The wait may be over.
Twice in the last three years, steer wrestler Landon Beardsworth was within $500.00 of making the cut for the CFR.
But 2024 has an entirely different story for the seven year pro. The Innisfail, AB cowboy entered the weekend solidly in fifth place with just under $22,000 in season earnings. A blazing 3.7 second winning run at the SMS Equipment Pro Tour stop – the legendary Strathmore Stampede – for $7351 and a second-place cheque at the North Peace Stampede in Grimshaw, AB for another $1701 has all but sealed the deal for Beardsworth’s first trip to the CFR.
The $9000 injection will have him hovering around the season leader spot that was occupied by Dalton Massey heading into the pivotal weekend in Canadian rodeo.
Beardsworth was quick to credit his traveling partner, Scott Guenthner, with the rise in his fortunes.
“I’m in with a pretty good group of guys. Travelling with Scott Guenthner is hard to beat—just watching him and learning from him; he’s been a big turning point in my career both with horsepower and as a mentor. I’ve been riding Scott’s horse Double Double pretty much for the last three years and he’s been awesome as well.”
Beardsworth was also very clear about what it will mean to finally get to the CFR after being so close and being unable to quite seal the deal a few times.
“It’s everything,” he noted. “It’s been a goal since I was a kid and I’ve put a lot of work into it. It’s been a long ride. I’ve had to learn the hard way and it’s been a long process so it’s pretty exciting.”
And speaking of his travelling partner, Scott Guenthner, the four-time Canadian Champion and #1 man in this year’s SMS Pro Tour Standings, while he was blanked at Strathmore and Grimshaw, came up big at the Regina Pile O’ Bones Rodeo, another Tour stop, winning that event with a 3.9 second run for $3045.
And at the rough stock end of the arena…
Three years ago, Grady Young was riding steers at the Canadian Finals Rodeo. He finished second that year, just $67.00 behind Champion Kane Scott. But in 2024, the teenage bull riding sensation is fashioning one of the most amazing rookie stories in CPRA history as he added a split of first at Strathmore (87 points on Duffy Rodeo’s 712 Glamorama for $5881) then added the outright win at Grimshaw (88 points on Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s 0781 Shake it Off, $1457).
Like Landon Beardsworth, the second-generation talent from Empress, Alberta, was fifth in the standings entering the weekend and will climb the ladder again to be solidly in at least the top four. And again like Beardsworth, the young bull rider has pretty much punched his ticket to the CFR with a whopping $25,000 plus already in the bank.
If you were wondering if the hiatus from rodeo bareback rider Jacob Stemo took last year was a permanent thing, wonder no more. As Jack Nicholson famously said, “He’s ba-ack.” Stemo had a solid weekend, winning Regina (84.5 points on C5 Rodeo’s 783 Kanins Pet, $2500) and adding a sizable 4th place payday out of Strathmore with an 88 pointer that netted the Calgary cowboy another $3200 to take him to over $11,000 in 2024 earnings and very much into the CFR conversation with a tenuous hold on one of the last qualifying berths for the Finals in Edmonton.
This week sees a couple more SMS Equipment Pro Tour stops—La Crete’s Field of Dreams Stampede August 6 and 7 and the Dawson Creek Exhibition and Stampede August 10 and 11.
For complete unofficial results and full schedule information, head over to rodeocanada.com
PHOTOS:
Landon Beardsworth, Strathmore Stampede photo by Shellie Scott
Grady Young, Strathmore Stampede photo by Covy Moore