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Teel Looking Forward to Begin Pursuit of WCRA Triple Crown $1 Million Bonus in Kansas City

By: Justin Felisko

ST. LOUIS – It has been more than a year since Cody Teel – the 2012 PRCA champion – has competed at a rodeo, but that will change in one week.

Teel is one of nine bull riders that have qualified for next weekend’s WCRA Royal City Roundup in Kansas City, Missouri.

The event, which is being held in conjunction with the Unleash The Beast’s Caterpillar Classic (Feb. 29/March 1) at the Sprint Center, is the first WCRA $1 million rodeo since the organization announced the Triple Crown of Rodeo (TCR) bonus last September.

The TCR is an annual bonus that will pay $1 million to any one athlete or collection of athletes whom win first place in any three consecutive WCRA $1 Million Major Rodeos.

“Shoot, it is a great opportunity,” Teel said on Thursday. “It works out well for all of us PBR bull riders having them events right there the day before. Being able to ride for that kind of money and get a warmup in before the regular bull riding.”

BULL RIDING CONTESTANTS FOR WCRA ROYAL CITY ROUNDUP

Two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood
2012 PRCA champion Cody Teel
2017 PBR World Finals event winner Jose Vitor Leme
World No. 1 Joao Ricardo Vieira
No. 34 Dakota Louis
No. 57 Stetson Lawrence
No. 84 Colten Fritzlan
Sam Oliver
Justin McCall

Teel has never competed at a WCRA event before, but said that he would rely on his previous rodeo experience to make sure he approaches the event with the same preparation that he normally would at a PBR event.

 
Many bull riders are creatures of habit and have a specific routine, says the College Station, Texas, cowboy.

“Over the years, rodeoing, you always kind of had a plan to start getting ready during certain events,” Teel said. “. That is something I will fall back into that routine. Typically, at a regular rodeo, usually around the bronc riding is the time I would change and start getting my spurs on, and the timing is right around the halfway point. Typically that is when I start shifting gears.”

The Royal City Roundup is the first WCRA major event of 2020. It will be followed by the May 17 Stampede at The E in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and then the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo on July 21-25 in Salt Lake City. The 2020 WCRA schedule wraps up in Tacoma, Washington, on Aug. 28 with the Puget Sound Showdown.

The annual $1 million incentive is not limited to just the WCRA 2020 season; rather, it allows athletes to rack up wins on a rolling calendar basis. This means athletes’ three consecutive wins can cross calendar years.

A bull rider can win a share of the $1 million – if not all of it – by winning three of those above events in a row.

Teel made it a priority to start nominating himself for WCRA events after failing to qualify for the Windy City Roundup in Chicago and the Titletown Stampede in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last year.

The WCRA uses a Virtual Rodeo Qualifier (VRQ) system in which rodeo athletes can nominate themselves, and their performances, at rodeo events all over the world to earn points to the WCRA standings. Rodeo athletes can then qualify for the organization’s $1 million Major rodeos.

Teel qualified for the semi-final round of the bull riding competition, and advanced to Kansas City via his performance at the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Unleash The Beast event.

“Last year, I didn’t get into any of them,” Teel said. “I didn’t nominate accordingly, I guess. Like Chicago and Green Bay. After that, I was for sure that I didn’t want to miss another one after happening to be there watching.”

 
During the 2018-19 WCRA series, multiple athletes were in a position to achieve the $1 million bonus, which proves that it is a possibility.

Bareback rider Wyatt Denny and bull rider and Derek Kolbaba both won the Days of ‘47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo in July 2018, and both went on to win WCRA’s Windy City Round Up in January 2019.

Team ropers Garret Tonozzi and Joe Mattern have won two majors- The Windy City Roundup and The Titletown Stampede.

“It is not going to be easy, but you know as well as I do sometimes things shift your way, and you sometimes have to ride that wave,” Teel said. “It is very possible that it could happen. Derek has won two in a row I believe. It is not easy, and things may have to line up right, but as long as you show up and you are consistent with how you go about it, things fall into place sometimes. If you take an ample amount of opportunities, it will dang sure line up, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen, honestly.”

TEEL IN SEARCH OF PBR WORLD POINTS THIS WEEKEND

250 miles away in St. Louis, though, Teel has important business to tend to. The No. 42-ranked bull rider in the world standings has two weeks to get himself back inside the Top 30 of the PBR world standings or else he will be cut from the Unleash The Beast and be forced to work his way back up the ranks via the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour.

Teel takes on @PBR on Tik Tok (2-5, UTB) in Round 1 Saturday night at the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational at Enterprise Center. He begins the weekend 9.25 points behind No. 35 Troy Wilkinson, who has returned home to Australia following last weekend’s Global Cup.

Fans can watch Round 1 exclusively on RidePass beginning at 6:45 p.m. ET.

“Just do my job and stay on,” Teel said following a cautious laugh. “That is the main deal. I have to connect. It looks like I got two good bulls starting out this weekend. Just have to do my job on both.”

Teel also could earn 30 world points toward the world standings if he wins the WCRA Royal City Roundup.

Teel was not cut from the Unleash The Beast last season, but he did hover around the Top 40 until he won the Tacoma Invitational in April to surge to No. 8 in the world standings.

“The last two years have been pretty slow starting out, and it is not a good thing,” Teel concluded.

TEEL NOW ONE OF TWO AMERICAN RIDERS WITH TWO GLOBAL CUP VICTORIES

 
Teel heads into St. Louis following a victory at the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy, in which he went 1-for-2.

The 27-year-old and Cole Melancon are the only two American riders with multiple Global Cup victories after being a part of the 2017 Edmonton winning squad.

“I was glad to do my part and help contribute some,” Teel said. “It ended up being just what we needed. It worked out. It was another exciting event like it always is. I am glad we got it done. The medals they gave this year were pretty special, having that as a keepsake. As soon as I got home, I put it atop the buckle case.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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