SAN ANGELO ACTION WELL UNDERWAY
April 8, 2026 – With the Finals at San Angelo, Texas (final stop in the “Texas Swing” group of rodeos) just over a week away, several CPRA athletes are standing tall. Four-time World Champ and six-time Canadian titleist, Zeke Thurston is on a heater. The 14th ranked bronc rider in the world standings leads San Angelo courtesy of an 87.5 point ride with fellow Canuck, Kolby Wanchuk (#13 in the world) splitting fifth after an 85.5 point performance.
Stettler’s Beau Cooper sits atop the aggregate in the tie-down roping having put together a solid 26.2 second on three runs while team ropers Kavis Drake and Denim Ross sit third heading into the finals with 18.9 seconds on three head. And over at Redmond, Oregon, Logan Bird picked up a sizable second place cheque of $4063 with an impressive second place run of 8.4 seconds to climb into 22nd place in the world standings.
A couple of Canadian ex-pats are sitting 1-2 in the San Angelo barrel racing. Two-time world champ Lindsay Sears leads them all with a 30.52 seconds on two with Quebec native (and reigning NFR average champion) Julie Plourde just two one-hundredths back at 30.54.
And in the world standings Kole Ashbacher is 15th in the bronc riding, Drake and Ross sit 16th and 20th respectively on the world leaderboard, steer wrestlers Ryan Schuckburg and Dalton Massey are 14th and 15th while a trio of former Canadian Champion tie-down ropers, Shane Hanchey, Haven Meged and Ty Harris are 3rd, 4th and 11th on the world stage.
And the Prince of the Peace Country, Jake Gardner, continues to lead the bull riding world standings after his Houston win, with $84,577.
THURSTON TOPS THE FIELD AT AUSTIN
Zeke Thurston is doing Zeke Thurston things once again.
After a somewhat slow start to the 2026 pro rodeo season, the four-time world champion from Big Valley, Alberta made a big splash at Rodeo Austin, the second last stop in the “Texas Swing” group of major PRCA stops in the Lone Star state.
Thurston rode Beutler and Sons Green Bay to a 91.5 score in the Austin final for a $12,032 payday that boosted his earnings from that rodeo to almost $19,000, just what the five-time Canadian titleist needed to jump start his season.
Canadian steer wrestlers Landon Beardsworth and Ryan Schuckburg also enjoyed the Texas hospitality with Beardsworth finishing in a 2-3 split at Austin and Shuckburgh right behind him in 4th spot. The two Alberta hands earned $10,300 and $9700 respectively.
In the bareback event, Ethan Mazurenko took top spot in the semi-finals with an 87.5 point ride to earn $5946.
And in the team roping, Canadian header Tee Mcleod and partner Trey Yates won the Rodeo Austin Short Round with a 3.7, then finished seventh in the average to take home $4321 each.
Meanwhile at the Watford City Bares and Broncs event, a couple more of the Canadian bronc riding contingent also struck paydirt. Q Taylor won the long round with an 88 score while Kolby Wanchuk topped the field in the Shootout with a big-time 91 point effort. Taylor netted $9400 with Wanchuk right behind him at $8200.
With CPRA athletes racking up some tremendous scores and times, the shakeup to the World standings this time around is significant. Zeke Thurston has jumped to 13th in the bronc riding, one ahead of fellow countryman Kolby Wanchuk who holds onto 14th spot while Kole Ashbacher is ranked 15th. Q. Taylor is just out of the fifteen in 18th spot though word has it that Q will be out of action for a few weeks after having some surgery to repair a broken thumb on his riding hand.
And in the steer wrestling Ryan Schuckburg continued his strong 2026 and is now in 13th place in the standings with Beardsworth a solid 29th.
Jake Gardner maintains his hold at the top of the bull riding standings and added $3100 to his total courtesy of a go-round cheque at Austin.
At the inaugural Cedar Gap Wealth Management Steer Wrestling in Abilene, Texas, 2024 Canadian Champion Dalton Massey won the first round with a 3.4 – a run that was worth $4600 – and was the lone highlight for CPRA competitors at the event.
