Las Vegas has hosted the Wrangler National Finals since 1985 with one exception – in 2020, the NFR was held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. For 10 days every December, the “Sin City” turns into “Cowboy Town.” This is the end of the road for the 2023 season, and with a small break after the finals, cowboys and cowgirls start 2024 almost immediately.
Here’s the recap for Round 10 and the crowing of the world champions.
In the bareback riding, Colorado cowboy Keenan Hayes has dominated the entire year, and tonight, he becomes the first Resistol Rookie of the Year to win the world title in the same year. He finished the year with an exclamation point by winning the round, earning 90 points on J Bar J’s Straight Ringer. If that wasn’t enough, Hayes won the NFR average with an astounding 850 points total on 10 head. The Hayden, Colo. Cowboy is writing his name multiple times in the record books tonight as he earns the record for the most money won in a year -- $434,050.10. The record was previously held by Clayton Biglow, who earned $425,843 in 2019.
“It is just amazing. Honestly this has been the best 10 days of my life. It is such a blessing. There’s a great group of guys in the locker room with me, and I can’t think of anyone better to share all this with. I want to thank my parents, sponsors, and all the people who got me here. I’m just trying to let it all sink in and live in the moment right now,” Hayes said.
The steer wrestling came down to a one header, and the four-time world champion Tyler Waguespack did exactly what he needed to do to be a five-time world champion.
“I love to do the numbers and know where everything stands before we run the last one. I knew I had to win the round, and in order for me to win the world, Dalton had to go out. All I can do is my job. I knew I had a chance, but I was backed into the corner. I told my traveling partner last night, ‘You ever backed a lion in a corner? You know what happens? They come out fighting!’ We got it done,” Waguespack said.
He did get it done. Waguespack split the round with Will Lummus with a quick 3.8 to earn $27,487, picking up third place in the aggregate for $50,516. For the year, Waguespack earned a total of $303,575.91, besting Dalton Massey, who broke the barrier in the final round of the NFR, dropping him to sixth place in the average.
Making his first appearance at the NFR, Stephenville, Texas cowboy Don Payne stayed solid all 10 rounds and finished Round 10 at the top of the average leaderboard. Payne placed in six of the 10 rounds and never higher than third, but he was the fastest in the end. With a total time of 44.9 seconds on 10, he topped Jesse Brown, who finished second with a 46.2 aggregate total.
The 2023 world champion team ropers are Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp. The Texas team has battled the entire year to earn this title.
“I never pictured myself as a world champion header, but here we are. You know, last night, we looked at the numbers a little bit, but we just knew we had to do our job. It was our task to go catch the last steer in Round 10, and we did just that. It’s pretty sweet because I was 40th in the world standings in mid-July. I told Wes that if nothing else, I would get him to the finals, but I didn’t know if I would make it or not. He quickly shut down that negative thinking, and we never looked back from there,” Wade said.
“I’m glad to be standing here after Round 10. It is really unreal. You go through so much to get here. There are a lot of ups and downs, and you have to battle through and finish what you start. We finished tonight,” Thorp said.
While Wade and Thorp stopped the clock at 5.4 in Round 10, they didn’t earn a check in the round, but their lead coming in and the third place in the average was enough to earn Wade his first world championship and Thorp his second – his first came in 2019.
The round went to Nelson Wyatt and Jonathan Torres, who smoked a run of 3.7 to finish the year. Turquoise Circuit cowboys and multiple-time NFR qualifiers Derrick Begay and Colter Todd earned the average title. Between the pair of cowboys, they have 14 NFR qualifications, and the veterans proved that experience helped them over the 10 runs. They were the only duo to catch all 10 steers, earning them $78,747 each.
The saddle bronc riding was nearly decided before the round started, and the only thing that could change the outcome was if Zeke Thurston had a terrible night. In Thurston style, he came out and put a nice solid 86.5-point ride on Calgary Stampede’s Dandy Delight to split sixth place in the round and maintain his first place in the average. Thurston was 863 points over the 10 rounds, which was seven points better than Brody Cress, who finished second with 856.
The Big Valley, AB., saddle bronc riding phenom added notch number four to his world champion board. The 2023 championships make two consecutive world and average titles.
“Each one gets sweeter and sweeter. They seem to be harder and harder to earn. You know, as you get older, you realize that you can’t take anything for granted. This is something I’ve dreamed about since I was my little boy’s age. The game is changing and evolving all the time. The horses are getting better, and when you get to Vegas, it is really anyone’s game. I guess this proves that hard work pays off,” Thurston said.
Thurston won $456,356.41 for the year, breaking the previous season's earnings record he set in 2022 of $399,916. Round 10 went to Sage Newman on Andrews Rodeo All of Nothing. Newman had a stellar 10 days in Las Vegas, winning over $153k.
Riley Webb is just in his second year of being a full PRCA member, and in that year, he qualified for his second NFR and won the world championship. He accomplished that in record style, setting a new earnings record of $452,851.79, which handily beat the previous record of $374,737 set by Caleb Smidt just last year in 2022.
Webb had taken care of business all year and through the first nine rounds, so much so that he didn’t have to set any records in Round 10 to come out on top.
