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Wyoming is pretty much synonymous with rodeo. Ranch kids learn to rope and ride right along with walking and talking. If they take up a particular rodeo specialty some grow to become among the best in the world. And this year there is a remarkable showing in the accomplishments of Wyoming pro rodeo athletes. There are five contestants who have spurred and spun to Top Ten positions in the world standings (The top 15 are awarded spots at the finals). The state tourism office has sponsorship agreements with seven pro rodeo athletes who call Wyoming home and six will appear at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo – rodeo’s Superbowl beginning Thursday in Las Vegas.
Kanin Asay (Cannon AYE-See) was a national high school rodeo champion bull rider his senior year in Wyoming and in three years he has become one of the top contestants on the pro rodeo circuit. Asay won more than $36,000 over Cowboy Christmas (Fourth of July holiday period) this year to catapult his world standings position to #2 where he was stayed through the rest of the regular season. Also a stand-out wrestler in high school, the Powell, Wyoming resident attended college for one year but chose entering the pro bull riding ranks as his calling. Asay fought through injuries each of the last two years but felt confident in his abilities and continued to improve in health and on each bull. He won the Xtreme Bulls event in Cody, Wyoming in 2007 handling the never-before-ridden bull Spuds Mackenzie the full eight seconds. His earnings this year have totaled nearly $145,000 going into the Wrangler National Final Rodeo.
Brandie Halls set an arena record at the WNFR last year with a run of 13.52 seconds. Her horse, Slim, was strong again in 2007 and a second horse has been out for several rodeos. Slim’s early career was delayed by a year because of a snake bite. Halls is a veteran of several national finals and sits comfortably in the Top Ten going in. She often travels with her husband and young daughter. The proud mom and dad have been going down the pro rodeo road together for 16 years. They live on a ranch near Carpenter, Wyoming where Brandie trains and sells horses. She has been running barrels since she can remember after inheriting a love of horses from her mother and father.
Chet Johnson is coming off a big win at the Pendleton Round-Up where he topped Sankey Rodeo Company’s ‘Domino Theory’ to champion his event and pocket a total of about $11,000 at the annual Oregon competition in September. Johnson first qualified for the WNFR in 2005. He attended high school in Lusk, Wyoming where he bucked to a state high school saddle bronc riding title in 1999. Chet now resides in Gillette, Wyoming and holds an associate’s degree in agribusiness from Sheridan College. Johnson won the saddle bronc competition at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in 2004.
Jhett Johnson is named for actor James Dean’s character in the movie “Giant” and Jhett is one big fellow who swelled with great pride following a champion’s victory lap at the Wrangler Pro Rodeo Tour stop in Omaha this fall. Johnson and partner Keven Daniel teamed to rope their steer in 4.3 seconds in the final outing to earn about $16,000 at the third tour stop of the season. That money secured Johnson’s third appearance at the WNFR. Jhett, along his wife and two boys, resides on a ranch near Casper, Wyoming that was homesteaded by his family in the late 1800s. Johnson missed most of the winter season this year because of an emergency appendectomy.
Jason Miller left the Cheyenne Frontier Days arena in 2007 covered with mud and a steer wrestling co-championship. At 6-4 and 235 pounds, Miller is a man among men yet is known as a quiet history buff who loves to read. He ranches near the tiny berg of Lance Creek, Wyoming and qualified for his first WNFR last year. One of the most popular people in pro rodeo, Jason was educated at the University of Wyoming. He won the bull dogging championship at the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver in 2002.
Bobby Welsh is establishing himself as one of the best bull riders in pro rodeo and at 23-years-old he is headed to his third WNFR. Bobby and his wife Sunny are raising three children in Gillette, Wyoming. Bobby turned heads at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas last year when he was the only rider to successfully score in round nine and finished the finals second in the average.
Welsh took up bull riding as a child in Wisconsin following encouragement from his father. Bobby was national high school bull riding champion in 2002.
12-3-07 Wyoming Rodeo Pros Shine
As the pro rodeo season nears the end of its regular season, there is a remarkable showing in the accomplishments of Wyoming pro rodeo athletes. more...
