NFR is a record breaker

The 51st Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR/NFR) was filled with as much drama, injuries, excitement and nail biting action as one could get.

For ten nights, it was sold out crowds, records being broken and than shattered again.  Riders injured, and buckles awarded. Only to be repeated the following night.

Once the dust had settled and the points were tallied up, Trevor Brazile secured his seventh PRCA All-Around World Championship.  Which places Trevor in place in the rodeo history books, were others have rarely been.

Trevor’s win places him with rodeo legend Ty Murray’s, for the PRCA’s record for most all-around gold buckles, and it also etches his name in the history books as one of the greatest cowboys in the history of professional rodeo.  Ty and his wife singer Jewel were in the audience to watch the historic moment.

Speaking of rodeo legends in the audience: Roy “Super Looper” Cooper was there to watch his son Tuf Cooper as he won the Wrangler NFR average title.  Tuf rode his brother-in-law’s horse to do it.  His brother-in-law happens to be… Trevor Brazile

Five-time World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Billy Etbauer ended his 21st Wrangler NFR with a bang, by winning the 10th performance, with an 89-point ride on Three Hills Rodeo’s Ace’s Full. It extended Etbauer’s Wrangler NFR record of round victories to 51 and moved him to fifth place in the final world standings.

Another fan favorite for barrel racing is Canadian Lindsay Sears.  She was the 2008 World Champion who battled all week with Texan and 2007 World Champion Brittany Pozzi for the gold buckle. Sears finished fifth in the 10th round and dropped to a second-place finish in the Wrangler NFR average.  That wasn’t enough to propel her past Pozzi in the final standings.

The bull riding world title was actually decided the night before in Round 9, when J.W. Harris became the first back-to-back winner in bull riding, since Blue Stone in 2001 and 2002.

It is interesting thing to note that J.W. Harris, who suffered a broken right (riding) hand in the second round, is the first bull rider to win a world title without a qualified ride at the Wrangler NFR since Freckles Brown in 1962 and is the first titlist to earn a gold buckle without earning money at the national finals since Bill Nelson in 1971.

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