Stetson Wright dazzles in Round 7 with saddle bronc, bull riding wins

                          PRESS RELEASE 

  Stetson Wright is having a Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for the ages.

The 21-year-old, Utah cowboy won his first career Wrangler NFR go-round in saddle bronc riding with a 90.5-point trip on Hi Lo Pro Rodeo’s Larry Culpepper at Globe Life Field, Dec. 9.

Less than an hour later, he won bull riding with an 89-point ride on Universal Pro Rodeos’ Slinger.

Wright is the first cowboy to win two roughstock events in one night at the Finals since 2001. In Round 4 that year, Jesse Bail split the win in saddle bronc riding and won the bull riding outright.

“Just an awesome horse from Hi Lo,” Wright said. “I watched Cort Scheer (have a) 92-point ride on her at the NFR a couple of years ago. When I saw that I had her (on Wednesday), I knew I had a really good chance to win the go-round. Just happy that everything worked out.”

The saddle bronc riding win carried over into bull riding.

“When I do well in the saddle bronc riding it’s like I get a second wind, my energy level is higher than normal,” he said. “When I get on my bull, I’m a little amped up and ready to go. To win the bull riding, too, it just topped it all off.

“He (Slinger) looked like he wanted everyone down in the well, so I knew if I kept to the outside on him, I’d get him covered, and I’m just glad it worked out.”

Wright has won Rounds 1, 2 and 7 in bull riding.

The reigning all-around world champion put himself in great position to make it two all-around gold buckles in a row. He has $265,802 and has a sizable lead over second-place Tuf Cooper, who is at $153,634.

“Oh, shoot, it’s not over until the 10th round when they hand someone a gold buckle,” Wright said about the all-around race. “I’m going to try hard because

Clay Smith and Tuf Cooper are always doing good, and I try not to pay attention to them because if I did, I think it would affect me a little bit. So I let them do their thing and I do my thing, but it’s not over until the 10th go-round is complete, so I won’t say I’ve won it yet.”

Wright is second in the bull riding standings with $178,248. He trails leader Ty

Wallace by a mere $82. Wright is seventh in the saddle bronc riding world standings with $117,293.

After earning $59,795 in saddle bronc riding and bull riding (counting ground money) on Wednesday, Wright was making plans for his winnings.

“I don’t know, but I’m super happy. Maybe I’ll go buy my daughter (Kingsley, 1) some cool Christmas presents,” Wright said.

After his two roughstock victories, Wright was physically fit.

“When you win two go-rounds you can’t feel anything but perfect, and I just feel amazing right now,” Wright said. “I was working out with Ky Hamilton before the NFR. He’s a hard worker, and he put me to work with him. A lot of the credit this year goes to him for being just a good buddy and always helping me out when I need it. He helped me with a lot of my bull riding this year, just talking things through. He’s just a good buddy to me.”

The dazzling performance didn’t go unnoticed by Wright’s brother, Ryder.

“He showed up and showed out,” said Ryder, who is second in the saddle bronc riding world standings. “It was awesome. Couldn’t ask for a better performance in both events.”

Stetson plans on keeping things simple the final three rounds.

“Same thing, nothing is over,” he said. “I’ll keep on keeping on until I’m holding the gold buckle because it’s not over until then.”  - PRCA Media 

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