Rodeo athletes put on a show at National Western Stock Show in Denver
On the final day of the 2024 National Western Stock Show in Denver, 12 of rodeosʼ best athletes in each event competed in the final round for a shot at the prestigious championship title.
Over the course of the 16-day event, athletes took part in 19 performances, where they competed in brackets to advance to the semi-finals and then to the final round. Eight athletes were crowned champions in their respective events.
Bareback riding
Bareback Rider Garrett Shadbolt took home a two-peat championship title to Merriman, Neb. after making an 86.5-point ride on Cervi Brother Rodeo’s Dream Machine in the championship round.
After winning $5,455 on the night, paired with earnings from preliminary competition, Shadbolt went home with a big $12,183 check.
Other bareback riders on the leaderboard after the final round included Bradlee Miller of Huntsville, Texas in second place and a third-place tie between Cooper Cooke of Victor, Idaho and Will Lowe of Amarillo, Texas.
Keenan Hayes of Hayden, Colo. rounded out the top five in the event.
Saddle bronc riding
Brody Cress of Hillsdale made his home state of Wyoming proud when he matched his own arena record of 91 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s R Watson’s Ed Bishop to win the title and a total of $11,147.
Cress was followed in the final round by Kolby Wanchuk of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada in second place; Cort Scheer of Elsmere, Neb. in third place; Statler Wright of Beaver, Utah in fourth place and Ryder Sanford of Sulphur, La. in fifth place.
Bull riding
The excitement kept rolling in the rough stock events, when T. Parker of Winnie, Texas was the only man to make an eight-second ride in the final round.
Although the bulls seemed to have the advantage over their two-legged counterparts throughout the two-week competition, Parker made an 83-point ride on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Dirty Mike to earn the title and a whopping $16,003.
Barrel racing
Female athletes showed up at 2024 NWSS in arguably one of the stiffest competitions of the night.
Four-Time World Champion Hailey Kinsel of Cotulla, Texas and Halyn Lide of China Spring, Texas both stopped the clock at 14.73 seconds in the final round for a two-way, first-place tie. After winning more money in preliminary rounds, Kinsel collected an $11,086 check at the end of the week, while Lide’s total was just under $5,000.
The two Texas cowgirls were followed by one of Wyoming’s own – Maggie Poloncic of Gillette – in third place; Kailey Mitton of Mount Sterling, Utah in fourth place and Sadie Wolaver-Troyer of Weatherford, Okla. in fifth place.
Tie-down roping
The cowboys also saw some tough competition, especially in the final round of tie-down roping, where only one-half of a second separated the top five cowboys in the event.
After a clean 7.3-second run, Texas Cowboy Tanner Green of Cotulla ended the night in the first-place slot on the leaderboard, taking home the championship title and a check totaling $7,435.
A 7.4-second run put Garrett Elmore of Springer, Okla. in the third-place position, and Pecos Tatum of La Plata, N.M. rolled in to the third-place slot with a 7.5-second run.
With a run of 7.8 seconds, two Texas cowboys – Tuf Cooper of Decatur and Ty Harris of San Angelo – tied for fourth place in the round.
Steer wrestling
Only 0.7 seconds separated the top four cowboys in the steer wrestling, and rising to the top with a 3.3-second run was Tyler Pearson of Atoka, Okla., who took home the title and a $7,996 check.
Following close behind was Hallsville, Texas’ Justin Shaffer with a 3.8-second run.
Travis Munor of Townsville, Australia and Kyler Dick of Oakley, Utah both made a run of four seconds flat for a third-place tie, while Will Lummus of Byhalia, Miss. rounded out the top five in the event with a 4.1-second run.
Team roping
Team Ropers Dustin Egusquiza of Marianna, Fla. and Levi Lord of Sturgis, S.D. were the final champions crowned for the night. With a run of four second flat, the team left the competition with the title and $7,489 each.
Two teams, each with a 4.5-second run, ended the final round of team roping in a tie for second place. They were Wyatt Imus of Brenham, Texas and Tyler McKnight of Pollok, Texas, as well as Marcus Theriot of Lumberton, Miss. and Cole Curry of Liberty, Miss.
Other teams on the leaderboard included Cyle Denison of Iowa, La. and Dustin Davis of Terrell, Texas in fourth place and Tyler Wade of Terrell, Texas and Wesley Thorp of Throckmorton, Texas in fifth place.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
