– STORY BY CLAY CREASY, CANADIAN RODEO NEWS WRITER
When Canadian Professional Rodeo emerged from its COVID-19 hiatus, the Association revamped its year-end honours. With the Canadian All-Around title redefined to mirror that of the PRCA, it would be awarded to the highest combined earner in two or more men’s events, eliminating the long-standing High Point Champion award. Yet the CPRA had no intention of scrapping recognition for those driven to exhibit versatility at both ends of the arena.
To capture that blend of skills, the award was renamed after Kenny McLean, a legend
remembered for excellence in the bronc riding, tie-down roping and steer wrestling. Four seasons after making this adjustment, the award has already found a dominant figure: Sherwood Park, Alberta’s Kyle Wanchuk, who just secured his third consecutive title.
When Wanchuk earned his first Kenny McLean Award in 2023, he did so with an almost even split of earnings between his two events — saddle bronc riding and team roping on the heeling side. He had spent most of his life team roping and had filled his professional card in the event the year before. Meanwhile, he had only started riding bucking horses in the fall of 2021, but proved to be a quick learner in the event. In 2024, the balance tilted sharply toward the bronc riding, with a reduction in his focus and earnings on the heeling side. Despite the continued improvement in his bronc riding abilities, the conclusion of the 2024 season saw Wanchuk fall just outside the CFR saddle-bronc roster.
Determined to experience another leap in ability similar to the past year, the second-generation hand opened 2025 by drawing into many of the PRCA’s larger bronc riding events, often travelling with his NFR-qualifying brother Kolby. He also prepared for a third winter in Arizona training young horses and roping, with the goal of spending more time on the road than in previous seasons. However, the results didn’t match the effort.
“It just felt harder,” Wanchuk admitted. “I rodeoed twice as hard down south and made half as much.” When pinpointing the problem, the two most common sources for bronc riders shared the blame, as he felt he was fighting his head and his saddle.”
Upon returning to Canada for the 2025 season, Wanchuk felt he got that sorted out and had a consistent season while feeling that overall his riding ability has improved. A key adjustment to his saddle – riding “longer and looser” to allow his lanky frame to better fit the horses he drew — led to a string of bright spots late in the season. Even though he faced the long drive to La Crete with a little-known horse beside his name, he and Kolby split the win with matching 85.5-point rides, a first for the pair. Not long after, he repeated that showing, this time splitting the top spot at 86 points aboard Wayne Vold’s Enigma with travelling partner Tyrel Roberts at Cranbrook, BC. He drew the horse again a week later at the Okotoks Pro Rodeo to win outright, setting a new career-best with an 87. He’d been the first CPRA cowboy to draw the horse at last year’s rodeo in Rocky Mountain House, so he reflected on that first experience to choose his rein measurement after several cowboys had recently struggled to get the best out of the animal. In the end that strong final push led to a familiar heartache, as he again found himself one spot out of the 2025 CFR cutoff, having been leapfrogged by Roberts on the season’s last weekend.
With team roping taking a back seat – and even as he tried to sell some of his top rope horses – a cheque in that event over the May long weekend at the Falkland Stampede helped satisfy the award’s updated criteria and allowed him to focus on the bronc riding the rest of the season. That cheque proved to be enough for Wanchuk to schedule another appearance at the Canadian Finals Rodeo’s Night of Champions’ presentation to accept his third Kenny McLean Award.
He won’t be sticking around for long, as he plans to head straight from Edmonton to the All-Star Rodeo event in Denver, Colorado. A win would earn a bye to the semi-finals of the prestigious American Rodeo next spring, which offers an up and coming contestant like Wanchuk an opportunity at life-changing prize money. However, that event doesn’t count for the PRCA standings, and this year’s early season struggles still shape the coming season’s plans. “I didn’t get into the top 50, so I’ll have to work to build up my qualifications,” Wanchuk noted, which means he will have to continue to work hard to break through this winter. That ability to work hard comes naturally — it’s a trait woven into the Wanchuk family’s rodeo roots.
The origins of Wanchuk’s pursuit of his rodeo dream can be traced back to those roots through the lessons he learned in his youth spent alongside his legendary rodeo clown father, Ricky Ticky. Although Rick rode broncs before the boys were born, and their mom Joan had a long and successful barrel racing career, Kyle gave the most credit for his current path to those times spent in the arena assisting with many acts his father performed during his illustrious 49-year clowning career. “I don’t know if we’d have been bronc riders if it weren’t for my dad performing at as many rodeos as he did.”
The final weekend of the 2025 CPRA season coincided with Ricky Ticky announcing his retirement during the Lakeland Rodeo Finals in St. Paul, AB. Due to the CPRA rodeos being in B.C., Kyle and Kolby were unable to attend, but a special surprise awaited their father during his last performance as everyone who’d ever clowned with Rick came out into the arena to pay tribute. The boys will carry on the Wanchuk name through competitive exploits, while cousin Casey has begun to build on the legacy from the contract act side, no doubt knowing the gravity of the last name they all share.
Despite a season of ups and downs, Kyle Wanchuk continues to demonstrate the versatility that embodies the Kenny McLean Award. And while 2025 ended without a CFR saddle-bronc berth, Kyle’s late-season success shows that the adjustments to his riding style are paying off. He summed it up with a small shrug: “Oh well… get her next year.” There is little doubt he’ll also be chasing a fourth consecutive title — while keeping Kenny McLean’s spirit of versatility alive — when the next season begins.