JAKE GARDNER AMONG BIG WINNERS AT HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW & RODEO
March 21, 2026
Houston, We Don’t Have a Problem
CPRA athletes did just fine, thank you, at the recently concluded RodeoHouston with the ‘Prince of the Peace Country’, Jake Gardner, the big winner as he was the only guy to ride in the bull riding Showdown. The Fort St John, BC cowboy put up an 86 point ride on Cervi’s Bandalero for a $65,000 cheque to go with his previous Houston earnings of close to $10.000. It’s a Cinderella story as Gardner wasn’t scheduled to ride at Houston at all, but got in as a replacement competitor. Talk about making the most of an opportunity.
Gardner missed a trip to the NFR in 2024 when a late season shoulder injury hampered his riding in the critical final weeks of that regular season (he finished 17th). The whopping Houston Rodeo winner’s cheque put the Canadian at the top of the 2026 bull riding standings with $78,939 in earnings to date.
Other solid performances came from bronc rider Kole Ashbacher who finished 3rd in the Houston finale for $20,000 and jumped all the way to 12th spot in the world rankings. 2024 Canadian champion and former Houston champion steer wrestler, Dalton Massey was 4th in the Showdown (with a broken barrier) to win $10,000 and with his earlier bracket earnings climbed all the way to 14th place in the SW standings.
Also of note, the Calgary Stampede’s superstar bareback horse, D-508 Disco Party carried reigning World Champion Rocker Steiner to a back-to-back RodeoHouston title with a 90.5 score, the 4th consecutive 90 plus score on the back of the bay paint. And former world champion and four-time Canadian champion Shane Hanchey set an arena record with a 7.2 second run in the tie-down roping, only to see that record broken moments later by reigning world champion Riley Webb who blistered a 6.5 second highlight reel run for the win.
The Calgary Stampede had stock at Houston (with the retiring Ken Rehill doing the flanking); Stampede ranch manager Tyler Kraft was one of the pickup men and CPRA trick rider Shelby Pierson returned as a nightly contract act.
* And keep your eye on Rodeo Austin as well, another of the Texas Swing events, as steer wrestlers Landon Beardsworth and Ryan Schuckburg are sitting 1st and 2nd in the average. More to come as the event moves forward.
CPRA ATHLETES CASH IN SOUTH OF THE BORDER
March 1, 2026 – The second stop of the “Texas Swing” rodeos wrapped up Saturday night with some CPRA members excelling in the two and a half week spring stop—the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Five brackets (three performances in each), two semi-finals, a Wild Card round and the finals and when the dust settled and the smoke cleared some familiar names to Canadian rodeo fans cashed sizable cheques.
Bareback rider Orin Larsen, finished fourth in the Saturday night Finals and topped out at over $9300 won, a payday that should boost the 2019 Canadian Champion into the top 15 in the World standings. #1 ranked Wacey Schalla emerged as the overall champion courtesy of his 91 point effort on the 2025 Canadian Bareback Horse of the Year, Calgary Stampede’s s D-508 Disco Party; Schalla pulled almost $25,000 total earnings out of the pivotal Texas stop.
In the steer wrestling, JD Struxness, the 2024 World Champion and three-time CFR qualifier turned in a 3.6 second run and he too with his total earnings was in that $25,000 club. In the bronc riding the double-barreled Canadian talents Zeke Thurston and Q Taylor split 4th in the finals. For Thurston, the four-time World Champ collected $12,800 during his San Antonio stroll while Taylor checked in with an $8,000 stipend for his Texas effort.
And 2025 CFR tie-down roping qualifier Bo Pickett finished second to overall champion John Douch and tucked $17,700 into his Wranglers. And former Canadian Champion Ty Harris rode Logan Bird’s Canadian superstar buckskin, Peso, and though the talented tandem were blanked in the final, the Texas roper and the Alberta horse won all three bracket rounds and their semi-final to add $13.400 to the Harris bank account.
Meanwhile over at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson, Canadian bronc riding star, Logan Hay, split the average with 171 points on two head to take home $5700 while two-time PBR Canada Bull Riding Champ, Nick Tetz finished second in both the short go and the average for a payday just shy of $5000, a nice kickstart to a PRCA path for 2026 if he can fit that in with PBR commitments on both sides of ’49. And honorary Canadian, Shane Hanchey, a four-time Canadian Champ, led the way in tie-down roping, winning the short-go and the average with 32.0 seconds on three head for a solid $8400 win.
Another iconic Texas event kicks off tomorrow as Rodeo Houston begins its three-week run.
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Chauvin, Alberta barrel racer Blake Molle continues to enjoy a successful spring. The two time CFR qualifier has placed at a number of PRCA rodeos including top spot ($3,756) at the Brighton Field Day and Rodeo in Okeechobee/Brighton, Florida. Molle is currently fifth in the World standings.
