Steer Wrestler Will Lummus Inches Closer to $2 Million with Ogden Championship

The lucrative $624,444 payout available at Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo drew the best in the business to Utah.

Will Lummus and Swamper | Fernando Sam-Sin

The Spencer Fox Eccles Pioneer Stadium in Ogden hosted elite rodeo athletes like Will Lummus and Hailey Kinsel who were gunning to win big bucks July 20-24 as the season cutoff countdown accelerates.

Timed Event Champions

Eight-time NFR steer wrestling qualifier Will Lummus is poised to eclipse $2 million in PRCA career earnings, and thanks to the $14,704 he banked in Ogden, Lummus is closer to the milestone. The 2021 NFR average winner from Mississippi has unofficially amassed $1,979,665 in the PRCA with just $20,335 to go before crossing the $2 million-dollar mark.

Lummus went 4-flat in Rounds 1 and 2 to earn $4,705 and $1,882, respectively, on his way to clinching the aggregate title and another $8,117. Lummus, who is ranked 16th in the PRCA steer wrestling standings, was entered at another notable Wilderness Circuit rodeo in Spanish Fork over the weekend but didn’t hit pay dirt there.

He’s slated to compete in Idaho Falls and Preston, Idaho, as well as Heber City, Utah, at the end of this week before heading to Dodge City, Kansas.

In the team roping it was the Texas-based duo of Lightning Aguilera and Kaden Profili tapping things off fast in 4.4 seconds to tie for third in Round 1 with two-time PRCA team roping world champs Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira, both teams earning $3,463.

Aguilera and Profili split second in Round 2 with Coy Rahlmann and Logan Medlin to emerge as average champions with a total on two of 9.2 seconds, which was worth $7,709 a man.

Aguilera and Profili, who cashed big checks at the Deadwood Days of ‘76 and the Days of ‘47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City, are ranked 5th in the heading and 4th in the heeling world standings, respectively. Both men are in pursuit of their third NFR qualification.

PRCA File Photo by Mallory Beinborn

PRCA Wilderness Circuit standout Ladd King topped the tie-down roping. King’s 8.9-second run in Round 1 split fifth with Tanner Green for $2,437 a piece. King was a tenth faster in the second round to place eighth and secure the average win with 17.7 seconds on two head for $8,849.

Ogden marks the biggest monetary win of King’s season. The 29-year-old talent from West Weber, Utah, also won the Red Desert Roundup in Rock Springs, Wyoming, over the weekend to add $1,612 to his season earnings totaling $31,565.

Breakaway ropers Danielle Lowman and Josie Conner each stopped the clock in 4.3 seconds on two to share the Ogden breakaway roping victory and win $5,312 a piece. Conner’s 2.0 second run in Round 1 earned her another $3,935 for first, while Lowman went 2.1 to split second and earn $2,312. Lowman split fifth six ways in Round 2 with a run of 2.2 worth $1,016, while Conner held strong at 2.3 to place 11th for $590. She currently sits seventh in the world, while Lowman ranks 11th.

On the heels of their $66,250 Calgary Stampede championship, it was Hailey Kinsel and her phenomenal equine partner DM Sissy Hayday rounding out the list of timed event champions.

Kinsel’s time of 17.11 seconds was good for $13,701 in earnings and a three-peat Ogden victory with “Sister,” who carried her to wins in 2019 and 2021. The four-time WPRA World Champion continues her assault on the WPRA world standings, moving from ninth to second with $104,915 (unofficially) thanks to success at Cheyenne Frontier Days and Ogden.

Hailey Kinsel and DM Sissy Hayday | Cowboy Channel

Roughstock Champions

Helping his cause to qualify for a third straight NFR, Cooper Cooke scored 88.5 points on Korkow Rodeos' Dixie's Gravy to top the bareback riding and earn $15,052. Cooke, of Victor, Idaho, is ranked third in the world with $134,366.

Cooper Cooke | Nathan Meyer Photography

Veteran saddle bronc rider Jake Finlay topped Smith Pro Rodeos' Angel Cat for 89 points to bank $15,002. The native of Queensland, Australia, is currently 17th in the PRCA saddle bronc riding standings and trails 15th-ranked Shorty Garrett by $8,045.

In the bull riding T.J. Gray of Dairy, Oregon, displayed the same level of talent that earned him the 2025 NFR average title. Gray scored 88 points on Mo Betta Rodeo's Uncle Kneebanger to top the field and earn $15,262.

Gray has good motivation to return to the NFR for a third time. He earned the most money of any contestant with a $329,662 windfall in Vegas to bag the 2025 Top Gun Award.

Gray edged Clayton Sellars by one half point. Sellars’ 87.5 earned him $11,701, while PBR World Champion John Crimber continued to make his PRCA presence known by scoring 87 points for third to earn $8,648. Crimber is ranked seventh in the PRCA standings and has a legitimate chance to capture both the PRCA bull riding and PBR world titles in the same season.