Colt Gordon

Colt Gordon – Comanche, Okla. ($91,071)
First-time WNFR qualifier

If Colt Gordon’s first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification starts the way his regular season ended – look out.

The rising star from Comanche, Oklahoma has been on the verge of qualifying for rodeo’s championships for a good part of the season. He won over $3,000 at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo in February, and by the first of April was 15th in the world standings.

He stayed among the top 15 until the last three weeks of the season when he dropped down to 16th. With two weeks to go, he won the championships at the Pendleton Round-Up in Oregon and the West Texas Fair & Rodeo in Abilene. He went from $78,138 in earnings to $91,071 where he will start his first NFR. He qualified in 14th place.

Colt joined the PRCA in 2016. He finished his high school rodeo career that same year with the second of his qualifications to their finals in the saddle bronc riding. He qualified in the team roping his freshman and sophomore years.

He had been getting on some broncs at ranch rodeos and really liked it. The family was at a rodeo his junior year of high school and his mom told him to get a saddle because she had entered him in the saddle bronc riding there.

He fell in love and turned that into a passion that will hopefully lead to a long career. He went to college at Clarendon, Texas, where Bret Franks a former NFR saddle bronc rider was his coach. He has taken every advantage to learn about every aspect of saddle bronc riding and what it takes to be successful in and out of the arena. His parents are extremely proud of their first NFR qualifier. His brother, Dylan, competes in the team roping and no one would be surprised to see him rope in the bright lights of Vegas.