PRCA Young Guns Sit Solidly in the Top 15 Thanks to Mountain Valley Stampede Earnings

Tryan and Northcott, Joel Harris, Noah Lee, and Sydney Graham are all in rock solid contention for 2026 world titles thanks to money earned in Heber City, Utah.

Bareback riding champion Waylon Bourgeois | Fernando Sam Sin

Against the beautiful backdrop of the Wasatch Mountain Range the Mountain Valley Stampede at Wasatch County Events Complex in Heber City, Utah, awarded payouts totaling $290,106, July 30-August 1.

Bareback rider Waylon Bourgeois of Church Point, Louisiana, was all smiles after dominating Powder River Rodeo's Bottoms Up Chuck for 90.5 points and a cool $8,178. The 27-year-old who made his National Finals Rodeo debut in 2025 is currently ranked 47th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association bareback riding world standings with $30,935.

Baker City, Oregon steer wrestler Jesse Brown went 3.8 seconds during slack to bank $5,640 in Heber City. The six-time NFR qualifier is currently ranked second in the world with $131,401. Brown’s early season began taking shape after a major win at the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo. He has gained momentum through the summer months with a seventh-place finish at the Calgary Stampede followed by wins at Deadwood Days of ‘76 Rodeo in South Dakota and Chief Joseph Days in Oregon.

Steer wrestler Jesse Brown | Fernando Sam Sin

Young guns Tyler Tryan and Nicky Northcott teamed up for a 4.2-second run to split the win with 2023 NFR average champs Derrick Begay and Colter Todd. The win paid $5,841 each per man. Tryan and Northcott are third in the world in heading and heeling standings, respectively. They are in hot pursuit of their first NFR after finishing on the outside last season in 19th and 16th.

On the heels of their Cheyenne Frontier Days championship Tryan and Northcott haven’t weakened, achieving first-place finishes over the weekend at the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo for $9,923 a man and the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo for $7,025 each.

Tyler Tryan and Nicky Northcott | Fernando Sam Sin

Tryan rides Cowboys Famous Guy, a horse that might find just as much favor with barrel racers due to his Frenchmans Guy-Dash Ta Fame breeding. Northcott’s steady 15-year-old gelding Sofisticatto (“Brown”) completes the team’s horsepower.

Begay is ranked No. 28 in the heading standings while Todd is currently No. 30. Todd's sons, Traven Todd and Colter Lee Todd, representing Team Arizona, recently took the National High School Finals Rodeo team roping title in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mitch Pollock and Darcy Radel split top honors in the saddle bronc riding with 89 points to bank $6,925 each. Pollock, of Twin Falls, Idaho, teamed with Western Rodeos' Hippy Mountain, while Radel took on Powder River Rodeo's Miss Valley. Radel of Injune, Queensland, Australia, is ranked 25th in the world with $78,891 in pursuit of his first NFR berth. While he’s ranked outside the top 15 at 45th, the win in Heber was important to Pollock’s No. 4 ranking in the Wilderness Circuit saddle bronc riding standings.

Darcy Radel | Fernando Sam Sin

Joel Harris took the tie-down roping title in decisive fashion with a time of 7.2 seconds to add $7,205 to his season earnings totaling $178,820. The 23-year-old from San Angelo, Texas, has his sights on a third consecutive NFR.

Harris, who won the aggregate at the Dodge City Roundup, won a cool $20,070 over the weekend, and $37,000 the weekend prior. Harris is closing out the regular season strong thanks to horsepower. He rode “Mo” in Heber City, which is the same horse that gave him the edge over brother Ty at RodeoHouston.

Sydney Graham and her standout sorrel stallion Dupont First (“Trump”) lit the leaderboard with a scorching 16.49-second run worth $7,740 to become the new record holders for the fastest time on a WPRA standard pattern. Read every detail of their record run here.

Sydney Graham and Trump | Sydney Graham from Summer Searles

At age 18, Noah Lee has been lights out in his professional debut. Lee leads the Resistol Rookie of the Year standings in bull riding as well as the world standings. He added the third 93-point ride of his season in Heber City by dominating D&H Cattle Company’s 210K Moolah to earn $8,144 (including ground money).

Heber wasn’t the only place Lee stole the spotlight. At the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Castle Rock, Colorado, he matched moves with Megavolt owned by Summit Pro Rodeo to earn a 90-point score and $9,348.

He was third in Round 1 at Dodge City with 86 points on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Wild Fire. He won the Dodge City Roundup Xtreme Bulls with 88 on Western Hauler’s Caesar for $8,531. And before that Lee managed to top Round 1 at the Cheyenne Xtreme Bulls riding Smith Pro Rodeos Pain Killer for 92 (despite being banged up with a broken nose) to $6,925 in earnings.

According to Pro Bull Stats, Lee has completed 44 rides out of 68 PRCA attempts to achieve an impressive 67.44% riding percentage.

The fact that Lee is tough, rides incredibly well, and is humble is no surprise to anyone familiar with his dad Mike’s career. Mike Lee captured both the PBR World Championship and World Finals crown  in 2004. He has PBR earnings of more than $3 million and was still riding bulls in 2023 at age 43.