2017 World Champions

Saddle Bronc Riding

Ryder Wright Young bronc rider rises to the top

At 19 years old, Ryder Wright became the youngest saddle bronc riding world champion in history, beating out Casey Tibbs by a year, at the 2017 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Wright also became the fourth member of his family to win the saddle bronc riding world title, securing it by a margin of $2,651. “The world title is won by pennies,” Wright said. “It’s crazy, I don’t even know what to say, but it’s a dream come true. I could sit and stare at it (the buckle) all day.” Wright’s dad, Cody, beamed after watching his son win the gold buckle. “It’s pretty dang neat,” said Cody Wright, moments before handing his son the gold buckle. “That’s why you can’t say the small rodeos don’t count because they sure do, everything does. It’s awesome, I know how much work it takes and all the pressure. And he is so young and has so much development to do – the sky is the limit.” Cody Wright won the world title in 2008 and 2010. Ryder Wright’s uncles, Jesse and Spencer, won world titles in 2012 and 2014, respectively. “Oh, it’s special. It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I saw my dad win his, and it’s awesome to follow in his footsteps,”Ryder Wright said.“That

  He placed seventh in the average with 702.5 points on eight head. But it was go big or go home as he won four rounds and made his first 90-point ride at a PRCA rodeowith 92 points on Powder River Rodeo’s Show Me Again in Round 8. “I felt like I was hanging by a thread,” Ryder Wright said. “I lit up like a Christmas tree when I saw the score.” That score was an arena record for Round 8, and it propelled him to the top of the world standings for the remainder of the Wrangler NFR. His 10th-round ride wasn’t his first trip on Sutton Rodeos’ Prom Night. He’d drawn the same horse at the Wrangler Champions Challenge in Sioux Falls, S.D. – his final draw of the 2017 regular season.   “He was my last horse of the regular season and my last horse of the NFR, but it worked out better in South Dakota,”RyderWright said of his 86-point, season-finale ride in September. Winning the world wasn’t the only major mile- stone in the Utah cowboy’s life in 2017. He also got married and became a father. “You can’t ask for a better year than that,”Ryder Wright said. – Matt Naber

PRCA ProRodeo photo by Greg Westfall 2017 WORLD CHAMPIONS

was the goal coming here, but getting it and wanting it is a different thing.” Ryder Wright entered the Wrangler NFR ranked eighth in the PRCA World Standings with $99,361, thanks to winning 14 rodeos, including the San Angelo (Texas) Rodeo for $7,023. “This year, I stayed calmer and rode more horses,” Ryder Wright said. All of those checks paled in comparison to the $185,577 hewon during the 10 rounds of the Wrangler NFR. “This is unreal, I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” Ryder Wright said. “This is crazy.”

Ryder Wright entered the 2017 NFR in eighth place, leaving in first with a grand total of $284,938 in saddle bronc riding.

2018 PRCA MEDIA GUIDE

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