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Roping, riding and roughstock

Story and photos by Lincoln Rogers
Wyoming competitor Bryce Burnell road a wild Cervi bull named "White Trash" for a crowd-pleasing 91-point score to win the 2023 National Western Stock Show's bull riding title on Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. Burnell's ride and resulting 91 score swelled the decibel level to the bedlam setting inside the Denver Coliseum.
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2023 NWSS Championship Round of Rodeo

After narrowing down its rodeo contestants through a series of early brackets, the 2023 National Western Stock Show took the top 24 qualifiers from each event and reduced them further by way of a trio of high-energy semifinal rounds on Saturday, Jan. 21. Each of the three semifinals started with a clean slate, so the top four times/scores moved ahead into Sunday’s championship round, creating a total of 12 contestants in each event. Continuing the playoff style format, what happened in those brackets and semifinals no longer mattered. What did matter is that whoever came out on top for Sunday’s sold-out performance would take home bragging rights, a big buckle, and an even bigger check.

Knpowing he needed to beat 4.6-seconds to take the lead in the championship round on Jan. 22, South Dakota steer wrestler Jace Melvin left his saddle quick on his way to a 4.2-second time to win the steer wrestling title at the 2023 National Western Stock Show in Denver.
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At 2 p.m. on Jan. 22, the NWSS Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association finals kick-started the crowd as top contenders were introduced with accompanying flames, fog, spotlights and lasers. It was loud inside the packed Denver Coliseum.



And then the action started.

The loaded bareback field started strong as two of the first three contestants made impressive rides for scores in the mid-to-high-80s, but it was the fourth rider out — Garrett Shadbolt — who grabbed a big lead with 89.5-points aboard Cervi’s “On Second Thought.” It was a clutch ride, but Shadbolt’s lead wasn’t safe with veteran National Finals Rodeo riders like Tanner Aus and Richie Champion waiting to go, along with young guns Keenan Hayes and Rocker Steiner. Creating more drama was Champion’s return from injury in 2022 to compete at the NWSS. Making the final round is never enough for Champion, who successfully rode “Gander Goose” and celebrated with the crowd after dismounting. When his 86.5-point score flashed on the board, Champion had placed third and Shadbolt hung on for the win.



Wyoming competitor Bryce Burnell road a wild Cervi bull named “White Trash” for a crowd-pleasing 91-point score to win the 2023 National Western Stock Show’s bull riding title on Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. Burnell’s ride and resulting 91 score swelled the decibel level to the bedlam setting inside the Denver Coliseum.
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“When he hit that right turn, he put a lot of power on the rigging,” described Shadbolt of his winning ride in an arena interview with the Cowboy Channel. “I was trying to keep ahold of my feet. I moved a little bit, but man, he was putting a lot of power on a couple of moves there. But then he straightened out and kept bucking.”

TEAM ROPING AND BARREL RACING

“Kept bucking” could describe the never-give-up approach of veteran team ropers Clay Smith and Jake Long. The accomplished duo overcame slower times in the early rounds to come up big when it mattered. Their blistering 3.9-second run in the NWSS Finals was the quickest of the entire rodeo. While winning isn’t new to the pair, this buckle was special.

Showing age is just a number in the younger man’s event of steer wrestling, 44-year-old Curtis Cassidy nailed down a fast 4.6-second time in the Jan. 22 championship round to take home a share of second place at the 2023 National Western Stock Show in Denver.
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“My grandpa passed away one year ago, today,” said an emotional Smith. “I found out last year in the short round up here and I messed up in the short round. I had God on my side (today). This is special to win it here. I try not to put too much pressure on myself, but the Lord was watching after me.”

The Lord was also watching over Texas barrel racer Jimmie Smith-Tew. Her ride in an early round aboard her horse Minnie was not heavenly and Smith-Tew chose to give some indoor experience to 10-year-old “A Valiant Nicky,” who is usually her summer outdoor rodeo mount. “Nicky” was a revelation in the tight pattern inside the boisterous Denver Coliseum, posting faster runs throughout the rounds until she sent the crowd into rapture with a rodeo-fastest 14.83 time in the championship round to win the 2023 title at the historic Denver venue. For Smith-Tew, the result was miraculous.

With the judges watching his every move right out of the chute, Garrett Shadbolt rode a Cervi Brothers Rodeo power bucker named “On Second Thought” to 89.5 points in the championship round to win the 2023 National Western Stock Show title in the bareback event.
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“I honestly have no idea,” said the grinning Texas cowgirl about how they pulled off the winning run. “I thought I had no chance of making the semifinals, so I got on Nicky to give her a chance, which is funny, because I wasn’t even going to come (to the NWSS) if I had to run the outside horse. She just got better and better.”

THE WRIGHT WAY

Getting better and better describes Utah roughstock competitor and rodeo phenom Stetson Wright, who has already earned a total of seven PRCA world titles at just 23 years of age. Despite piling up big wins since 2018, Wright had not yet claimed a NWSS buckle. Qualifying for the final round in both the saddle bronc and bull riding events gave him the opportunity to rectify that oversight and he nearly managed a two-fer.

