Roger Estlack

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – This is exactly what Wyatt Casper has been looking for.

He’s a five-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier whose inaugural run at ProRodeo’s championship event took place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, during COVID. This year marks his fourth trip to Las Vegas for the NFR, and it’s the best finale he’s experienced since 2020. It might just be his best ever.

“I’ve kind of struggled out here the last three or four years,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “To finally be able to capitalize on ones like I wanted, it’s a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t know it was possible to come here and have a good NFR, but we’re finally making it happen.

“It’s a lot of fun.”

Winning makes it even better. Casper rode Frontier Rodeo’s Yellowstone for 86.5 points to finish third in Thursday’s eighth round, adding $20,104. He has pushed his NFR earnings to $133,157. Oh, and there are two rounds remaining. Casper leads the all-important aggregate race with a cumulative score of 687 points. He’s six ahead of Canadian Dawson Hay.

“We thought that horse was at the top end of our ‘hopper pen,’ so we wanted to pen him up a little bit,” Casper said. “He fits in the (‘souped-up hopper pen’) pretty good with all those other horses. I was glad to have him.

“That was a nice horse, and I’ve been on him three or four times now. He seems to do almost the same thing every time. He will come around to the left, and he’s up under himself. It makes it a lot of fun.”

His work in Las Vegas has increased his annual salary to $352,941, and he is second on the money list. While he trails two-time world champ Ryder Wright of Beaver, Utah, by $59,000, Casper’s spot in the aggregate race could play into the final outcome. The average winner will add $86,391 after the show closes Saturday night.

Thursday’s round was an opportunity to shine. The horses were the type that cowboys should ride. In fact, just one was bucked off. They’ll be matched Friday with the “eliminator pen,” which features the most difficult broncs in ProRodeo. Scoring high on the “souped-up hoppers” is a chance to be refreshed as they get ready for battle.

“That kind of ride helps your confidence a bunch,” Casper said. “You’re going to have a shot to show off in front of those judges and show them what you can do on that horse.

“I think I need to keep placing in those rounds. I’ll just try to win the rounds, and everything will fall where it needs to fall.”

As he prepares for Friday night, e will be matched with Calgary Stampede’s Freedom Express, which bucked off Logan Hay on Sunday.

“I feel good; I feel confident,” he said. “I’ve got a pretty good horse, so I’m pretty excited. He’s damn sure a bucker, but I think he’s a chance to maybe do something in the round and get some more points in that average.”

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – There are a lot of rodeos throughout the year where an 84-point saddle bronc ride will win the title.

That’s rarely the case at the National Finals Rodeo.

Brody Wells of Powell, Wyoming, has ridden strong at his first championship. He matched moves with Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Uptuck for 84 points to finish sixth in Thursday’s eighth go-round. That was worth $5,433 and helped him increase his NFR earnings to $93,403.

It also marked the fourth time in eight nights that he’s earned a payday in Las Vegas. He won the second round and shared the Round 5 victory with two-time world champion Ryder Wright.

Wells – who was part of two intercollegiate men’s team titles at Clarendon College in 2021 and Tarleton State University in 2022 – is 10^th in the saddle bronc riding world standings with just shy of $230,000. He has moved up two spots to 10^th in the world standings.

Oh, and he still has two nights remaining on his 2024 campaign.

Wells had some big victories through the regular season, which helped him earn a spot in this exclusive field. Only the top 15 contestants in each event earn the right to compete at the NFR, which features the biggest purse of any rodeo in a given year.

This has also been a big learning experience for Wells. He spent more time on the rodeo trail this year, and it paid off. He’d finished the previous two seasons 35^th on the money list. Where he will wind up this campaign will be decided when the curtain draw to a close Saturday night.

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – The race for a world championship is more of a marathon, a year-long battle that began in October 2023.

The track meanders across North America at outposts like Gillette, Wyoming; Salinas, California; and Regina, Saskatchewan. Those are just a few of the places Wyatt Casper won titles in 2024, and they’re a big reason why he’s in the hunt for a world championship at this year’s National Finals Rodeo.

