Riley Pruitt Leads Charge of Mountain States Qualifiers Going Into Circuit Finals

The Mountain States Circuit Finals kicks off this weekend.

Riley Pruitt at the Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls, South Dakota | Nathan Meyer Photography

Contestants in the Mountain States Circuit have been competing from Colorado to Wyoming, into Kansas, and back to Utah to qualify for this year's finals that start in Loveland, Colo., tomorrow. The rodeos for the circuit started back in January at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo. On October 1, the top-12 in each event were solidified.

One cowboy won more than any other event: tie-down roper Riley Pruitt who has just qualified for his third NFR (first since '19). He will be headed to Las Vegas as the No.6 cowboy in the world standings with nearly $165,000 won. Without the $54,000 he earned in the circuit this year, he wouldn't be seen on the Cowboy Channel when December rolls around.

Pruitt is guaranteed to win the overall circuit title with a $30,000 cushion over the No.2 man- Brodey Clemons. The other 11 qualifiers are looking to take an average win to advance to the NFR Open in Colorado Springs when July rolls around next year. Pruitt has solidified his spot to that rodeo and will be looking to take back-to-back titles.

Others to Look Out for this Weekend in Colorado

Trey Yates | Nathan Meyer Photography

Brittany Pozzi-Tonozzi (barrel racing), Clayton Van Aken (header), Trey Yates (heeler), and Mitchie Story (saddle bronc riding) join Pruitt at the top of their events, that have also solidified their spots into the '26 NFR Open. The No. 2 athletes cannot catch them in their respective events, so qualifiers 2-through-12 are chasing the average title to get into the NFR Open when it comes around.

The rest of the events all have tight races for the year-end crown and that starts with the bareback riding. Roedy Farrell has a cushion of almost exactly $3,000 over Donny Proffit. Farell was one of the few who took advantage of the National Western in January. He earned nearly $7,000 after four rides almost solidifying his qualification into circuit finals.

Yuma, Colo. cowboy, Zach Hamar, has even less distance between him and Tait Kvistad in the steer wrestling. However, Kvistad is not the only man who can catch him-

• Hamar: $20,007
• Kvistad: $17,978
• Cody Pratt: $17,939
• Colt Honey: $17,486
• Cowboys five and six (Payden McIntyre and Se could have a strong finals and catch any of these guys as well. They sit squished together and about $6,000 behind Hamar.

The tightest race between No.1 and No.2 will be the final event of the finals- the bull riding. It is going to be a battle between Colton Coffman and Mason Spain. Coffman has won $679 more than Spain in the circuit this year. They trail only Pruitt, Pozzi-Tonozzi, and Van Aken as the highest money earners across any event (two of six contestants with more than $30,000).

No matter the discipline this is going to be a good one to watch. The first performance kicks off at 7 p.m. MTN time at the Ranch Events Complex. The overall and average champions will be named Saturday night after three rounds of competition. Rodeo on SI wishes good luck to everyone competing this weekend!

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