“I kind of got a bad roll there on that calf; in fact, it was my slowest time all year. Luckily, I was in a position that I didn’t have to win the round, I just had to take care of business. That comes from all the miles and all the rodeos and work through the year. I scored sharp and got it around the neck,” Webb said.“I just want to thank my Lord and Saviour for all the opportunities He has given me. To be here at just 20 years old is truly a blessing. I’m fortunate to have the horses and sponsors that I have and the family behind me. Blessed – that’s just all there is to it.”
The calf ropers didn’t make it easy on the young roper from Denton, Texas. Webb had to fight all 10 rounds and keep things sharp to stay on top.
“You know Haven roped good all year and he brought the heat every round at the NFR. He had a great finals, setting the new average record. That’s a big deal. I think he finished four seconds ahead of me. That is really roping,” Webb said.
"Really roping" was a great way to describe it. To break it down and show the remarkable ability, the Miles City, MT., cowboy averaged 7.74 seconds on each calf or totaled 77.4 on 10 head. Webb finished with 82.9 seconds. The pair stood out from the crowd, with third place being Caleb Smidt, who was 10 seconds behind at 92.6 aggregate seconds.
Meged earned the coveted paycheck of $78,747 for his incredible efforts and finished the year as the reserve world champion with $411,262 in total earnings. The win in Round 10 made two for Shad Mayfield after having some bad luck in previous rounds. After having a calf get up before the required six-second tie inspection to set a new record, Mayfield respectfully asked the crowd to be quiet during the six seconds tonight. When it was over, the crowd went wild for the Clovis, NM., cowboy who had tied one in 6.7 seconds to finish his finals.
The barrel racing world championship was decided after Round 8, giving Lampasas, Texas, standout Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi her third world championship. The first two came in 2007 and 2009. Fourteen years later, some incredible horses took her to the top again. The one she chose for nine of the 10 rounds of the NFR was Jets Top Gun “Benny,” an 8-year-old sorrel gelding owned by Busby Quarter Horses. Of the nine rounds Pozzi Tonozzi rode Benny, the duo placed in a remarkable eight rounds.
Nothing could damper this record-setting year for the 17-time NFR qualifier, but you can bet the year didn’t end quite like she dreamed it would. Tipping a barrel in the final round cost her the average but by no means put a shadow on the incredible talent both she and her horses displayed all year. Pozzi Tonozzi will be hard to catch in the single-year earnings record category. The record was previously held by Hailey Kinsel in 2019 with $350,700. In 2023 alone, Pozzi Tonozzi has earned $496,498.
When asked about the year, Pozzi Tonozzi said, “Horsepower. I have had three amazing horses to pick from this year, and it has really shown. Having the horsepower I have had this year has made the difference. Having a horse that likes the Thomas and Mack is huge here. I was pretty confident Benny would like it; he’s never been here before. He proved me right!”
Pozzi Tonozzi quickly gave credit, "The money keeps getting better and better. It’s a really cool time to be a part of the industry. With all the changes we have seen, the growth, now it’s cool to be a cowboy!”
The average and Round 10 were won by none other than fan favorite and the other cowgirl making her 17th appearance at the NFR, Oelrichs, SD.’s own Lisa Lockhart. Completing all 10 runs on the great horse owned by Teton Ridge named “Levee,” a 7-year-old gelding by Aint Seen Nothin Yet, Lockhart was the only barrel racer to make 10 clean runs. Clocking in at 137.18 seconds total on 10 runs earned Lockhart her third NFR Average title. She won the first two in 2014 and 2016.
The toughest cowboy on dirt these past 10 days had the bull riding world championship sewed up after Round 8. The Australian cowboy, Ky Hamilton, fought through injury and pain in his fourth NFR qualification to earn his first world title.
After getting knocked out, breaking a rib, and bruising a lung in Round 5, Hamilton surprised everyone by riding again the morning of Round 6. Every time he got down on a bull, it was an all-out effort, and that show also earned him the average title. Hamilton set a new single-year earnings record to oust Stetson Wright's efforts in 2022. Hamilton now sits on top with $595,414. He commanded the bull riding standings to earn the championship over Randlett, Utah cowboy Josh Frost, who finished the year with $400,766.29.
Hayes Weight waited until the ninth round to start winning, but when he did, he got hot. Weight won second in the ninth round and earned the Round 10 win atop Stace Smith Pro Rodeo's Polar Express. He was putting together a fantastic ride of 91 points and ended Weight's 2023 year on a stellar note.
The top WPRA lady of the breakaway took the stage tonight to accept the world championship she earned at the South Point Hotel and Casino nearly two weeks ago. Shelby Boisjoli Meged roped her way to the top after coming in to lead the world's standings.
Also honored tonight was the 2023 steer roping world champion, Cole Patterson. The Pawnee, Okla. cowboy made this his second world title by winning ropings at Andrews, Texas, and Woodward, Okla., to name a few.
After experiencing heartbreak at the beginning of the week, Stetson Wright could not compete past Round 2 but still maintained his impressive lead in the all-around standings to win his fifth all-around and eighth total world titles.
“Never give up on your dreams. Keep working toward them,” Wright said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back here next year.”