The finish line is Las Vegas, and the competitors are on the final straightaway with a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle in sight. He’s second in the world standings with $332,837, about $45,000 behind two-time titlist Ryder Wright, but Casper has an ace up his sleeve; he leads the aggregate race with a seven-ride cumulative score of 600.5 points.

Casper added to that Wednesday night, riding Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Foul Motion for 87 points to finish in a three-way tie for second. That was worth more than $20,000, and it pushed his NFR earnings to $113,054. He owns a 6.5-point aggregate leader over a couple of Canadians, Zeke Thurston and Dawson Hay. The average winner will add more than $86,000 when Saturday’s 10^th round concludes.

“It’s pretty cool to have so much won by now,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “I’m just enjoying it. I’m trying to not let the pressure get to me. I try not to get all caught up in the hopping and hollering. I just try to take it one horse at a time, and the cards will fall where they’re going to fall.”

Making significant rides on a horse like Foul Motion is a big step in the process. The animal’s sire was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2019.

“I’ve seen him a bunch, and this is my fourth time getting on him,” Casper said. “It felt really good. That’s a bucking sucker. He was a little tougher than I’ve had him in the past, but every time that dud’s going to fire, so it was a lot of fun.”

Until it wasn’t. After the ride, the cowboy got off on the pickup man, but when he settled into the dirt, Casper sprained his left ankle. He has received treatment by the Justin Sportsmedicine Team and will continue to battle for the final three nights of the 2024 campaign. He’ll push the pain aside and focus on the business of winning rodeo’s gold.

“I’ve been in positions like this before,” he said. “I do this day in and day out rodeoing all year. You just try not to make it more than what it is.”

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – Professional athletes have been known to play with pain. Bareback rider Weston Timberman is proving that during his first National Finals Rodeo.

“In the second round, I acquired some pretty gnarly forearm splits; it’s like shin splits in your forearm,” said Timberman, 20, of Columbus, Montana. “It’s been a pretty serious thing for me the last couple of rounds, but it’s just something you’ve got to really fight through and deal with.

“At the end of the day, you’ve still got a bucking horse to ride, and that’s what we’re doing.”

His mental game is a big reason why he scored 86 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Fox Hole Gunner, good enough for third place during Wednesday’s seventh round and worth $20,104. He’s ridden seven broncs for a cumulative score of 593.5 points and is third in the aggregate race. He’s collected $77,918 in Las Vegas, and if his status in the average holds up could add another $55,000 when Saturday’s final round ends.

Fox Hole Gunner has been selected to perform at the NFR two times. The 11-year-old gray bronc is part of the “semi-eliminator pen” of bucking horses, and the animal proved his place in the round.

“I’ve seen that horse a couple of times, and I knew that if he did his job, it was going to be a big score,” said Timberman, a two-time intercollegiate titlist at Clarendon (Texas) College who earned the PRCA Bareback Riding Rookie of the Year title in 2024. “I was just going to have to match him.”

He’s sixth in the world standings with $232,017. He was hoping that match-up would be worth a first-place payday, but he understands just how difficult it is to win rounds in Las Vegas. He won the title on opening night and has now placed four times in seven days.

“You can’t be too mad when you’re making $20,000 in a night,” he said with a grin.

To score big at the NFR, it takes extreme talent, a good match via the random draw and a little bit of luck. For Timberman, he’s having to administer a mental pain block to make sure he’s at peak form. He’s chasing every dollar the City of Entertainment has to offer.

“I think I’ve come out here proving my point, and I’m just here to take one horse at a time, keep doing my job and keep chasing that (world) title,” Timberman said. “It’s not over until it’s over, and I feel like I still have a pretty good shot.”

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – Over his five qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo, Wyatt Casper has developed a bit of a routine.

He enjoys spending time with his family and also has NFR and sponsor appearances, where he signs autographs and meets with fans. It’s there that he gains a true understanding of what’s special about rodeo.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “You wouldn’t think anybody would even know you, but it’s pretty cool to go in there and have people tell you how good you’re doing. I enjoy it because rodeo is all about the fans. We wouldn’t have a sport without the fans.”

