Mountain States Circuit Finals Contenders Headed to Loveland

The Ranch Events Center MAC Arena will be the host again this year for the top 12 contestants in each event of the PRCA and WPRA Mountain States Circuit Finals. Three performances will be held: Friday, October 20 at 7 pm, Saturday, October 21 at 1 pm and again at 7 pm.

The coveted All-Around Cowboy award is certainly not decided yet. Seth Peterson comes into the finals weekend with $32,428 in the standings and will be seen competing in the tie down roping along with the steer wrestling. Coming in second position will be the cowboy from Saguache, Colo., Jase Staudt, who will also be competing in two events – team roping and tie down roping. Trailing by a little less than $5,800, Staudt will need to have a good finals to catch Peterson, but it is surely not out of the question.

The bareback riding title can be awarded before the rodeo starts. Hayden, Colorado is proud of Keenan Hayes who is a rookie in the PRCA and is not only running away with the Mountain States Circuit title for the year but will also be competing at his first Wrangler National Finals. Anything will be possible in Las Vegas, but Hayes is going into the WNFR ranked first and ahead by more than $103,000.

The saddle bronc riding is a closer race but is likely more of a race for runner up than the year end title. Ira Dickson, who calls Rock Springs, Wyo. home, leads the field with $25,061 with Bailey Small in second with $15,140. Q Taylor and Chris Williams will round out the top four.

Finishing up the rough stock events, the bull riding will come down to the three best rides in Loveland. Wyatt Phelps is the season leader with $26,161 earning big wins at Estes Park and Steamboat Springs, Co. Bryce Burnell from Sheridan, Wy is right on Phelps’ heels with $25,316. Burnell took the championship at two of the major rodeos in the circuit – National Western Stock Show in Denver and the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo. The pair will battle it out until the last bull bucks on Saturday night to determine who will walk away with the championship.

The steer wrestling standings show three competitors that will have the best shot at the title – Seth Peterson, Chisum Docheff, and Aaron Vosler. Peterson leads the field with $16,325, Docheff follows having earned $13,886 over the season, and Vosler is close behind earning $13,122. Every time the trio nod their heads this weekend will matter and will take them one step closer or farther away from the 2023 title.

The team ropers will put on a show that will no doubt come down to the last steer. The top four team are only split by $3,065 – an amount that can easily be won at the finals. In fact, in 2022 the team roping paid $1,842 a man per round and $2,763 for the average. A seasoned veteran pair, Jay Tittel and TJ Watts come in number one with $22,862 followed by Clayton Van

Aken and Cullen Teller who won $21,913 each during the season. Eric Martin teamed up with Ryon Tittel to gather $21,652 this year, and brothers Kellan and Carson Johnson collected $19,797 for their efforts this year. With a line up like that, the team roping will be an event where the crowd should be sitting on the edge of their seats.

The tie down ropers have a lot to win and lose this weekend, so you can bet they will bring their A-game. Newlywed, JD McCuiston from Estes Park, Colo. is the season leader with $18,830. His biggest paycheck of the season came from Cortez, Colo where he won $1,553.

August was good to the cowboy as he collected a check at nearly every rodeo he entered to propel him to the lead. McCuiston won’t have an easy road with cowboys like Tyler Boxleitner, Seth Peterson, Riley Pruitt, and Jase Staudt on the day sheets.

The ladies of the arena will compete in both the breakaway and the barrel race under the flag of the WPRA. Veteran cowgirl Willow Wilson is always a force to contend with whether she is entered in the Breakaway or the Team Roping where she competes regularly with her husband Todd. Wilson comes in as the season leader in the breakaway with $7,124 but is only ahead of Kinlie Brennis by $469. Linsay Sumpter, the rodeo coach for Otero Junior College and the WCRA Women’s Commissioner is in third place with $6,033. Taya McAdow and Nicole Hadley finish out the top five with everyone having a legitimate chance at the title.

The barrel race will be fierce and fast, but the outcome has already been predetermined. World Champion, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi will earn the 2023 title having already picked up checks totaling $27,510. The top five qualifiers include NFR qualifier Kelly Yates, rookie Sage Kohr, NFR qualifier Shali Lord and gold card holder Chris Gibson. Even though Tonozzi has the win already under her belt, you can bet the competition will be tough.