POWELL, Wyo. – While atypical for most rodeo cowboys, Brody Wells didn’t actually grow up competing in the sport.
Make no bones about it: He was still a cowboy. Raised in the Bighorn Basin near Powell in the northern Wyoming, he grew up in the elements. He and his family hunted, and he spent countless hours horseback in the mountains. As he aged, he started doing some day work for outfits and spent a summer working at the Pitchfork Cow Camp.
Being a rodeo cowboy came to him in his teens, but he didn’t actually enter youth or high school rodeos. The son of a former bareback rider and bull rider, he made a 30-minute drive and tried his hand at the Cody (Wyoming) Nite Rodeo, a summertime tradition in that neck of the woods.
“Maury Tate runs the Cody Nite Rodeo, and he asked me how serious I was bout bronc riding, because he could tell I’d get on anything and didn’t care,” said Wells, 23, a first-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Powell. “I’d get stood up on my head and pull dirt out of my ears, then I’d go get on another one. I guess I was just tough.”
That grit and determination was bound for something, but he wasn’t sure where it was going. Tate also organizes rodeo schools in collaboration with his nightly rodeo, and that provides the rising stars with the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest cowboys to have ever played the game.
Bret Franks is one of those instructors. He’s a three-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in saddle bronc riding and has coached intercollegiate teams to four national championships.
“I got to meet Bret in Cody,” Wells said of Franks, who owns two of those titles while coaching at Clarendon (Texas) College. “We were out getting on the bucking machine one day in Cody, and Bret was showing me some stuff to help me. He says, ‘You come down to school for me, you’ll be a bad cat, Brody Wells.’ ”
Wells moved to Texas that next fall, and in a short time, he was part of the 2021 Clarendon men’s team that won the national title. A year later, he transferred to Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, to work toward his four-year degree and was part another men’s championship program.
“My coaches were pretty big for me,” he said. “Bret helped me actually get the fundamentals right and pointed me in the right direction. I definitely learned how to ride broncs good at Clarendon, and then just rolled on. At Tarleton, (seven-time NFR qualifier) Isaac Diaz was the assistant coach, the roughstock coach, and he helped me in a lot of ways, too.
“My buddy, Cash Wilson, and I lived at Isaac’s house for a little bit before we got a house in Stephenville, so being around a veteran like Isaac was great. He has rodeoed a long time, and we learned how to enter and what it takes to rodeo for a living. Being around a good guy like that really helped us both.”
With that type of tutelage, Wells started his career as a professional bronc buster along with Wilson and another talented hand, Australian Damian Brennan. All began their careers in 2022, with Brennan winning the coveted Resistol Saddle Bronc Riding Rookie of the Year honor; Wells finished third in that race and 35th in the world standings. Wilson was the fifth-best rookie that year.
Heading into this year’s NFR, Brennan leads the pack with $280,000 in earnings; Wells is 12th with $135,803. While that deficit seems overwhelming, the championship features a $12.5 million purse with go-round winners earning nearly $34,000 for each of the 10 December nights. A huge payday awaits those that are most consistent.
“I’m just excited to get down there and get my feet wet,” said Wells, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Pitchfork Ranch, Double J Quarter Horses, Wyoming Tourism, Serratelli Hat Co., Miles City Bucking Horse Sale and Pacesetters Hot Shot Service. “We’ve got outstanding horses selected there, so it’s going to be great to get on 10 good ones. I’m excited about that and getting to go with Damian. He’s had an outstanding the year and set a season-earnings record. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Wells was raised by his folks, Ed, who owns a trucking company, and Lora, a bookkeeper. His sister, Maesyn, is an artist, and all will be part of his posse once he arrives in Sin City.
“Making the NFR means a lot because of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years,” he said. “When you get your first bronc saddle, the goal is to get to the NFR. It also means a lot to all the people that have helped me and the support I have from my parents and my sister, my grandpa, all my family, all my friends and all the community.”
The 10-day championship is a big deal. Cowboys and cowgirls travel tens of thousands of miles a year chasing their rodeo dreams, and only the top 15 on the money list in each event at the end of the regular season earn the right to play on the sport’s biggest stage. It’s a dream come true for some, a stepping stone for others. The ultimate prize is the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to the world champions when the NFR concludes.
Wells has snagged some key opportunities in advancing to rodeo’s Super Bowl. He finished his first two years ranked in the 30s as far as his place in the standings. The key to a great season was staying healthy, staying on the road and riding consistently.
“I think being able to rodeo all year made the difference,” he said. “I knew I definitely rode good enough to make the finals. I only went to 40 rodeos last year and had to head home mid-summer and took the rest of the year off with having an injury. I believed I could do it.
“I had wins from the beginning all the way to the end, but you have to just keep your momentum rolling and keep your mental game focused: Eyes in front, not looking around, not worrying about what other people are doing and just focusing on getting to the rodeos and handling business.”
Repetition pays off. When he arrived in Clarendon, he quickly realized what it takes to excel riding broncs. Franks made sure there were plenty of quality horses for the cowboys to ride and continued to stress the fundamentals of the game. When they weren’t at a college rodeo, they were in the practice arena or working on a spur board, a training device that hones the basics.
“Bret always had a bunch of good broncs standing there for us to get on; we’d get on twice a week, and sometimes we’d get on three times a week,” Wells said. “We’d just get on broncs and get on broncs, so just getting numbers underneath you when you’re young is big. That’s what I needed anyways. You’re around good guys, getting on good broncs, hanging out with your buddies and competing in college rodeos in the Southwest Region, which I think is definitely the most competitive region.
“The competition’s way higher, and when you go to a rodeo, you’ve still got to ride good to make the short round. I think the Southwest Region produces your best guys the majority of the time.”
Good competition breeds excellence. Wells learned that when he started wrestling as a youngster, and he’s continuing it riding broncs on the biggest stages of rodeo. His dedication and talent are showing as he heads off to battle with the best bucking horses rodeo has to offer.
It’s his calling after all.