There are about 17,000 who crowd into the Thomas & Mack Center each night, but there are more than 100,000 folks in Las Vegas per day just for the rodeo and to experience the cowboy culture in the City of Entertainment. It’s a sought-after ticket for the fans, and Casper is putting on quite a show.

He has placed five straight nights, most recently in Tuesday’s sixth round by finishing in a tie for second place after posting an 86.5-point ride on Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s Little Muffin, worth $23,364.

“I’ve had Little Muffin out here before, and, shoot, this is probably the fifth time I’ve been on Little Muffin,” he said. “It’s a really good horse. This was our nice horses tonight, kind of the weaker ones the whole week, but you’ve still got to treat them all the same.”

His mindset is working. Casper has ridden six horses for a cumulative score of 513.5 points. He is first in the aggregate race by two seconds over the field and has pocketed $92,769 so far. He’s fourth in the world standings with $313,553.

“It’s always nice to collect those top-three checks,” said Casper, the 2016 intercollegiate champion while attending Clarendon (Texas) College. “Anytime you can do anything in a day for $20,000, that’s pretty dang nice.”

With rounds paying so much, the Texas cowboy is holding his focus per night. He understands that he can make a ton of money each of he four nights, but doing well in the aggregate race is also vital when competing for a world championship. The average winner will be awarded a bonus of $86,391 when the NFR concludes Saturday night.

“I’m just trying to take it horse by horse,” he said. “It’s nice to look at that and see I do have a little bit of a lead (in the average), but I’m not ever going to safety up. I’m going to just treat every single horse like I’m trying to win the round.

“I think that’s where you can stub your to is when you start thinking about the average and maybe trying to stay on your horse instead of riding them.”

Casper is $45,000 behind the money-list leader, two-time world champion Ryder Wright, but there’s a lot of money remaining in the round payouts. Wright has also had a no-score and is not in the aggregate picture just yet, so it could all come down to who has the best final four rounds. After two years of struggling through injuries prior to the NFR, he is healthy and ready to race toward the finish.

“I feel good, and I got to treat this fall how I wanted to instead of being hurt,” Casper said. “I got to get on all the practice horses I wanted. I enjoy not having a torn hamstring.”

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – Through the first half of the 10-day National Finals Rodeo, saddle bronc rider Brody Wells has placed three times and collected just shy of $90,000 in Sin City.

He’s earned at least a share of two go-round wins, which offers the lion’s share of the nightly payout. He’s proven that he’s in the right place at the right time, and he’s capitalizing on his opportunities.

“That felt great,” he said after posting an 89.5-point ride on The Black Tie of Sanky Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics to tie for the fifth-round win with two-time world champion Ryder Wright; each man collected $30,155. “That felt just like the first time I had him. He just fell of the ground, jumping up in the air, kicking hard, and it felt amazing.

“He gave a guy every opportunity to show off, still bucking. You’ve got to ride him, but he’s a great horse.”

The two tangled five months ago at the Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City and matched-up for 92 points. That earned Wells a $13,000 payday and the gold medal during the unique event that features an Olympics-style championship round. Having had The Black Tie before helped provide a ton of confidence, something he felt when he saw the draw.

“I already knew what he was going to do in the chute and how he was going to feel and the M.O. on that horse,” said Wells of Powell, Wyoming. “So, to win in Salt Lake on him and then have him here and win a round on him is pretty cool.”

He has pushed his season earnings to $223,772 and has moved up four spots to eighth in the world standings since arriving in Las Vegas. He’s accomplished things in his first week of the NFR that many cowboys dream about, even those that have played for the highest stakes in the game for years.

“It’s awesome to get it once, but at my first NFR to win it twice, it’s awesome,” said Wells, who was part of men’s national championship teams at both Clarendon (Texas) College and Tarleton State University. “I’m super excited and grateful to be here.”