Detailed results here
February 9, 2026
As the first of the Texas Swing rodeos wrapped up in Fort Worth this weekend, results were mixed for CPRA athletes as several made the semi-finals but only a few went on to the finals and those that did, for the most part, didn’t enjoy quite the success they’d hoped for.
The Miles City, Montana Meged family led the way as two-time Canadian Champion tie-down roper and 2019 World Champion, Haven Meged ended up third in the in the finals and pulled $13,825 while his soon-to-be-on-maternity-leave (and 2024 World Champion), wife, Shelby Boisjoli-Meged took second place in the breakaway roping finals for a tidy haul of $20,100. Canadian Beau Cooper had a solid Fort Worth run resulting in a $6400 payday.
In the bareback riding-two former Canadian champs were solid at San Antonio and elsewhere. 2019 titleist, Orin Larsen, was on his game to the tune of $5733 that helped move him to 26th place in the world standings as he seeks to end a two year NFR drought. And 2024 champ, Kody Lamb, took home $3325 from Fort Worth but the singer/songwriter added to that with a second place result at Rapid City to cash an additional $4405. The two successes jumped him all the way to 18th spot in the standings. Not to be overlooked was the performances of some Canadian bucking horses notably the Calgary Stampede’s D-508 Disco Party who carried Tilden Hooper to the $20,000 Fort Worth Finals win with a 92-point ride.
Canadian team ropers continued their winning ways led by 2025 NFR qualifiers Dawson and Dillon Graham who pocketed $6000 at Fort Worth with Kavis Drake and Denim Ross adding $5500 to their early season earnings and Kolton Schmidt, following up a brilliant NFR with a $3200 payday with Chase Tryan on the heel side for the Barrhead talent. Drake and Ross made the biggest move in the standings as they sit 23rd and 25th respectively coming out of Fort Worth.
As is often the case, the bronc riders from north of the Medicine Line were heard from as well with Q Taylor on cue to tuck $4400 Fort Worth Dollars into his Wranglers, Ben Andersen right behind him with $4000 and Logan Hay up there as well adding $3375 to his season total to date. Taylor leads the Canadians in the standings/NFR chase as he is in 24th spot. And another Calgary Stampede horse, D-19 Dandy Delight got along very well Rusty Wright to split the win in the finals as the two combined for 91 points, earning Wright a $16,000 Finals stipend.
As well, Sylvan Lake, Alberta bull rider Jhett Wheeler continued to state his case as a guy to watch as his 90 point ride at Guthrie, Oklahoma’s BULLNANZA earned him a big-time second place payoff of $9837, enabling the young Canadian talent to make a first appearance in the top 50 in the world standings as he checks in at 45th spot.
On the barrel racing side of things, Chauvin, Alberta’s Blake Molle, a two time CFR qualifier, holds down seventh spot in the World standings while Quebec cowgirl and 2025 NFR Aggregate winner Julie Plourde, who now calls Krum, Texas home, is in tenth position.
CPRA athletes confirmed for the Feb 7 FWSSR Finals
Semi-Finals A
Canadian breakaway roper Shelby Boisjoli-Meged – 2.2 second run in Semi-Finals A to win the round and move into contention at Saturday’s Finals.
Montana tie-down roper Haven Meged (husband to Shelby) tied for the round win with Texan Blane Cox. Stettler, AB cowboy Beau Cooper, 9.2 for third and a Finals berth.
Team roping brothers Dawson and Dillon Graham from Wainwright, AB: 7.9 for third – also Finals qualifiers.
Semi-Finals B
Team ropers Kavis Drake/Denim Ross, 4.6 to qualify for Finals
* Complete FWSSR results here
Earlier FWSSR Action
Just to recap, the long-standing PRCA showcase event consists of seven brackets with two performances in each bracket. The top two competitors in each bracket move on to the semi-finals with the third highest money earner in the bracket qualifying for the Wild Card Round. The seven wild card qualifiers are joined by the top money earner from the non-qualifiers pool to make eight Wild Card contestants in total. From those eight, the top two money-earners advance to the semi-finals round with a clean-slate format. The top four from each of the two semi-finals round then move through to the championship finale.
