By Phillip Kitts

Photo courtesy PCRA Alaina Stangle

At the close of an amazing 10 days of rodeo, Arlington, Texas and Globe Field will begin to work on getting back to normal.

Meanwhile 10 athletes head home with big pay checks, gold buckles and a sense of accomplishment. Rodeo fans will use the next few weeks to treat their “rodeo hangover” and set their sights on the holidays. The questions immediately comes up when will the rodeo enthusiast get their next fix?

There is no answer in the world of unknowns, so for now everyone will keep a weathered eye for when the next time the chutes will fly open. Between now and then let’s take a look at your PRCA World Champions for 2020 as well as some of the top performances at the NFR.

In bareback, Kaycee Feild shocked the rodeo world in round 10, going into the round he knew his only shot at a fifth world title was a round win. Well like a true champion he got it done, with 91 points Kaycee claimed the 2020 title. A notable performance during NFR came via Kansas cowboy Jess Pope, a first-time qualifier had an impressive 10 rounds and walked away the average winner for the event.

Steer wrestling was another event that came down to the last round, needing a big run Iowa’s Jacob Edler stepped up when he needed to and put down a 3.9 second run which was enough to claim his Gold Buckle.

On the heading side of Team Roping a Texas cowboy grabs the title. Over the 10 rounds of NFR a list of great headers had seen their name on the top of the world standings so going into the last round it was the question who was going to make the final move. Colby Lovell of Madisonville, Texas answered the question, he and his heeler Paul Eaves threw down a 4.4 second run. This run was just enough to win the World.

On the heeling side the same run provided Paul Eaves of Missouri with his own world title and the big payday. As a pair the two cowboys had a great week of rodeo and round 10 needed to be their best night. They put a stamp of success on with their winning run.

In tie down roping the race was not as tight, every rodeo fan was sure that Shad Mayfield of New Mexico had the title sewn up even before NFR kicked off. Well, this proved to be true, Mayfield did not have the finals he hoped for, but his performance was strong enough to hold on and win his first World Title.

The gold buckle in barrel racing is staying in Texas for the third year in a row, South Texas cowgirl Hailey Kinsel dominated the NFR and left no room for doubt that she is one of the best. The only question remaining is she going to chase four in a row, most every fan thinks she has the recipe to chase the 4^th title.

Bull Riding, it may have been the best title race in many years, it came down to the last ride of 10 days of bull riding. Two cowboys went into the last night with no more than $80 separating them. In the end it was not the bull riding that separated them, but it was the average money that decided the World Title. Stetson Wright and Ty Wallace knew they had to get the job done to have a shot, get the job done they did. Both cowboys covered their bulls and both cowboys scored 89 points. In the end of all 10 days Stetson Wright average performance bested Wallace and provided Stetson with his first World Title.

There is little doubt the 2020 Bull Riding at the NFR was one of the best races in history.

Well, that is a wrap on the 2020 PRCA season on the National Finals Rodeo, time to recover from the wild ride and set the cruise on to the next rodeo for 2021!