LAS VEGAS – It took three trips to Las Vegas and 21 bulls, but Seth Glause earned his first go-round victory at the Wrangler National Finals on Thursday night.
Glause rode Five Star Rodeo’s Gangster for 86 points to win the opening round of the 2011 grand finale, collecting a $17,885 check in the process. It was a long time coming for the Rock Springs, Wyo., cowboy.
“It’s real important to get a good start,” said Glause, 23, who attended college on rodeo scholarships at Central Wyoming College and Oklahoma Panhandle State University. “This is just the second bull I’ve ever rode here, so I’m excited.”
He should be. Glause increased his annual earnings to $93,357 and jumped one spot in the world standings to sixth place.
“I’ve been here a couple of times now, so I know the drill and the pressure, and I decided I was going to relax and have fun and try to stay as focus as I could and not worry about my surroundings,” he said. “It means a lot because of the struggles; you’ve got to go to the bottom to realize what it’s like to actually win, and so you really appreciate it from that standpoint.”
Glause earned bull riding titles in the Oklahoma communities of Guymon and Lawton and added an all-around championship at the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs, Colo., by competing also in saddle bronc riding. All that earned the young cowboy the right to compete among the very best in the business this December.
“With this group of guys, there are so many talented bull riders and the bulls are so great that you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
Glause is scheduled to compete in Friday’s second go-round on Frontier Rodeo’s Feeling So Fly. He’d love to make it two in row in Las Vegas.
“I’m just trying to stay relaxed and not let the distractions get to me,” he said.