National Finals Rodeo Round 4 Recap: Riley Webb Continues Domination

What a wild night at the National Finals Rodeo and the races are heating up as the week goes.

Riley Webb / PRCA Photo by Roseanna Sales

Round four of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas at the Thomas and Mack Center brought some crazy plot twists and surprises. It was Gold Night - one of the newer themes of the ten day rodeo, to support childhood cancer. We saw a LOT of gold wild rags on the athletes last night. I have also seen some very heartwarming stories about what the athletes have done out of the goodness of their own hearts to donate back to the cause. 

Bareback Riding

A few cowboys in this event remain “snakebit” - they have ridden well and performed as best they can, but have not yet drawn the stock they need to really light up the leaderboard with a big score. All ten cowboys made the whistle again and we saw ten qualified rides. Despite a nasty jerk down and landing in round two, Rocker Steiner is showing pure grit, remaining a contender for this World Championship. Coming back with a concussion and severely sore/bruised riding hand and thumb, he made a great ride for fourth.

Once again, the story tonight was Bradlee Miller, the NFR rookie, taking his second round win with 88.5 points. Miller remarked in his post-run interview about his great draw with Secret's Out from Pete Carr Pro Rodeo, “She felt like she was jumping four feet every time and giving me every change to show off for the judges.”

Steer Wrestling

Horse of the Year “Crush” continues to take his riders to the winners circle this week, with J.D. Struxness winning the round and Ty Erickson tying for second and third. Struxness stated in his interview on the Cowboy Channel, “In this building, the start is vital. The two horses we have out here, Crush, and Kirk on the haze side with Matt Reeves are working outstanding. We have a lot of confidence in them and know they are going to do their job and give us a chance to win.”

Although a few cowboys had a “wrestling match” on the ground - meaning their steer did not just smoothly fall, everyone got a time tonight. This is another World Championship race that will go through the tenth round.

Team Roping

The all-around race is tied strongly to this event, with header Coleman Proctor and heeler Junior Noguiera a part of that dead heat with tie-down roper Shad Mayfield. Last night, Noguiera took a painful miss in the heeling that will open this race up somewhat. Another costly miss was for Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp.

There was a four-way tie for first place in the team roping at 4.1 seconds - J.C. Yeahquo and Buddy Hawkins, Clint Summers and Jake Long, Cody Snow and Douglas Rich, and Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord. This was a huge win for Egusquiza and Lord, as they battle for the World title. 

Saddle Bronc Riding

It was the eliminator pen in the saddle bronc riding and those horses were absolutely brutal. All fifteen cowboys had covered all of their broncs going into the round, but we are two less after the round tonight - Logan Hay and Brody Cress both came down. 

Ryder Wright was coming back strong tonight, after a missed mark out in round two left him with a no score. He made a great ride aboard Championship Pro Rodeo's Tickled Pink for 90.5 points and the round win. Damian Brennan covered his re-ride for a sixth place check, but Wright jumped him in the World Standings after the win. 

Tie Down Roping 

Shad Mayfield has not had a bad week by any stretch, but with the kind of money on the line in Vegas, he has had his work cut out for him as he battles to hold his spot on top of the World Standings. He and Riley Webb are now battling for the World Championship heavily, with Webb notching win after win. He took another one last night and is stretching his lead over Mayfield. 

Webb remarked, “I just do my job every night, run the calf for what he is. I’ve worked my whole life for this, so I just want to keep my head down.”

Barrel Racing

Kassie Mowry and Jarvis have been finding their stride all week and this win was no surprise. A little ground trouble in round one cost them and she pulled over the first barrel to win it. In rounds two and three, they looked solid and faster each night, placing second in both. Last night was their night and they clocked a 13.43 to take the win. 

“He normally starts out a little slow, but it is getting fun now. The goal was to get here and now I’m just going to enjoy my horse,” Mowry said of the emotional victory. 

We saw a couple more girls go out of the average last night and this race is going to run through the full ten rounds. 

Bull Riding

As Don Gay said, it was quite a night for the bull riding. There were some wild happenings and in the end, four riders had covered their bulls. At the end of the round, Josh Frost took the win with 86.5 points. This moved Frost into the top spot in the World Standings.