Ep. 57 - National Finals Rodeo 2020 Round 4 Recap
Arlington, Texas (December 7, 2020) - The Round 4 of the National Finals Rodeo was as exciting as it can be as fans geared up for Round 5 and the halfway point of the 2020 Super Bowl of Rodeo!
Instagram Quiz Competition
Pre-Show Answers
ANSWER: THREE
There are three Wright family members from Milford, Utah, and they are competing in four events per night on the rough stock end; three in saddle bronc and one in bull riding. Another member of the family finished at #17 in the world in Saddle Bronc and almost made the top 15 as well! Learn more about the Wrights representing at the NFR in Episode 56.
ANSWER: BULL RIDING
Sage Kimzey came into the 2019 NFR sitting in the number one hole and did the same in 2020. With that being said, his annual pre-NFR paycheck was almost $100,000 in difference! Check out episode 56 to learn more all of the nitty details of what co-host Katie Schrock calls “weird numbers!”
ANSWER: FOUR
A bit of a trick question, but there are four podcast guests that are working at the NFR this year. Supplemental co-host and past TWL guest Katy Lucas is producing for the Cowboy Channel, Jeff Medders of Geronimo Productions is the head of the Cowboy Channel and also commentates the rodeo nightly with a superstar line up, steer wrestler Jesse Brown is competing in his first NFR, and our first ever barrel racer, Jimmie Smith, is competing at her first NFR as well!
ANSWER: Three
In 2019, there was a wide spread of all-around world title contenders that ranged from first through eleventh heading into the NFR. Due to limited rodeo opportunities, the 2020 all around race was much closer, even from the start, with it focusing on just three in the top four. Learn more about who those cowboys are and how you can follow along through the workbook on our homepage.
ANSWER: Tie Down Roping
Shad “Money” Mayfield, fresh out of his rookie year in 2019, had nearly DOUBLE the money won than the second place contender, none other than Tuf Cooper.
Round 4 Quiz Results
A special shoutout to ranching blogger Scout Baker with the Git’em Up Scout blog who provided our Round 4 winner with a 2021 Git’Em Up Scout ranching calendar that showcases photos from rodeos and ranches in Florida and Texas!
ANSWER: John Wayne
Band member Jennifer Wayne is the granddaughter of the legendary Hollywood cowboy himself!
ANSWER: Twelve
Dusty Tuckness has been a staple at the National Finals Rodeo and, in an interesting plot twist, he didn’t win the Bullfighter of the Year - that award went to fellow NFR bullfighter Cody Webster.
ANSWER: Four
Whoever you are - bless you! We hope you didn’t judge our first few podcasts too closely!
ANSWER: The Gauge Podcast with Chance Conrado
We are super excited to check out the Gauge Podcast that is going live every night inside Globe Life Arena in partnership with the PRCA - Chance does a phenomenal job and we are so excited for all of this content coming out! For the Rumpchat fans out there, you may have recognized Rump and Hambone during the back number ceremony and a show during Cowboy Christmas.
ANSWER: Olive Green
We chatted about this answer during episode 56 but Tiany Shuster (also the answer to the bonus question) rocks the olive green hat.
Round 4 Prize Winner
Congratulations to Savannah Dreyer, the host of Space Cowgirls podcast - she was the winner of the 2021 Git’Em Up Scout ranching calendar! Contact us for directions to get your prize!
Round 5 Prize Teaser
Click this photo to head to the Instagram to comment on this photo!
Make sure to jump over to our Instagram or Facebook and get joined in on our daily round quizzes located in the stories! Our Round 5 sponsor is the amazing Toolin’ Turquoise Leather shop and they’ve got an AMAZING beanie with Pendleton wool print, leather, and matching earrings!
Round 4 Recap
Bareback Riding
Rookie Cole Reiner is having himself a great run at this year’s National Finals Rodeo.
We called it during the pre-show but Kaycee Fields is showing as expected. We have him projected, after Round 4, in our NFR Workbook. Remember, when we mention our projections, that is in reference to our unofficial That Western Life workbook that is filled with our notes and information that we are sharing with you the fans! You can find that on our home page here. You can also duplicate it into your Google Docs and play with it a little bit with your own projections. If you catch something, big or small, send it our way so we can share with the rest of our own NFR and TWL listenership.
Round 4 winner was Tim O’Connell who was the last guy out and scored a 90.5 point ride on Fettig Pro Rodeo’s Pop A Top!