The Wild Card Round saw 2019 Canadian Champion Orin Larsen winning in the bareback riding as he collected 87 points on the Calgary Stampede’s F-01 Forgetful Nelly to move through to the semis. 2024 Canadian Champion Kody Lamb saw his quest for a Fort Worth title come to an end as he finished 4th in the Wild Card.
And in the saddle bronc riding, Canadian Ben Andersen also put up an 87 point effort, this one on another Calgary Stampede bucker—Y-38 Yesterday’s Delivery. Andersen will be joined by Logan Hay who was 85.5 to take the second semi-final spot out of the Wild Card.
The team roping tandem of Dawson and Dillon Graham both qualified for semi-final action out of the first bracket to set the stage for what was to follow with each bracket consisting of two rounds and the top three moving on to semi-final action
Bracket Two was a good one for Canadian bronc riders as all three qualifiers—Q. Taylor, Lucas Macza and Logan Hay all coming from the north side of the Medicine Line. They were joined by 2024 Canadian bareback Champion Kody Lamb. Bracket Three added another former Canadian Bareback Riding Champion—Richmond Champion to the semi-final mix along with Stettler’s tie-down roping master, Beau Cooper.
Bracket Four qualifiers under the CPRA banner included 2023 Canadian Champion heeler, Calgary Smith teamed up with Cash Duty, himself no stranger to Canadian rodeos while Bracket Five brought the brilliant young bareback rider and 2025 CFR qualifier, Sam Peterson, through to the semi-final round. Bracket Five was also good for CPRA team ropers as the other half of that 2023 championship tandem, Brady Tryan, teamed with Paden Bray and they were joined by the young Canadian sensations, Kavis Drake and Denim Ross while Barrhead’s Kolton Schmidt, coming off his outstanding NFR performance joined forces with Chase Tryan as those three teams all moved on. And Bracket Six wrapped up last night (Sunday) with Texas tie-down roper Joel Harris mounted on Logan Bird’s amazing buckskin, Peso, roping his way to the semi-finals.
Cutline: Canadian cowboy Kody Lamb was a fitting winner in bareback riding on Tarleton State University Day at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Lamb, from Sherwood Park, Alberta, scored 85.5 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Smoke Show. Lamb is a Tarleton State alumnus who competed on the rodeo team, qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo four times and earned a master’s degree. FWSSR photo by James Phifer
January 26, 2026
With the 2026 rodeo season picking up steam, several CPRA athletes made some noise at the recently completed PRCA stops in Denver, Colorado; Odessa, Texas and Great Falls, Montana.
After a disappointing 2025 campaign, steer wrestler Landon Beardsworth got the year off on the right foot, pulling $5618 out of Denver’s National Western Stock Show and Rodeo with placings in the go rounds and semi-final and a solid 3-5 split in Sunday’s Final.
Canadian team roper, Kolton Schmidt, coming off an eye-popping performance at the National Finals Rodeo, maintained his momentum as he and heeling partner, Chase Tryan won a semi-final at Denver and though they were blanked in the final, came away with $3816.
And no surprise, one of the big winners among CPRA card-holders was two-time Canadian Champion tie-down roper and 2019 World Champion Haven Meged. The Miles City, Montana superstar was second in the first semi-final and third in the final to come away from the Mile High city with an impressive $9885 while Texas roper and 2025 CFR qualifier, Quade Hiatt, was second in one semi-final and, with his go round earnings factored in, walked away with $6796 in his Wranglers.
Young Canadian bronc rider James Perrin was third in the first go-round en route to a $3786 Denver payday. Bull rider Grady Young gritted out a ride in one of the semi-finals to collect $3918 and with a go-round cheque was able to pad the bank account by $4800.
It’s clear that barrel racer Julie Plourde, coming off her amazing aggregate win at the NFR, hasn’t taken the foot off the gas. The Quebec cowgirl, now making her home in Texas, was a picture of consistency, collecting placings in both Denver go-rounds along with the semi-final and finals for a sizable $5774. Put that together with her winning 14.38 second run at Odessa’s Sand Hills Rodeo and Stock Show for a big-time stipend of $6012 and you’re looking at almost $12,000 in just two shows, a formidable start to her year.
And following up on an outstanding CFR, Blake Molle posted the second fastest barrel racing run at Denver, laying down a blistering 14.78 to take second money in the second go round–$4157.
And, not to be outdone, veteran barrel racer Taylor-Jane Gardner emerged victorious at the Montana Circuit Finals in Great Falls with three solid runs and checks in with $8076 in early season earnings.
* South of 49 Archive