301,486 rodeo were bareback rider Cole Reiner (174 points on two head); steer wrestlers Shane Frey and Stetson Jorgensen (7.6 seconds each on two head); team ropers Riley Minor/Brady Minor (9.3 seconds on two head); tie-down roper Lane Livingston (18.4 seconds on two head); barrel racer Summer Kosel (34.07 seconds on two head); and bull riders Hayes Weight (89.5 points on Big Rafter Rodeo’s Times Up) and Dawson Gleaves (89.5 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Predator).
Courtesy of PRCA