DUNCAN, Okla. – Since the inception of the PRCA’s circuit system 47 years ago, the Prairie Circuit has been a hotbed for steer wrestling.
Not only are there some outstanding homegrown bulldoggers, but men from out of the area – and even out of the United States – make their way to the Oklahoma-Kansas-Nebraska region in order to compete with the best. No other year has this been more prevalent than 2024.
All 12 men in the field are in contention to win the year-end championship during the Chisholm Trail Ram Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17-Saturday, Oct. 19, at the Stephens County Arena in Duncan.
Jarek Van Petten of Cimarron, Kansas, leads the way on the money list with $17,211, but Tyler Pearson of Atoka, Oklahoma, is at the bottom of that order and can still run away with the crown if he has a solid three days of competition in Duncan. With a large purse awaiting the players, anything can happen over the long weekend.
Pearson, the 2017 world champion who is closing in on his sixth National Finals Rodeo qualification, moved to Oklahoma several years ago as a more centralized location. Originally from Mississippi, he’s collected $11,326 so far this season, and he’s still on the bottom rung of the standings ladder.
“This is, by far, the most money it’s ever taken to make the finals,” said Riley Duvall, the No. 3 man in the standings with $14,461. “It usually takes around $8,500.”
That increase is vital for contestants who make their livings in rodeo. They compete for prize money, and only the top few collect cash at each rodeo. That means they must beat most of the field in order to be paid. In addition, they cover their own expenses, so every penny counts, especially in rodeo, where dollars equal championship points.
Duvall and Pearson make up the most NFR bids among an elite field of bulldoggers; Duvall is a four-time qualifier, but the top 12 includes Cody Devers of Perryton, Texas, a two-time qualifier, and Jacob Edler, who earned his shot in 2020 and won the world title that year, from State Center, Iowa. Edler is a two-time average champion in Duncan who won the year-end title in 2022; Duvall did the same two years prior and also won the aggregate in 2016. Devers was the 2021 average titlist.
Edler sits second in the standings, just $1,700 behind Van Petten. Trisyn Kalawaia of Hilo, Hawaii, the defending year-end winner, is fourth with $14,131. Below them, in order, are Chance Howard of Sallisaw, Oklahoma; Mason Couch of Bronaugh, Missouri; Travis Munro of Townsville, Queensland, Australia; Devers; Adam Musil of Crescent, Oklahoma; Emmett Edler, Jacob’s younger brother also from State Center; Riley Westhaver of High River, Alberta; and Pearson.
Only the top four contestants will earn money in Duncan during each go-round, and the top four in the aggregate will cash in the most. Every dollar is critical, but the bulldoggers wouldn’t have it any other way.