Discover how East Coast cowboys and cowgirls conquer rodeo arenas, proving grit and talent thrive far from traditional western roots.
While the majority of professional rodeo athletes reside in the western states in close proximity to rodeo hubs, many of them actually have roots in hometowns along the East Coast, proving that talent and the western ways knows no geographic bounds. Texas and Oklahoma remain big producers of pro rodeo athletes, and in recent years Canada and Hawaii have had more competitive participants as well.
Although there may not be as many big competitions on the East Coast as there are on the western side of the United States for athletes to dip their toes into and get their feet wet, the passion for rodeo is alive and well nationwide and opportunities like roping jackpots continue to grow.
In fact, there are many notable names on the Pro Rodeo Cowboy’s Association (PRCA) roster hailing from these states.
One of the most well-known names from North Carolina is that of bull riding PRCA and PBR legend JB Mauney. While he currently lives in Texas, JB has never forgotten his roots and often comes back to help with local North Carolina rodeos as a pickup man. His home state is always eager to cheer him on and tell others about their genuine and talented neighbor.
From a similar region of the country comes the talented sister team dominating the breakaway roping. Breakaway ropers and sisters Martha and Sarah Angelone also live in Texas but grew up in Virginia. Martha was the first ever Women’s Pro Rodeo Association (WPRA) world champion born in VA, hopefully setting a precedent for many more east coast champions to come.
The world standings for other events points to more of the same with east coast outliers still having big success.
According to the PRCA website, Clovis Crane, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania is currently sitting 47th in the world all-around standings. There are also several Florida boys in the bull riding, including Clayton Sellars of Fruitland Park Florida who is 17th in the world in bull riding, Ernie Courson from Okeechobee, Florida is 49th in the world in bull riding, and Kyle Irwin of Westville, Florida is 10th in the world in steer wrestling. Plenty of talent coming out of Florida!
At the very top of the charts is Kaleb Driggers of Hoboken, Georgia, who is ranked 2nd in the world as a team roping header. A few slots behind him is Dustin Egusquiza of Marianna, Florida who is ranked 9th in the world, and then Luke Brown at 15th from Rock Hill, SC, and Cory Kidd at 28th from Statesville, NC.
As far as team roping heelers go, Ocala, Florida’s own Jonathan Torres has claimed 4th in the world. His fellow Floridian Cole Clemons from Okeechobee is dominating the tie down roping and defending his 9th in the world title. While rankings can change quickly, the talent of these individuals does not.
All of these cowboys and cowgirls may be used to different cultures and climates, but they know a horse is a horse or a bull is a bull no matter what state you get your start in.