Breakout Night for Jared Parsonage
It was a special moment in a career that has had a lot of special moments in it. Jared Parsonage, who had a disappointing first trip to the WNFR in 2022, was 87.5 points on Barnes PRCA Rodeo’s 204 Umm to win the second round this time around. The two-time Canadian Champion was one of only three men to make the horn against the eliminator pen and won $39,291 for the effort. Parsonage is two for two and is first in the aggregate as well as having climbed to sixth place in the world standings.
“I’d never seen the bull before but a couple of guys said he should fit me pretty good and he did,” the Maple Creek super-talent stated. And he was happy about the $39,000 cheque as well. “Oh yeah, I’ll take that every time. It worked out good tonight and I’m glad it did.”
Three-time NFR qualifier and 2016 Canadian Champion, Jordan Hansen from Amisk, Alberta, bucked off his bull on this night.
In a round that saw the first-place cheque and the third-fifth place cheques all earned on the backs of Calgary Stampede broncs, it was Tanner Butner of Daniel, Wyoming winning the go-round with an 87 on Calgary’s 327 Exotic Warrior. Three-time World Champion Zeke Thurston rode another Stampede horse, 328 Burban to 85 points and was part of that 3-5 split. The Big Valley cowboy moved to second in the aggregate and first overall as he vies for his fourth world title.
The other three Canadians in the bronc riding didn’t fare as well. Layton Green posted a 77.5 and was out of the money while Ben Andersen and Dawson Hay were bucked off in round two.
Veteran steer wrestler Stan Branco posted a 3.9 second run to win round two in the bulldogging. Speaking of special moments, Branco was returning to the NFR after a ten-year absence. Canadian Stephen Culling picked up his first-ever cheque as he split 6th in the round (with Tyler Waguespack) with a 4.4 second run. Oregon cowboy Dalton Massey who was the World and Canadian season leader and was at the Canadian Finals a month ago did not place in the round but continues to hold a commanding lead in the world standings.
We have a race in the bareback riding thanks to Rocker Steiner. The colourful 19 year-old, 3rd generation cowboy from Weatherford, Texas has put on a clinic through the first two rounds of the 65th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and has been cutting into what seemed like an insurmountable lead coming into the Finals. In round two, the sophomore finalist was 88.5 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics’ Mustard to move to second place in the World standings, just $68,000 back of season leader Kennan Hayes. While $68,000 is formidable, consider that he was $120,000 back of Hayes coming to Las Vegas. And while it’s early in the Finals, Steiner leads the average that pays over $70,000 while Hayes is not on the average leaderboard after two rounds. Canadian Orin Larsen was 79 points and finished out of the money.
The Team Roping is a similar story to the bareback riding as the team of Clint Summers and Jake Long have won the first two rounds and have made a big move up the leaderboard. In round two the duo put up a rapid 3.8 seconds, moving Long to second spot just $3000 behind Junior Nogueira while Summers on the heading side has climbed to third place overall just $17,000 behind leader Kaleb Driggers.
Second place in the round went to 2016 World Champion Jeremy Buhler as the Canadian and his Utah heading partner Rhen Richard were 3.9 for $24,268 each.
In the tie-down roping four-time world champion Caleb Smidt was 7.3 seconds for the win, giving him a measure of redemption after a difficult first round that saw the Bellville, Texas cowboy have to go to two loops to rope his calf. Riley Webb continues to hold a commanding lead in the world standings. Stettler’s Beau Cooper struggled on night number two finishing with an 11.4 to be out of the money.
In a lightning-fast round in barrel racing, Texas cowgirl Stevi Hillman posted a blistering 13.62 second run for the win. Riding her six-year-old mare, Sandi, that took her to the winner’s circle at the Pendleton Roundup, the run highlighted a brilliant night of barrel racing. There were four runs that were 13.70 or faster after a first round that was won with a 13.71.
On a sad note, Utah’s brilliantly talented Stetson Wright who has seven world titles already in an amazing career has been forced to withdraw from the 2023 WNFR due to a torn hamstring that made it impossible for the superstar to continue.
