LAS VEGAS – Most of the time in Las Vegas, the smart money is on the safe bet.
Don’t hit when the dealer is showing a bust hand in blackjack. Bet odds or evens, maybe red or black, instead of putting all your chips on a specific number in roulette. Sometimes, though, the rewards are greater when taking a chance.
J.D. Struxness went all in on taking extra chances after he failed to secure a time on opening night. It paid off in his first Montana Silversmiths gold buckle for winning the world championship with another aggressive run during Saturday’s 10th round of the National Finals Rodeo.
“We really liked my steer tonight,” said Struxness, who stopped the clock in 3.6 seconds to finish second in the round, worth $26,624; he also finished eighth in the average race, worth another $8,150. “They’d done good on him in Round 7. We knew that steer ran, though, so it wasn’t a steer you could back off or think it was a day off. We knew we needed to maximize the (barrier), and then go out there and really hang it on him and let it hang out a little bit.”
His team included fellow bulldoggers Rowdy Parrott and Ty Erickson – the latter of whom owns the horse, Crush, that all three ride – and their hazer, Matt Reeves, an NFR veteran who rides Kirk, owned by his wife, Savannah.
“We were talking before, and we liked him because he gave us the opportunity to open up and be aggressive all the way through the run and just go out there and see what we can do and let the chips fall where they do,” Struxness said.
They fell right into his lap. He finished the 10-day championship with $151,955, which increased his 2024 earnings to $309,220. He edged Will Lummus by just $1,500.
“Those horses are what gave us the opportunity to compete and do what we do this week,” said Struxness, from Milan, Minnesota, but now living in Perrin, Texas.
It’s been eight years since he first qualified for ProRodeo’s grand championship. He won the intercollegiate title in 2016 while competing at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, then had a successful NFR that December. This was his sixth trip to Las Vegas, and he joins his old teammate, Jacob Edler, as world champions – Edler won the 2020 title in his only NFR qualification so far.
“There are quite a few good bulldoggers that come out of there,” Struxness said. “Stockton Graves (an eight-time NFR qualifier) did a great job when he was there, and he churned out some bulldoggers. Hopefully they keep the reputation alive.”
The reputation is strong, because the Steer Wrestling Capital of College Rodeo has another world champion.