Six professional rodeo competitors from Kansas have qualified for the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).
In Las Vegas, Nevada, December 1-10, 2022, the NFR features the top 119 contestants in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
Contestants in the 10-day competition will be vying for coveted gold buckles and a share of the $10.257 million purse.
Jess Pope, Waverly, heads into the NFR second in bareback bronc riding with $159,259 winnings this year. Just ahead of the Kansas cowboy is Cole Reiner, Buffalo, Wyoming, with $160.971.
Tanner Brunner, Ramona, comes into the NFR steer wrestling in tenth place with $96,271 won this year. Steer wrestling event leader is Stetson Jorgensen, Blackfoot, Idaho, with $134,661.
Jake Long, Coffeyville, is second in the world team roping heeling standings with $130,332. Junior Nogueira from Brazil is at top of the heeling winnings with $227,878.
Two Kansas bull riders have qualified for the NFR. Trey Holston, Fort Scott, is 11th with $108,892, just ahead of J.R. Stratford, Byers, in 12th with $107,061.
Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, heads the bull riding standings with $320,599, and is second in saddle bronc riding with $193,120. Totaling those event rankings puts Wright first in the PRCA all-around standings with $378,340.
Beau Peterson, Council Grove, goes into the finals 11th in the breakaway roping list with winnings of $56,086. Martha Angelone, Stephenville, Texas, is winning the breakaway roping to date with $109,097.
Cooper Martin, Alma, was just a few dollars shy of another NFR qualification in tie-down calf roping placing 16th with $101,392. The top 15 money winners at the end of the 12-month season ending September 30, 2022, qualify for the NFR.
Placing 15th for the year in calf roping was Kincade Henry, Mount Pleasant, Texas, with $101,946. Shad Mayfield, Clovis, New Mexico, is leading the calf roping going into the NFR with $203,508.
Cole Patterson, Pratt, ended the steer roping season ranked second in the world with $117,036. His dad, Rockery Patterson, was 18th for the year with $37,060.
Pope won the bareback bronc riding average at the 2021 NFR for the second year in a row, with 873 points on 10 head. Pope finished the 2021 season with $340,499 and finished a career-best second in the world standings.
Pope was third in the 2020 world standings with $220,029. He won two go-rounds and placed in six go-rounds winning his inaugural NFR average with $170,417 earnings.
Partnering with Clay Tryan, Long finished sixth in the 2021 world team roping heeling standings with $199,062. Earning $103,836 at the 2021 NFR, Long placed in five 2021 NFR go-rounds and split the seventh go-round win. Long’s professional rodeo career earnings are $2.05 million.
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CUTLINES
Jess Pope, Waverly, heads into the National Finals Rodeo second in bareback bronc riding with $159,259 winnings this year.
Jake Long, Coffeyville, is second in the world team roping heeling standings with $130,332 on the way to the National Finals Rodeo.
Texas Cowboy Boots Reigning Kansas’ Champion
Into Second At World Steer Roping Championship
By Frank J. Buchman
Kansas was forced to take a seat behind Texas at the recent world championship steer roping in Mulvane, Kansas.
J. Tom Fisher, Andrews, Texas, was crowned world champion steer roper at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) climax event.
Reigning world champion Cole Patterson of Pratt was the 2022 world reserve champion steer roper.
Unable to qualify for competition at for this year’s championship, Cole’s dad Rocky Patterson finished the year in 18th place.
This was a moment J. Tom Fisher replayed in his head thousands of times, according to PRCA Rodeo.
Having a chance to become the world champion steer roper in the final of the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR).
Well, the stage wasn’t too big for Fisher who won the tenth go-round with an electric 9.5-seconds run. That gave him his first career gold buckle.
Fisher earned $10,160 for the round victory. Most importantly, he finished third in the average with a 111.2-seconds time on nine head and collected another $19,884.
J. Tom Fisher finished atop the PRCA yearend steer roping standings with $123,477. Reigning world champion Cole Patterson was second with $117,036.
“This is a lifelong dream,” said Fisher, 37. “This is the best day of my life. My brother Vin is an amateur mathematician and he had it figured out. I needed to win at least third in the final round and Cole not place.
“I had to stay third in the average. I knew I had a great steer because Cash Myers tied him in 9.7-seconds in the fifth go-round. I just wanted to be a little off the barrier, blast him on the ground, and that’s the way it worked out.”
Patterson needed to finish third or better in the final go-round to claim his second world crown.
However, Patterson stopped the clock in 11.0-seconds, which tied for seventh in the round and out of the money. A third-place check or better was needed by Patterson in the final go-round since he was out of the average.
“This is just incredible,” Fisher said. “I.ve worked at this every day the last 20 years. You dream about having a chance to win the round to win the world. I’m just very blessed that this all worked out.”
The coveted gold buckle was a long time coming for the Fisher family. Father Dan has 16 NFSR qualifications, Vin has 19, and J. Tom has 10. Finally in 2022, the family left with a gold buckle.
Vin has been second in the steer roping world standings two times in 2015 and 2019, and Dan was reserve world champion in 1996.
“Getting this gold buckle after all those NFSR qualifications in my family is incredible,” J. Tom said. “In the 1990s, you tried to be reserve because Guy Allen was going to win. There was nothing you could do about it. So, this never seemed like it could be a reality until seven or eight years ago.”
Fisher was riding Gump, 20, a horse his brother Vin had previously ridden at the NFSR. Vin set the record for the fastest ever NFSR 8.2-seconds run riding Gump in 2020 at Mulvane.
“I traded for Gump this September, and I won the first two rodeos I was on him in Henryetta, Oklahoma, and Abilene, Texas,” J. Tom said. “He’s just the easiest horse I have ever ridden or done anything on. Gump is such an awesome horse.”
Scott Snedecor came in to the NFSR as the season leader and finished fourth in the world standings with $109,286.
Cody Lee won the average with a 123.3-seconds on 10 head, earning $30,349, and finished third in the world $113,096. This is the third NFSR average crown for Lee, who won in 2016 and 2018.
J. Tom Fisher came to the 2022 NFSR fifth in the world standings. He reached the steer roping pinnacle thanks to earning $64,575, the most of any competitor at the NFSR. He placed in six rounds and won Round 5 and Round 10.
“This is just a dream for me. It’s like hitting a three-pointer to win the NBA championship,” Fisher said. “This is so incredible.”
Clay Long, sixth in the world with $96,560, won the Dixon McGowan Award for being the highest-ranked first-time NFSR qualifier. The award memorializes McGowan, who died at age 23 in an automobile accident in 1997.
Martin Poindexter won the Legacy Steer Roping championship with $10,149, as he edged Corey Ross who came in with $9,392.
In 2021, Cole Patterson won his first steer roping world championship in record-setting fashion. He finished the season atop the world standings with $190,242, a single-season steer roping earnings mark.
Patterson also earned a National Finals Steer Roping record $85,726. He won the 2021 average with 97.7-seconds on nine head.
His dad Rocky Patterson won world steer roping championships in 2009-10, 2012 and 2016. The Pattersons became the third father and son to win steer roping world titles. They join John McEntire (1934) and Clark McEntire (1956-57 and 1961), and Charles Good (1975) and Gary Good (1979).
Rocky Patterson has career steer roping earnings of more than $1.63 million. Qualified for his 27th National Finals Steer Roping last year, Rocky finished 10th in the world standings with $63,029. He earned $18,895 at the 2021 NFSR and finished sixth in the average.
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CUTLINE
Cole Patterson, Pratt, is the reserve world champion steer roper in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
