Kinsel Makes It Three for Three Spectacular Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Round 3

That's right, there is an athlete who has won all three rounds of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. See who it is here.

Riley Webb / Nathan Meyer for Rodeo On SI

Round 3 of the Wrangler National Finals certainly provided plenty of exciting moments and loud cheers from the crowd - and for good reason. The best time of the rodeo was posted in the tie-down and the bareback riders showed off with the highest scores so far.

World Champion bareback rider Jess Pope took the top spot in the round with his 89.5 point score on Nite Faded from Pete Carr Pro Rodeo. The Waverly, Kansas man is well within striking distance of the World Championship and last night he put an exclamation point on that fact.

In a post ride interview Pope addressed the fact that the bareback riders faced the eliminator pen.

“My first two rounds didn’t go the way I wanted to so I came in here with a vengeance, one thing I like about the eliminator pen is it’s kill or be killed,” he said.

The big man from Mississippi picked up his second round win of the finals. Will Lummus threw his steer in a rapid 3.5 seconds to earn the title for the night. He has earned his way right to the top of the standings for the World Title and the average.

After winning the first two rounds, Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp experienced some bad luck and rode out of the arena with a no time. Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira took advantage and roped their steer in 3.7 seconds where they were matched with Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord to tie for the win. This is keeping the title race interesting for sure.

Another cowboy who has made it two for three is World Champion Zeke Thurston. The Canadian man is leaving no question about whether he is in the hunt for another title. With this latest win he has moved to within $2,000 of season leader Damian Brennan.

Everyone rose out of their seats when Riley Webb threw his hands up at 7.1 seconds in the tie-down to go right to the top of the leaderboard. It looked like we were going to see our first consecutive three time round champ. The very next roper had something to say about that though. Ty Harris ran through his run at 6.9 seconds to win the round. Webb moved into the lead for the title though with that second place finish.

You might believe that Webb would be the hottest story here as he has won two rounds and second in the other but not so. There's a barrel racer with a palomino horse that has stole the show. It's not the first time she has done so, either. Four-time World Champion cowgirl Hailey Kinsel and her great mare DM Sissy Hayday have absolutely dominated. Three rounds down, nine barrels turned, three round wins - that's called complete domination. In total she has already won $101,061.

In the much anticipated bull riding event, Clayton Sellars put together an incredible ride on Hard Rock from the Stockyard's Pro Rodeo string. With 87.5 points Sellars is $33,687 richer.

Round four will bring about more incredible action and stories. Stay tuned to Rodeo On SI for all the coverage.