By LUKE CREASY
For TwisTed Rodeo
LOVINGTON, N.M. – There may be no family more synonymous with rodeo than the saddle bronc riding Wright family from Utah, so it is only fitting that one of them came to dominate on Family Night at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo.

Stetson is a five-time world champion from Milford, Utah, having won the last three all-around titles, the 2020 bull riding crown and last year’s saddle bronc riding championship.

He’s just 23 years old. On Wednesday night, he scored 88 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Fox Hole Gunner to take the saddle bronc riding lead, just a half point better than Sage Newman, the No. 1 man in this year’s world standings from Melstone, Montana.

Wright entered this week No. 2 in the bronc riding standings with a tad more than $142,000; he trails Newman by nearly $50,000. But Wright is the top dog in the bull riding and all-around standings with two months left in the rodeo season. He has accumulated just shy of $300,000 this season competing in two events.

It was the second time this year that Wright was matched with Fox Hole Gunner, and he appreciated Wednesday’s performance much more than their time together at San Angelo, Texas, in April. While he still experienced a bit of success three months ago, Wright was hampered by a few injures and settled for an 83.5-point ride, which helped him finish in the money in the opening round.

Things just went better in Lovington.

“She was just outstanding,” he said. “There’s a lot going on in a matter of eight seconds.”

Fox Hole Gunner faded left while turning right, kicking, twisting, springing up in the air, and dropping out of it.

“She bucked harder today, but I feel I gave her a chance to buck more,” Wright said. “I was more aggressive. She’s always a good horse, I just had to go at her a little stronger.”

“I just came off a win in Cheyenne, coming here, being 88, just felt awesome. My momentum is rolling, (and) I’m drawing good; you could ask for anything better.”

He had already competed Tuesday in the Lea County Xtreme Bulls, adding $1,021 to his season earnings. Because he’s the only one in his family of four brothers that rides bulls, he often travels separately than the others: Rusty, 26; Ryder, 24; and Statler, 18 – Rusty has been on injured reserve for several weeks, but the other two joined Stetson in Lovington for Family Night.

It was only fitting. Ryder Wright, a two-time world champion himself, sits tied for fourth after an 81-point ride on Carr’s Midnight Moves. Statler Wright, who is second in the Resistol Rookie of the Year standings, settled for a no-score.

“(Statler) has been beating me a bunch since he cracked out,” Stetson Wright said. “It’s just awesome to see how far he’s come in such a short amount of time.”

Lea County Fair and Rodeo
Lovington, N.M.
Aug. 3-6
Bareback riding leaders: 1. R.C. Landingham, 86 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Knight Mare; 2. Waylon Bourgeois, 79; 3. Bill Tutor, 73; no other qualified rides.

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Tyler Pearson, 4.1 seconds; 2. Tyler Waguespack, 4.2; 3. (tie) Cade Goodman and Chance Howard, 4.3; 5. Ryan Shuckburgh, 5.0; 6. Marc Joiner, 9.0; 7. Kyle Irwin, 23.9; 8. Stephen Culling 26.5. Second round leaders: 1. Stephen Culling, 3.9 seconds; 2. Tyler Waguespack, 4.0; 3. (tie) Talon Roseland and Chance Howard, 4.2; 5. Kyle Irwin, 4.3; 6. Ryan Shuckburgh, 4.5; 7. Marc Joiner, 5.3; 8. Cade Goodman, 5.5. Average leaders: 1. Tyler Waguespack, 8.2 seconds on two runs; 2. Chance Howard, 8.5; 3. Ryan Shuckburgh, 9.5; 4. Cade Goodman, 9.8; 5. Marc Joiner, 14.3; 6. Tyler Pearson, 19.0; 7. Kyle Irwin, 28.2; 8. Stephen Culling, 30.4.

Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. Macon Murphy, 8.7 seconds; 2. Cooper Martin, 9.1; 3. Kase Bacque, 9.6; 4. Dallen McIntire, 9.9; 5. (tie) Kason Dyer and Brokk Baldwin, 10.2; 7. Slammer Powers, 10.3; 8. Chris McCuistion, 10.9. Second round leaders: 1. Ryan Thibodeaux, 7.3 seconds; 2. John Pereira, 7.6; 3. Paul David Tierney, 8.2; 4. Shawn Poag, 8.5; 5. Marcos Costa, 8.8; 6. Chance Oftedahl, 9.2; 7. Dylan Ward Murphyt, 9.6; 8. Lucas Bueno Peres, 10.0. Average leaders: 1. Ryan Thibodeaux, 18.5 seconds on two runs; 2. (tie) Dylan Ward Murphy and Kase Bacque, 21.0; 4. Cooper Martin, 21.4; 5. Lucas Bueno Peres, 21.8; 6. Shawn Poag, 22.3; 7. Chance Oftedahl, 23.2; 8. Marcos Costa, 23.4.

Breakaway roping: 1. Lari Dee Guy, 2.9 seconds; 2. Montana Brown, 3.7; 3. Tacy Webb, 3.8; 4. Emma Charlston, 5.3; 6. Josey Murphy, 12.3; 7. Abby Medlin, 12.6; 8. Jackie Crawford, 12.8.

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Stetson Wright, 88 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Fox Hole Gunner; 2. Sage Newman, 87.5; 3. Chase Brooks, 83.5; 4. (tie) Allen Boore and Ryder Wright, 81; 6. (tie) T.W. Flowers and Brody Wells, 80; 8. (tie) Leon Fountain and Ross Griffin, 78.  

Steer roping: First round leaders: 1. Chet Herren, 11.1 seconds; 2. Slade Wood, 12.6; 3. (tie) Cole Patterson and Clay Long, 12.7; 5. Neal Wood, 15.0; no other qualified times. Second round leaders: 1. Kenyon Burns, 11.3 seconds; 2. Cole Patterson, 11.5; 3. Clay Long, 11.6; 4. Laramie Allen, 11.9; 5. Kyle Cauthorn, 12.1; 6. Slade Wood, 12.2; 7. Jarett McKade Holiday, 13.7; 8. Chet Herren, 15.5. Third round leaders: 1. Slade Wood, 11.0 seconds; 2. Laramie Allen, 11.4; 3. Rocky Patterson, 11.8; 4. Chet Herren, 11.9; 5. Jarett McKade Holliday, 13.7; 6. John Clark, 13.8; 7. Clay Long, 22.1; no other qualified times. Average leaders: 1. Slade Wood, 35.8 seconds on three runs; 2. Chet Herren, 38.5; 3. Clay Long, 46.4; 4. Laramie Allen, 23.3; 5. Cole Patterson, 24.2 seconds on two runs; 6. Jarett McKade Holliday, 27.4; 7. John Clark, 30.0; 8. Kenyon Burns, 11.3 seconds on one run.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1. Tyler Wade/Trey Yates, 4.3 seconds; 2. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 4.4; 3. Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 5.0; 4. Curry Kirchner/Reagan Ward, 5.2; 5. Peyton Holliday/Kolton Good, 5.4; 6. Robert Ansley/James Gilliland, 6.7; 7. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 7.2; 8. Nick Sartain/Austin Rogers, 7.7. Second round leaders: 1. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 4.4 seconds; 2. Tyler Wade/Trey Yates, 4.6; 3. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 5.0; 4. (tie) Nick Sartain/Austin Rogers and Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 5.4; no other qualified times. Average leaders: 1. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 8.8 seconds on two runs; 2. Tyler Wade/Trey Yates, 8.9; 3. Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 10.4; 4. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 12.2; 5. Nick Sartain/Austin Rogers, 13.1; 6. Curry Kirchner/Reagan Ward, 5.2 seconds on one run; 7. Peyton Holliday/Kolton Good, 5.4; 8. Robert Ansley/James Gilliland, 6.7.

Barrel racing leaders: 1. Nicole Driggers, 17.42 seconds; 2. (tie) Halyn Lide and Shannon McReynolds, 17.52; 4. Michelle Darling, 17.78; 5. Carrie Jankee, 17.94; 6. Angela Ganter, 18.08; 7. Paisley Pierce, 18.13; 8. Kelly Allen 18.65; 9. Jackie Ganter, 32.17; no other qualified times.

Bull riding leaders: 1. Josh Frost, 89 points on Stockyards ProRodeo’s Deplorable; 2. Jesse Flores, 85.5; 3. Justin Lane Rowell, 79; no other qualified rides.