2017 World Champions

Team Roping

Erich Rogers (header) Strong duo become Days, a victory that netted the duo $12,226 each. Other notable wins included the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show (FortWorth,Texas), a win worth a respective $12,068, and the Sheridan WYO Rodeo, which paid both cowboys $4,989. Other 2017 highlights for Rogers and Petska included average wins at the 41st Annual Isanti (Minn.) Firefighters Rodeo, the Southern New Mexico (Las Cruces) State Fair, and a share of the average crown at the Lehi (Utah) Roundup. At the 2017 Wrangler NFR, the talented twosome really showed their mettle. One of only four teams to head and heel at least nine steers, they aggregated an average of 53.9 seconds on nine head, the Finals’ second-best average time. After Round 10, Rogers and Petska had re-established the record for money won by team ropers, as their respective $265,417 bested themarks Levi Simpson and Jeremy Buhler posted en route to their 2016 team roping world titles. Entering the final performance, Rogers said that he tried to treat the potential title-clinching

Erich Rogers could barely believe it when he and Cory Petska narrowly secured their first team roping world titles at the 2017 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “Man, this is a great feeling to get a champion- ship,” Rogers said. “I’ve been here several times, and to finally get an opportunity to capitalize on it – and to have Cory behind me, especially to have him heeling for me – it’s a great feeling. The confidence that he has in both of us is just one of the greatest feelings a guy could have.” Contrarily, Petska, a 19-year PRCA veteran, was just as focused as he’d been the night he and Rogers claimed their only round win five days earlier. Leaning against the concrete walls, the 14-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier knew that he’d just been named“world champion” for the first time. But immediately afterward, it was still business as usual. “It’s like it’s not even realistic yet,” Petska said. “This is what every little kid dreams about doing and I was the same way. I was sitting in the stands whenmy dadmade the Finals, and it was my dream to win the world. To finally achieve it is amazing.” Rogers and Petska entered the

Wrangler NFR ranked second in their respective divisions, as both trailed Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira by no more than $95. “We really didn’t change our game plan,” Petska said. “It seems like if you start thinking about (winning the world title) too much, that’s not a good way to do it. We just kept making our runs and did whatever the steer let us do. We decided that if it was our turn, it was our turn.” Rogers and Petska first solidi- fied their rodeo partnership in 2013, the pair’s first full season as a roping team. Given the talent and formidable chemistry of the two, their rise to a gold buckle should come as no surprise. During the 2017 regular season, Rogers and Petska flaunted their collec- tive experience by winning big-money rodeos such as Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier

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2017 WORLD CHAMPIONS