Harris wins all three rounds of tie-down roping to lead Bracket 5. Meanwhile Rusty Wright tops another Wright family surge in saddle bronc as the final semifinal spots are decided at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
The final progressive bracket is complete at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. Now onto the semi finals. The big story came in the tie-down roping when Ty Harris made a clean sweep.
Harris won all three rounds of tie down roping, the only cowboy in the rodeo to win every go-round in his event. The three round performance pushed him to $7,981 in earnings. Harris leads all of the tie down ropers in money won so far going into the semis.
In San Antonio’s format, that early money matters. Unlike rodeos that reset heading into a championship round, San Antonio crowns its champion based on total earnings accumulated from the first bracket performance through the finals. Every dollar carries forward.
Harris now enters the semifinals riding confidence, and an edge on the rest of the field.
His younger brother, Joel Harris, will join him in the next round after finishing fourth in the bracket. Cory Solomon placed second and Logan Bird advanced third with $3,027.
Three of the calf ropers to advance from Bracket 5 rode the same horse. The amazing Peso carried both Harris boys and his Canadian cowboy owner Logan Bird to the semis in San Antonio.
While Harris and Peso dominated the tie down roping, the saddle bronc also delivered its own family headline.
Rusty Wright finished atop Bracket 5 with $5,229, edging his brother Ryder Wright, who earned $4,679. Round 3 was a lot of fun when both the boys in blue came out on top of the round with 86.5. Sage Newman and Kolby Wanchuk also punched their tickets to the semifinals.
With Statler Wright and Stetson Wright also having advanced through earlier brackets, all four Wright brothers remain in the running for the title as the rodeo moves forward.
Bareback riding saw Jacob Lees capitalize on a Round 2 win to claim the top spot in the bracket with $6,605 won so far. Leighton Berry,Jess Pope, and and Dean Thompson also advanced.
In steer wrestling, the fastest time of the bracket came in Round 1 when J.D. Struxness stopped the clock with the fastest run of the bracket, 3.5. He finished on top of the bracket. Tyler Waguespack followed while Tucker Allen and Clay Tom Hurt tied in earnings to round out the advancing four.
In the team roping a 3.6 second run in Round 2 from Lightning Aguilera and Wyatt Cox was the fastest time of the bracket. That pair led the money with $4,954 each. Cody Snow and Hunter Koch matched that total after their own Round 3 win. Those two teams were followed by Andrew Ward and Jake Long and Coleman Proctor and Travis Graves.
Breakaway roping saw reigning National Finals Breakaway Roping average champion Rylee George use a Round 1 win to take control of the bracket. She advanced first with $6,146 won so far. Kinlie Brennise came in second followed by Beau Peterson and the reining world champion Taylor Munsell.
In barrel racing, Michelle Alley won Rounds 1 and 3 to finish on top of the bracket with $5,504. Wenda Johnson was close behind with $4,954. Morgan Bagnell and Kassie Mowry also advanced.
Bull riding closed out the bracket with Tristen Hutchings winning Rounds 2 and 3 to secure $7,247 and the top position. Qynn Andersen and Colten Fritzlan split second in earnings and Colton Byram advanced fourth.
With Bracket 5 now complete, the semifinal field is officially set.
The format remains unforgiving. Since the earnings carry forward, it is not a clean slate from here on. The cowboy or cowgirl with the most money at the end of the rodeo will claim the title.
Harris leaves the progressive round with the strongest statement in tie down roping we have seen so far. The Wright brothers will all go head to head for their own San Antonio win. Across every event, consistency has proved valuable.
Now the semifinals begin and the money already on the board could make all the difference.