Sage Newman Continues Impressive Season with St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo Win
There’s been a bit of a hoarding situation happening in the saddle bronc riding in 2022 when it comes to major rodeo wins.
Melstone, Montana saddle bronc rider Sage Newman has been collecting wins this season, leading the 2021 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier to the top of the PRCA | RAM World Standings.
And that was before the Fourth of July run.
Newman continued his trend during Cowboy Christmas. After sharing the victory at the Reno Rodeo just a week prior, Newman won the championship at the 86th St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo after posting an 89-point ride aboard Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Pendleton Round-Up’s Marquee on July 3.
“I had that horse earlier this year in Fort Worth and was 88 points, so I knew what she was all about,” Newman said of the seven-time Wrangler NFR bronc. “She bucks but she does the same thing every time and if you do your job, she’ll do hers and you’ll probably win something.”
“I was happy to have her,” he added. It was his first St. Paul victory in just his second trip to the small Oregon community, which hosts the largest Fourth of July rodeo in the U.S.
Newman picked up $12,281 for the win along with key NFR Playoff Series presented by Pendleton Whisky points. Along with Reno and St. Paul, he has also won Houston (Tex.), Clovis (Calif.) and Logandale (Nev.) on the Playoff Series and looks like a lock for both a second NFR trip and the $1 million NFR Playoff to be held during the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, Wash. in September.
“I’ve been drawing some great horses and I’m feeling good,” Newman said. “I’m having fun.”
Even normal road hazards like flat tires, which delayed Newman and his hauling buddies on their nineteen-hour trek from St. Paul to Mandan, North Dakota, haven’t fazed the 24-year-old bronc rider.
Traveling with Chase Brooks, Kolby Wanchuk and Tanner Butner, Newman competed in Prescott (Ariz.), Cody (Wyo.), Ponoka (Alberta), Red Lodge and Livingston (Mont.), St. Paul and Mandan from June 30 to July 4. On July 5, the group was headed to Big Fork, Montana.
“The rig did good everywhere—Tanner won Prescott, Kolby won Mandan and I won St. Paul. We’ve all won some good money,” Newman said. “It was jam packed, but we had a lot of fun.”
Fun has been the key word for Newman this season as he’s already earned more than he did a year ago in finishing eleventh in the standings. Given his torrid pace already in 2022, the single season earnings record set by Ryder Wright in 2019 at $224,488 could be in danger with three months—and a lot of money—left in the 2022 season.
Newman will have a couple of days off before he, Wanchuk, and Brooks compete at the Calgary Stampede during Pool A.
“Let’s hope it just keeps rolling all the way through August,” he said.
Other winners at the $439,555 rodeo were all-around cowboy Connor Murnion ($2,846 in saddle bronc riding and bull riding); bareback rider Kaycee Feild (89.5 points on Four Star Rodeo’s Big Star); steer wrestler Blake Knowles (8.2 seconds on two head); team ropers Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira (10.1 seconds on two head); tie-down roper Caleb Smidt (16.3 seconds on two head); barrel racer Katie Pascoe (17.42 seconds); and bull rider Hayes Weight (91 points on Big Stone Rodeo Inc’s Mr. Clean).
Courtesy of PRCA