ARLINGTON, Texas – The drama is over in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association all-around world championship race. Stetson Wright took care of that with a go-round to spare.
For the second consecutive year, Wright won the all-around gold buckle.
The Milford, Utah, cowboy officially clinched the PRCA title when he won Round 9 in the bull riding with a 92-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Record Rack’s Smoke Stack at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at Globe Life Field on Friday
At 21, Wright is the youngest cowboy to be crowned All-Around World Champion in his first two seasons.
He’s trying to become the first cowboy to win the all-around gold buckle and a roughstock world championship in the same year since Ty Murray did it in 1998. Murray won the all-around and bull riding titles that year.
Wright has $305,360 in the all-around PRCA | RAM World Standings. Tuf Cooper is at $179,412 while reigning two-time world champion header Clay Smith is third in the all-around standings with $159,699. Neither can catch Wright.
“I have no words for it other than I’m happy to do it again,” Wright said. “I expected it from myself, but I didn’t want to say anything until it was final. I wanted to keep on keeping on, so this just makes me happy. I worked hard at this all year. It was a tough year and a tougher year than it was last year.
“To get it this year means a lot, and winning it again makes me feel good because everybody might say that the first one was off pure luck, but how many times can you be so lucky.”
Wright clinched his second all-around crown with an amazing 2020 Wrangler NFR that still had a day to go.
Wright has won Rounds 1, 2, 7 and 9 in bull riding and added a Round 7 win in saddle bronc riding. He was the first cowboy to win two roughstock events in one night at the Finals since 2001. In Round 4 that year, Jesse Bail split the win in saddle bronc riding and won the bull riding outright.
“The key for me has just been to keep a level head,” Wright said. “I just go out there and do my thing and not worry about whether 90 points the night before or zero. You just have to forget about it and move on and make the best ride you can the next time. That’s what my dad (Cody) has preached to us, and you have to have a level head and just keep doing your thing.”
Wright is the first cowboy to win back-to-back all-around gold buckles since Trevor Brazile in 2014-15. Wright is the first cowboy to qualify for multiple Wrangler NFR roughstock events since Bail qualified in saddle bronc riding and bull riding in 2003.
Brazile has won a PRCA-record 26 gold buckles, including a PRCA-record 14 in all-around (2002-04, 2006-15, 2018).
“It is kind of hard to put my name next to him (Brazile),” Stetson said. “He has 26. I have to win a few more to even be in the same sentence as him.”
Wright had a simple plan for celebrating Friday night.
“I’m going home to get some sleep and keep a level head, there’s still another day,” Wright said. “I’m just going to try and do my best (Saturday) and keep pushing.”
Wright is in a tight battle to win his first career bull riding world championship. He’s second in the world standings with $204,479. He trails standings-leader Ty Wallace by a mere $82. Wright is second in the average with 450 points on five head. Wallace is third with 444.5 points on five. Stetson is seventh in the saddle bronc riding world standings.
“I’m going to root on every bronc rider and root on every bull rider and one of us is going to walk out of here a world champion,” Wright said.
Note: This article was originally published on prorodeo.com.
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