The mission for gold buckle Number 2 is complete for steer roper Cole Patterson.
Patterson, who had a record-setting regular season earnings mark, took care of business to claim his second career gold buckle at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) at the Kansas Star Arena, Mulvane
“This a weight lifted off my shoulders,” said Patterson, 28. “It was a heck of year and when you come in with a $25,000 lead and even though the money is so good here, you are still expected to win. That adds a little pressure to an already pressure-packed situation. That’s why I do it, to get put in these pressure situations.
“The only thing better than those pressure situations is when you execute in those situations and the feeling it gives you. This is just a relief.”
Patterson added his latest gold buckle to the first one he captured in 2021. The Pratt, Kansas, cowboy finished atop the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world standing $166,710.
With things getting quite interesting, Patterson slammed the door on the competition with his slick 9.9-second Round 9 winning run to clinch the coveted world title. He earned $10,160 for the round win.
“I wasn’t sure of the exact numbers going into Round 9,” Patterson said. “But I knew I had an excellent steer. I knew that steer was so good, and I knew if we went and made our run, we were going to get a good check in the round and probably seal the deal up and we did.”
Scott Snedecor finished second in the world standings with $144,452, thanks to earning an NFSR-best $51,415. Cody Lee ($132,011), Jess Tierney ($127,914) and Slade Wood ($116,655) rounded out the top five in the world standings.
Patterson placed in six rounds, including winning Round 2 (12.2 seconds) and Round 9 and left town after earning $45,195 at the NFSR. He rode his award-winning horse Tigger in Rounds 6 through 10.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming into that last run,” Patterson said. “Even when guys get off to a good start the first night sometimes the cards don’t fall their way the second night. I knew I needed day money.
“I needed to tie steers fast and my horse Tigger just has a special quality that whenever the pressure is on, he knows it and he works even better than usually does. He took care of me and set me up to tie some fast steers.”
This gold buckle was special for Patterson, since it was his first since he and his wife, Natalie, had their first child, a boy, Pruitt, who was born in June.
“As awesome as the gold buckle is, that boy is the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Patterson said. “It takes a little bit of the pressure off when you can come to the NFSR and know that no matter what happens my wife and son are going to be at home. It is not a do or die situation even though sometimes it feels like it is.”
It was truly a special night for Patterson family. Rocky, Cole’s father and four-time PRCA Steer Roping World Champion (2009-10, 2012 and 2016), won the average with 132.8 seconds on 10 head and he earned $30,349.
This was Rocky’s third average crown, as he also accomplished the feat in 1999 and 2001. Patterson was the only roper to tie down all 10 steers.
Cole and Rocky, who is 58 years old, are the first son and father to win a world championship and the average at the same NFSR.
“It’s amazing to have my dad win the average and me win the world,” Cole said. “It is the coolest rodeo moment for me to date, and I don’t know what will top it. He ropes so good, which I’m not surprised by because he does it all the time. To win it with dad and take home both saddles is the coolest thing in rodeo.”
This was Rocky’s 28th appearance at the NFSR, second only to ProRodeo Hall of Famer Guy Allen’s 33 NFSR trips.
Back in 2021, when Cole won his first world title, the Pattersons became the third father and son to win steer roping world championships. They joined John McEntire (1934) and Clark McEntire (1956-57); and Charles Good (1975) and Gary Good (1979).
The Pattersons became the fifth father and son to win the average at the NFSR when Cole won the average in 2021, joining the company of Jim Snively and Joe Snively, James Allen and Guy Allen, Charles Good and Gary Good, and Jim Davis and Bryce Davis.
Reo Lohse, who finished eighth in the world standings with $91,317, won the Dixon McGowan Award, given to the highest-ranked first-time qualifier to the NFSR. The award memorializes McGowan, who died at age 23 in an automobile accident on May 10, 1997.
Tony Reina won the PRCA Legacy Steer Roping Finals at Mulvane with 52.3 seconds on four head. Reina clinched the title at the Legacy Finals with a 12.4-second run in Round 4, the final round of the competition.
Martin Poindexter won the Legacy Steer Roping season title.
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