San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Crowns 2026 Champions

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo has officially come to an end. It all came down to Championship Saturday night. With earnings accumulated from the early brackets all the way through the Finals, every dollar mattered. By the end of the night, eight athletes stood alone at the top of their respective events. 

These champions took home big paychecks that are sure to shake up the 2026 standings early on. 

In the bareback riding no one was better than Wacey Schalla. The Oklahoma man is the youngest PRCA cowboy to cross 1 million dollars. At just 20 years old, he has already made the NFR twice in a row, and did it in two events in 2025. 

In 2024, at his Vegas debut, he was only a bull rider. But then in 2025 he started winning more in the bareback riding as well, making him a strong all around contender. Since then, he has been dominating the bareback riding as well. 

In the San Antonio Finals Wacey marked the highest ride of the rodeo with 91 points on Calgary Stampede's Disco Party. He came out as the finals round winner, and the overall Champion. 

This year is looking strong for Wacey. He sits in the number 1 spot in the world in the bareback riding now, and shows no signs of slowing down. 

Jacob Lees came in as the reserve champion after tying with Leighton Berry at 89.5 points in the finals. Berry, Rocker Steiner, and Bradlee Miller rounded out the top 5 top money earners in San Antonio. 

A 3.6 second run for J.D. Stuxness in the final round sealed the deal. He won the round, and the title having won nearly $25,000 over the entire rodeo. The 2024 World Champion and 7x NFR qualifier was consistent throughout and it paid off. 

The World Standings has been dominated by Tyler Waguespack so far this year, who finihsed in second behind J.D. in San Antonio adding over $20,000 to his earnings as well. J.D. is comfortably in the top 5 of the World Standings now as well. 

Rowdy Parrott, Will Lummus, Ty Erickson, and Clay Hurt completed the top 5 money earners. 

The team roping was one of the tightest events. You could say it was the underdogs that came out on top. Lightening Aguilera and Wyatt Cox took home the championship after having to come through from the Wildcard round. 

The duo did not advance in the their semi finals and had to take the long way around. The won the wildcard, and then did it again in the finals to come out as the high money earners. Aguilera and Cox split that final round with Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira with a 3.8. Driggers and Nogueira ended up 2nd overall as well.

 Jaxon Hill and Jessen James came in third overall followed by young guns James Arviso and Rance Doyal. Cyle Denison and Lane Mitchell were fifth. 

The blue shirts dominated the Saddle Bronc Riding once again. This past December in Vegas, the Wright brothers went 1, 2, and 3 in the World Standings. The San Antonio finals look similar. 

The title went to all around cowboy, Superman Stetson Wright. He had a commanding lead coming into the finals, and sealed the deal with 90 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo's R watson's Prairie Fire. 

Behind him was his two older brothers tied for second in the round. Rusty ended up second overall, with Ryder right behind tying with Zeke Thurston. Sage Newman would end up 5th overall. Reining World Champion and the youngest of the brothers, Statler, also made the final round, and cashed in during San Antonio. 

There was a big story that played out in a quick round of breakaway roping. Rookie sensation Jaci Hammons turned opportunity into huge money. Leading the Resistol Rookie of the Year standings coming into the rodeo, Hammons earned her limited-entry spot the hard way. Rookies do not typically get into these big winters rodeos, but she played her cards just right by winning qualifying rodeos and capitalizing early in the season.

Once she was in San Antonio, she made it count. A 2.0 second run in the finals secured the round win, and her accumulated earnings made her the high money earner of the rodeo, clinching the 2026 title. This is a big deal for a Rookie cowgirl adding over $25,000 to her season earnings and setting her up for a record breaking season. 

Jordi Edens Mitchell came in second followed by Rylee George, Josie Connor, and Jill Tanner. 

The tie down roping took a big turn as the finals began. The first man out was 4x NFR qualifier John Douch. Douch came in towards the bottom of the money earned so far. He knew he had to dominate in order to come out the champ, and he did just that with a textbook 7.1 second run. 

Other cowboys that had commanding lead over John before the finals made costly mistakes. Bo Pickett came in second. Ty Harris, even after some bobbles in the finals still came in third after sweeping his bracket and semi final. Tom Crouse came in 5th.

John has knocked on the door of a gold buckle the last few years, but hasn't quite came in contact just yet. 2026 could be his year if his season continues in this way.

The biggest story of San Antonio, and the story of 2026 so far happened in the barrel race. This is the type of win that deserves a standing ovation. 

Anita Ellis made a comeback for the history books with a San Antonio title. Ellis clocked a 14.16 second run in the finals to secure the round win and the overall high money title.

It does not get much more inspiring and heartwarming than this. Just months ago Ellis was sidelined with a major head injury that forced her to turn out of her first NFR qualification. Through heartbreaking, her resilience and determination has her back on top once again. She had to relearn how to walk and many basic functions, but did not let it slow her and her goals down. 

Anita added nearly $25,000 to her season earnings while in San Antonio and is well on her way to her second NFR qualification, and her first time running down that Thomas and Mack arena alley in 2026. 

Closing out the night, Tristen Hutchings captured the bull riding title. With only two qualified rides in the finals, Hutchings came out with over $20,000 in round money alone, and over $32,000 in total San Antonio earnings.

This is a huge boost in the standing for Tristen who has also been very close to a World title in years past. Cull Telfer, Boudreaux Campbell, Trey Benton, and Tritan Mize all ended up in the top 5. 

Championships in San Antonio aren’t won in a single eight seconds or one fast run, they’re earned across an entire week. This is why only the best of the best come out on top. Eight champions leave San Antonio with titles and many more leave with momentum.

The ripple effect of these wins now lead us into the biggest winter rodeo of them all. RODEOHOUSTON is just around the corner.