LAS VEGAS – Everyone around ProRodeo has been talking about how strong a bull rider Jacob O’Mara is.

He’s showing the rest of the world while competing on the biggest stage in the sport, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. O’Mara, of Prairieville, La., has placed in three of five go-rounds – including the third-round victory – and has collected $42,692 in just five days of work in the City of Lights.

On Monday night, the 20-year-old cowboy matched moves with Classic Pro Rodeo’s Diamond Joe for 88 points to finish second in the round behind three-time reigning world champion J.W. Harris, who posted a 90.5. Harris and O’Mara are Nos. 1-2 in the all-important average race, where the bull ride with the best cumulative score after the 10-round marathon will win a $45,865 bonus.

What’s even bigger is that this is O’Mara’s first trip to the NFR. The lights and the glamour associated with ProRodeo’s championship haven’t affected the young bull rider in the least.

You want proof? Just five of the 15 qualifiers have posted qualified rides on three bulls, and two veterans, Clayton Foltyn and Clayton Savage, haven’t ridden one.

“Bull riding is a big mental game,” said O’Mara, who comes from a bull riding family. “My brother rode bulls because of my dad. It’s all I knew when I was young, so I didn’t really have a choice.”

Whether by choice or by fate, O’Mara is showing the world why he’s one of the elite bull riders in the game.