A group of happy mutton busters carried their large trophies out of the Denver Coliseum arena after competing in front of an enthusiastic crowd during a break in rodeo action in the National Western Stock Show’s championship round on Jan. 22, 2023. The rodeo crowds at the NWSS always save their loudest cheers for the mutton busters.
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First up for Wright was the saddle bronc event, where he rode a high-kicking “Ed Bishop” from Cervi Brothers Rodeo for 90 points. Picking up his buckle, Wright revealed his satisfaction at getting redemption in what was a rematch ride.

“Oh yeah, that horse bucked me off pretty hard, last year,” said Wright. “When you have a horse do that, it shatters your confidence or you come back and try to redeem yourself.” The success was sweeter since it ended with a buckle. “It is the first time I have won here,” he added. “To come out on top here is pretty special.”

Colorado barrel racer Kelly Yates earned her way to the championship round of the 2023 NWSS, but she was unable to win the buckle in front of a sold-out, home state crowd.
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BULL RIDING

Wright made the bull riding pretty special for the packed stands, as well. Early in the event, Wyoming bull rider Bryce Burnell made a spectacular ride aboard Cervi’s “White Trash” and the crowd went ballistic. But they also knew Wright was waiting to compete. Near the end of the event, Wright put on a show aboard a bull named “Centerfold” and it was bedlam while he celebrated before his score was displayed. When a 90 appeared on the big screen, Burnell’s sterling effort had denied Wright a double-dip of NWSS buckles by a single point.

In his first rodeo back after being injured in April 2022, successful bareback competitor Richie Champion celebrated with the crowd after his 86.5-point ride during the high-energy championship round of rodeo at the 2023 National Western Stock Show in Denver.
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“It doesn’t really set in for a while, so I don’t know,” said a humble but very happy Burnell when asked to describe how it felt to get a big win at the NWSS.

Sending the crowd home as happy as Burnell with his new buckle was the aim for NWSS rodeo producers, and it looked like their roping, riding, and roughstock hit the target again in 2023.

Texas competitor Riley Webb marched through the Saturday semi-finals and straight into a Sunday afternoon win at the 2023 National Western Stock Show on Jan. 22, 2023. Going first in the championship round, Webb threw down the gauntlet with a 7.2-second time that was not matched by the rest of the field.
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117th National Western Stock Show Winners

Bareback – Garrett Shadbolt, Merriman, Neb., 89.5 points, $6,181

Steer Wrestling — Jace Melvin, Fort Pierre, S.D., 4.2 seconds, $4,758

Team Roping – Clay Smith, Broken Bow, Okla. / Jake Long, Coffeyville, Kan., 3.9 seconds, $6,821

Saddle Bronc – Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, 90 points, $4,636

Tie-down – Riley Mason Webb, Denton, Texas, 7.2 seconds, $4,782

Barrel Racing – Jimmie Smith-Tew, McDade, Texas, 14.83 seconds, $4,782.

Bull Riding – Bryce Burnell, Sheridan, Wyo., 91 points, $4,581

Team ropers Clay Smith (header) and Jake Long (heeler) blistered the field with a 3.9-second effort in the championship round to take home another buckle from the historic Denver venue. Both Smith and Long have won multiple NWSS titles, but doing it again in 2023 meant something to Smith. “This is special to win it here,” said an emotional Smith, who revealed his grandfather passed away a year ago to the day of the 2023 NWSS championship round. “The Lord was watching after me.”
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Jimmie Smith-Tew and “A Valiant Nicky” exploded past the first barrel on their way to a lightning quick 14.83-second time in the championship round of rodeo at the 2023 National Western Stock Show. The rodeo-fastest time earned the duo a coveted buckle at the historic Denver event.
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PRCA rodeo star Stetson Wright earned his first NWSS title with a soaring 90-point ride aboard Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s “Ed Bishop” in the championship round of action at the historic venue.
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A 90-point ride aboard a spinning and leaping Cervi bull named “Centerfold” came up just one point short of earning Stetson Wright another buckle to go with the one he already won about 30 minutes earlier in the saddle bronc event at the 2023 National Western Stock Show’s championship round on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. The close competition in the bull riding left the sold-out crowd happy at the conclusion of the NWSS rodeo.
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Roughstock cowboy Stetson Wright, right, was all smiles with bullfighter Quirt Hunt after a big ride aboard a Cervi bull named “Centerfold” in the championship round of rodeo at the 2023 National Western Stock Show in Denver. Wright had already nailed down a saddle bronc title about 30 minutes earlier, but his high-flying 90-point bull ride came up just one point shy of winning two titles at the 117th NWSS.
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Twenty-three-year-old rodeo phenom Stetson Wright was introduced to the sold-out crowd before the start of action in the 2023 NWSS championship round on Jan. 22, 2023. Wright qualified for the championship round in both the saddle bronc and the bull riding events, and he lived up to expectations by winning the title for the broncs and placing second on the bulls.
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Winners of the 2023 National Western Stock Show rodeo titles were announced with flames and fanfare to the sold out crowd at the conclusion of the championship round of action on Sunday Jan. 22, 2023.
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