Stetson Wright Breaks his Jaw in Dodge City

By Matt Naber

Rookie bull rider and saddle bronc rider Stetson Wright broke his jaw during the first round of bull riding at the Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup Rodeo, July 31.

“It flung him up in the air, and when he came down his hand hung for a second and the bull slung his head and busted his jaw,” said Cody Wright, Stetson’s father. “When the bull hooked his horn up under his helmet, it busted his jaw and broke it in five places and kind of messed up his bottom teeth.”

Despite the injury, Stetson managed to score 86 points on 4L & Diamond S Rodeo’s Last Cigarette to take the lead at the Dodge City rodeo, which concludes Aug.4.

Stetson, 20, was transferred from Dodge City to a hospital in Wichita, Kan., the night of his injury and was unavailable for an interview Aug. 1.

“He has an open fracture in his mouth,” Cody Wright said Aug. 1. “They’re waiting to see an oral surgeon now.”

Stetson’s brothers, Rusty and Ryder, were in Sidney, Iowa, when Stetson was injured. The two brothers went directly to Wichita.

“He’s in quite a bit of pain,” Cody Wright said. “Hopefully they (the doctors) are making the rounds to let him know what’s going on.”

Before his injury, Stetson was in the lead for bull riding and all-around in the PRCA | RAM World Standings and was ranked 16th in saddle bronc riding. He was leading the
PRCA | Resistol Rookie Standings for saddle bronc riding and bull riding.

“We’re waiting to see what they say,” Cody Wright said. “We heard that hockey players take three to six weeks to get back at it. … It’s not good that it is, but it’s part of the game, I guess. You hope and pray it doesn’t happen, but you never know what you got in store.”

Courtesy of PRCA