ProRodeo Sports News - Nov. 22, 2019

WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO

BY TRACY RENCK M oving PRCA’s National Finals Rodeo fromOkla- homa City to Las Vegas in 1985 wasn’t welcomed with open arms by the rodeo community. The bold move, however, has paid massive dividends and produced unbelievable memories at theThomas &Mack Center. Trevor Brazile is the undisputed king of cowboys, having won a PRCA-record 24 gold buckles – all-around in 2002-04, 2006-15, 2018; tie-down roping in 2007, 2009-10; team roping in 2010; and steer roping in 2006-07, 2011, 2013-15. All of Brazile’s gold buckles – except the six from steer roping – were captured at the Wrangler NFR in Las Vegas. Brazile has earned $1,971,305 at the Wrangler NFR, the most of any cowboy. “I have competed at a lot of places, and there’s no energy any other place in the world like Las Vegas,” Brazile said. “(Competing in Las Vegas) is an opportunity you prepare for, and the money you get to run at is worth the extra preparation to make sure you’re ready when you get there. I can’t say enough good things about Las Vegas. I can’t imagine the Finals being anywhere else.” Brazile has a plethora of

Trevor Brazile has earned more money than any other cowboy at the Wrangler NFR. Brazile has earned $1,971,305, at the Wrangler NFR, and all his NFR appearances have come in Las Vegas. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Ric Andersen

A Cowboy Town 2019 marks 35th time NFR has been at Thomas & Mack Center

memorable moments in theThomas &Mack, but the one that comes to his mind is Round 10 at the 2018Wrangler NFR. Brazile trailed brother-in-law Tuf Cooper by $12,331 in the all- around race. Winning the tie-down roping round with a 7.2-second run and earning $26,231 was the deciding factor for him to win the all-around crown. “I remember all my have-to-win scenarios, none more memorable than the last time I was there and, in my mind, the last time I was ever going to get to rope there,” Brazile said. “Needing to win the round to guarantee a victory in the all-around and doing that in my last round out there was really cool and special to me.” As legendary as Brazile has been in Vegas, he has company like five- time world champion saddle bronc rider and ProRodeo Hall of Famer Billy Etbauer. Etbauer qualified for the NFR 21 times (1989-2009) – all in Las Vegas. He won 51 NFR go-rounds, the most of any roughstock rider, and is No. 1 in Round 10 wins with 13. He earned $1,279,436 at the NFR in his career. Etbauer set the NFR record with a 93-point ride on Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Cool Alley in 2003, then tied it a year later on a Round 10 ride on the same horse to clinch the last of his five gold buckles, making him – at 41 years, 11 months – the oldest roughstock world

champion in rodeo history. Those two 93-point rides on Cool Alley by Etbauer are still the Wrangler NFR saddle bronc riding record. “I was lucky enough to win world titles, and having Cool Alley (the 2004) Horse of the Year in the 10th round, I was lucky enough to have everything come together,” Etbauer said. “(At the NFR), you try and do the same thing you have been doing all the time, and it doesn’t get any better than competing in Las Vegas. The whole city turns into a cowboy (town).” Fellow ProRodeo Hall of Famer Joe Beaver also has fond memories of Vegas – especially 1985. He clocked a 7.9-second run in tie-down roping during Round 10 of the 1985 NFR. The rookie from Texas won the round and the gold buckle. Beaver took center stage among his fellow rookies as he also won the tie-down roping gold buckle at the first NFR in Las Vegas, edging out fellowHall of Famer Roy Cooper. “That was pretty special,” Beaver said. “Nobody really knew what it

was going to be like (in Las Vegas). Oklahoma City was the old, established Finals, and that was what I saw growing up, and then they moved it to Vegas and I just remember how much more money it was in Vegas. I kicked my career off the first year the Finals were in Vegas. I was a part of what started it all (in Vegas), and now to where it is today, it is the grandest rodeo event 35 YEARS IN LAS VEGAS

ProRodeo Sports News 11/22/2019

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