A.J. Williams Strong Finish Captures First Frontier Circuit Finals Steer Wrestling Title

Following a barrier violation in the second round, the veteran steer wrestler rebounded with a big finish to earn his sixth circuit title.

A.J. Williams was unphased by his second-round result at the First Frontier Circuit Finals rodeo in Harrisburg, Pa. In fact, he was more annoyed than anything.

The veteran steer wrestler had opened the rodeo with a 4.4-second run to win the first round. His time of 4.6 seconds in the second round would have also been a winning score.

At least, it could have been.

“That second round, I just barely caught the barrier. I mean, barely. It was so close it wasn’t even funny,” Williams said with a laugh. The violation resulted in a 10-second penalty being added to his score.

During Saturday’s final round, the New Providence, Pa., cowboy made up for the misstep.

Williams posted a time of 3.4 seconds to close out the rodeo, winning the round and giving him an aggregate time of 22.4 seconds on three-head. Williams’ total was just ahead of Cody Jones’ 28.7 seconds for the average win. The victory provided Williams with $8,685 in earnings for the 2024 season.

A Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association member since 2008, Williams now has six circuit season championships in the last seven years to his credit, along with two circuit rodeo average titles. This one, however, has a slightly more personal meaning.

A little less than two years ago, Williams picked up his current equine partner from Alabama. He’s been training the horse, aptly named Bama, for this moment ever since.

“She’s nine years old. I originally bought her out of Alabama, and all she ever did was they team roped on her a little bit and barrel raced on her,” Williams said. “I bought her, started steer wrestling on her, and we’re going on year number two now. She’s started to figure everything out pretty good.”

Now, with a little money in his ledger and momentum on his side, Williams heads into the new season looking to keep the success coming. He knows he’s got the horse to make it happen.

“It gives you a heck of a lot more confidence when you know that everything is working the way it should be horse-wise,” Williams said.

Other results from the First Frontier Circuit Finals Rodeo:

Tim Kent, the newly crowned champion, also won the bareback average with 223 points on three-head and collected a total of $13,301 in total prize money.

Team ropers Eric Fabian and Derek Carey won the average with an aggregate time of 19.3 seconds on three runs. They each earned $6,369 for the weekend. Darren Morgan earned the season title in the heading, while Britt Bockius gathered up the heeling title.

Clovis Crane secured the saddle bronc year-end title along with the average title as the only competitor to cover three-head. Crane scored 211 points, winning $8,262 total.

Tie-down roper Zane Kilgus won the average with 30 seconds on three-head. The win also helped him rope his way to the year-end title and $7,527 in total.

Barrel racer Jaime Fowler secured the average with 42.4 seconds on three runs. She won $8,106 in total. Jody Lyn Colton remained in the top spot for the year-end title.

Bull rider Nathan Bayous was the only competitor to cover all three bulls, scoring 240 points and earning an astounding $16,708 for his efforts this weekend. The rookie also won the season circuit title.