Steer Wrestling
The steer wrestlers are starting to look pretty beat up by now which is surprising. We don’t normally start seeing serious injuries factoring so soon in the rounds of the NFR. Jule Hazen has a torn meniscus, Bridger Anderson has a good limp on his knee going after today’s run, etc.
Jacob Talley is also injured, but his adrenaline was pumping tonight and he got the win with a 3.4 second run!
Team Roping
Clay Tryan and Jake Long got the Round 4 win with a 4.2 second run.
Levi Simpson was SO fast coming out of the box today but, just like at the Thomas & Mack, the arena walls do play a role and he ran out of arena fast in his left corner. He was right up on the bucking chutes - it should be interesting to see how they adjust and move forward to get those fast times and capitalize on that team roping time potential.
Saddle Bronc
It was good to see Stetson Wright have a great ride; remember he’s riding two rough stock animals a night as he competes for his second all around title. He really needs those two events to work off of each other, build momentum, and just keep rocking and rolling!
Ryder Wright is having himself a finals! He’s doing great, feeling great, and riding in a big way! He got another round win with a 78.5 point ride.
Tie Down Roping
Marty Yates had a chance to win another round but missed his flank. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again - Marty is really good in these big open arenas with pressure to go fast. He’s won the American multiple times and he’s going to have to perform like that if he wants to have a chance at catching Shad Mayfield.
Speaking of Shad, he’s giving an opportunity, albeit a slight one, for someone to take the world title away from him. He took a no time today due to the jerk down rule.
Adam Gray took a much needed round win with a 7.8 second run. This engineer has overcome hip surgery a few years ago and, honestly admitted during the go-round buckle presentation, that he didn’t know if he’d even make it back to being able to rodeo.
Barrel Racing
Special shoutout to Janie Johnson aka Calamity Janie on social media with the Cowboy Channel for providing great coverage of the barrel racing tonight!
Emily Miller went to her backup horse Beau for the second night in a row. He’s running great in this pen and what’s crazy is that he was a Top 5 WPRA horse of the year.
Horses are getting REALLY fast and I think we are getting closer and closer to that 17 second sound barrier! Lisa Lockhart’s second horse, Vito (?), could have broken into the 16 second zone today with his sharp turns but powered down too soon in the homestretch to do so. Jessie Telford, our special guest today, was amazing again and definitely getting into her groove.
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi turned in a 17.13 second run but was quickly followed up by a gritty Hailey Kinsel and Sister, who ran a 17.09. Hailey took the round 4 win and the number 1 spot in the world!
Bull Riding
This year, the bulls are winning! Last night was brutal with the eliminator pen and the cowboys fared a little bit better tonight to say the least.
It was really good to see Roscoe Jarboe back after getting knocked out COLD last night. He didn’t have a good go tonight, kind of looked like maybe he didn’t nod his head to get out - he spent a lot of time talking to that judge but whatever the complaint, he didn’t win that argument because we didn’t see a reride or anything else come of it.
Colton Fritzlan had a WILD ride tonight because his bull rope came undone and he somehow held it pinned with his left leg and was able to manage another jump and a half to make the whistle! He had an 85.5 but his face was PRICELESS. He might have been as surprised as all of us.
Parker McKeown almost had the round win with 88.5 point ride but he was hurting really bad. They said on the Cowboy Channel that he was arguing with the doctor’s about getting on the victory round horse because he wanted to go. He got bumped by the last rider, Ty Wallace, who won first.
Podcast Special Guest - Jessie Telford
Co-host Katie Schrock was able to catch up with barrel racer Jessie Telford of Caldwell, Idaho, before she headed to Globe Life Arena before Round 4. Jessie was called up on Monday before the finals with the opportunity to run at the 2020 NFR due to the number three barrel racer in the world, Dona Kay Rule, had three positive tests to COVID-19. Due to the 2020 PRCA and WPRA protocol, Dona was not allowed to compete and Jessie hurried to make it.
Directly from Jessie herself, she walks us through not just her experience in finding out she was eligible to compete, but how she got her, her horse trailer, and horses to Texas in time to compete. The rodeo community is truly amazing and we are so thankful that she took the time to chat with us!
Please follow along with all things That Western Life on social media, as well as our co-hosts Katie Schrock & Rachel Owens-Sarno.