All Around Cowboy: Stetson Wright

RODEO

Stetson Wright shines on the national rodeo stage

BY JACOB SCHOLL Standard-Examiner

LAS VEGAS — Stetson Wright witnessed a number of family members in the spotlight throughout the years.

Now, it’s his time to shine.

In just his third year in the PRCA, Wright won the All Around and Bull Riding World Championships at the National Finals Rodeo in just his second trip to the finals.

Wright has clearly already made a name for himself, finding a way to stand out in a family that’s known for their legacy in roughstock.

Despite being in only his third year in the PRCA, Stetson Wright took home the top prize in rodeos across the country, winning the bull riding category in rodeos across Utah, Texas and Nevada; not to mention winning bull riding at the Daddy of ‘Em All — the Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Wright picked up a few Saddle Bronc titles in 2019 in places like Ogden and Vernal. He won the all around titles at those rodeos as well, adding to his list of All Around wins for the year. That list includes titles in West Jordan, Spanish Fork and Eagle Mountain; as well as rodeos in Cody, Wyoming; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and St. Paul, Oregon.

His list of 2020 wins was even longer.

Wright said he felt good going into the Finals, despite an injury or two in the past year. In July 2019, he broke his jaw in five places during a ride in Dodge City, Kansas, and was taken to a hospital in Wichita. Despite the injury, he was back riding a month later. “It’s healed good,” Wright said of his jaw. “It probably wasn’t all the way healed when I came back, but it’s good now and the doctors say it’s good so I am not worried about that no more.”

A broken jaw didn’t do much to stop the 20-year-old going into the Finals.

“I feel good, honestly better than I did before I broke my jaw,” he said. “So maybe it was like a saving grace.”

In his roughstock family, Stetson Wright is the only bull rider. In total, five Wrights were in Las Vegas for the NFR, with Stetson’s brothers, Rusty and Ryder, and uncles, Jesse and Spencer, competing against each other for the Saddle Bronc title.

Jesse and Spencer Wright took home championships in years past, with each winning Saddle Bronc world titles in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

Rodeo is the Wright family business, and Stetson is ready to make his mark on his family’s legacy. After an allaround title at his first NFR, Stetson Wright did just that.

“It means everything to me,” Stetson Wright said. “My family has built such a good name and it’s really cool that I have had the opportunities I’ve had. It’s just special.”

2020 PRCA ALL AROUND WORLD CHAMPION YEAR END STANDINGS

RANK NAME CITY STATE EARNINGS

1 Stetson Wright World Champion Milford UT $392,302.14

2 Tuf Cooper Decatur TX $179,411.58 3 Clay Smith Broken Bow TX $166,044.92

Stetson came into the 2020 NFR in third place in the All Around Competition. Yet, he was the only competitor qualified in two separate events, bull riding and saddle bronc riding. This gave him a huge advantage in earnings potential. As soon as the hooves hit the dirt in round one, Wright capitalized on his advantage. He won third place behind his brother Rusty in round one and third behind brother Ryder in round 4, 5th in round 5, 1st in round 7, split 3rd in round 8 and won round 10 to end the year as the 7th ranked cowboy in the world in Saddle Bronc riding. In the bull riding competition he blew his competitors away winning 4 of the 10 rounds to clinch the Bull Riding World title along with the All Around world title making him the first rough stock rider since Ty Murray in 1998 to win the All Around World and a single event title in the same year.