Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association | Weekly Press Release | For Immediate Release | In This Release You'll Find: 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In This Release You'll Find: 
1. PRCA's Taos Muncy finds groove, wins Sisters Rodeo again
2. Blane Cox claims Woodward Elks Rodeo
3. Luke Branquinho out with season-ending knee injury
4. What to Watch For
5. News & Notes from the rodeo trail
6. Next Up
7. 2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings Leaders
8. 2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings
9. 2019 ProRodeo Tour Points Standings
10. 2019 Xtreme Bulls Standings
Stat Of The Week: $8,658
The amount of money saddle bronc riders Ryder Wright and Taos Muncy earned in 2018 and 2019 by winning the Sisters (Ore.) Rodeo aboard Big Bend Rodeo's Major Huckleberry. Wright earned $4,484 for his 88-point ride on Major Huckleberry in 2018 and Muncy earned $4,174 for his 86-point ride over the weekend at Sisters.
PRCA's Taos Muncy finds groove, wins Sisters Rodeo again

SISTERS, Ore. – Make it three for Taos Muncy.

The two-time PRCA World Champion Saddle Bronc rider now has three Sisters (Ore.) Rodeo titles on his résumé.Muncy captured his latest crown with an 86-point ride on Big Bend Rodeo's Major Huckleberry at the 2019 edition of the Sisters Rodeo, which concluded June 9.

Muncy won world titles in 2007 and 2011 and claimed titles in Sisters in 2015 and 2017.
And this trip on Major Huckleberry ended much better than the first time he climbed aboard the horse.

“I got on him one other time, I believe it was a couple of years ago and he tore my groin and ripped the rein out of my hand,” said Muncy, 31. “It was a bad deal. I’m just glad I rode him this time. The first time I got him I didn’t go with the right rein, I went pretty short. That horse is really big and strong, and he just jerked the rein out of my hand and kind of manhandled me. I talked to quite a few guys and they said to go with more rein, and he had a really nice day. He circled around there to the left and was everything a guy could ask for.”

Muncy entered the week 31st in the 2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings with $18,944 and with his win in Sisters he edged up to 23rd with $24,364. Muncy, who joined the PRCA in 2006, has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo seven times – 2008, 2010-13, 2015 and 2018.

“It’s really important to get a confidence boost like this at Sisters,” Muncy said. “I didn’t have a very good Finals and it has kind of been a struggle (this season). I’ve been home, and I’ve been working at it just trying to get my head ready. Any time you can be over 85 points you did something right. It feels good. We are fixing to be going to a bunch of rodeos now, and it’s nice to get the ball rolling (at Sisters). I’m ready to get rocking and rolling.”

A year ago, Muncy finished 15th in the world standings and placed in just one round at the Wrangler NFR – sixth in Round 6.

“It was just mental,” Muncy said about his poor performance in Las Vegas. “This is all I have been doing for a long time, but it is just rodeo. There are lots of ups and downs and you have to learn to deal with all of it. (To get back to the Finals), I just need to remember to have fun and remember why I do it.”

Muncy’s focus is the upcoming summer run.

“This is what you look forward to all year,” Muncy said. “You get to go to a rodeo every day in a different place, and you’re driving down the interstate and they are shooting off fireworks everywhere. You can’t beat it, and there’s a lot of money to go after.”
Muncy said leaving his home in Corona, N.M., and his wife, Marissa, daughter, Marley, 7, and son, Shooter, 3, is difficult.

“It’s tough being away from them, but I feel really fortunate because I get to do what I love to do,” Muncy said. “Also, when I’m home, I’m home completely. I don’t have a 9-to-5 job and be gone all day. I might be gone for two weeks, but when I’m home I’m with my family every day so I feel really fortunate and blessed.”

Other winners at the $155,934 rodeo were all-around cowboy Tyler Forsberg ($1,852, tie-down roping and team roping); bareback rider Tilden Hooper (87 points on Big Bend Rodeo's James Bond); steer wrestler Mike McGinn (8.9 seconds on two head); team ropers Dustin Bird/Trey Yates (5.2 seconds); tie-down ropers Westyn Hughes and Jake Pratt (19.3 seconds on two head); barrel racer Meka Farr (17.29 seconds); and bull rider Parker Breding (86 points on Corey & Lange Rodeo's American Grit).
Blane Cox claims Woodward Elks Rodeo

WOODWARD, Okla. – Two years in a row on the bubble has tie-down roper Blane Cox more motivated to make the jump into the Top 15 for his second qualification to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
 
The Texas cowboy kicked off his summer run with a double payday for a much-needed confidence boost on June 8.
 
The 25-year-old’s time of 17.8 seconds on two head won the Woodward (Okla.) Elks Rodeo for $4,205. He also placed second at the Gladewater (Texas) Round-Up with an 8.9-second run for $1,558 on Saturday, notching a weekend total of $5,763.
 
“It means a lot because I’m leaving next week to rodeo for the summer and I needed a confidence boost,” Cox said. “Things are turning around, and the good Lord is starting to bless us with good calves.”
 
If the rest of the season continues like the weekend did, Cox won’t be making a three-peat of ending a season in 16th place.
 
“I missed it by about $500 last year and then $5,000 the year before that,” Cox said. “I came home and regrouped and sold my horse that I’d had the last few summers.”
 
The weather wasn’t kind to Cox when he arrived in Woodward at about 2 a.m. the night before Round 1. A heavy rainfall postponed putting up his horse’s pen, leaving the cowboy and his horse worn out before the rodeo started. Fortunately, he borrowed a horse from a friend for Round 1 while his new horse, Hemi, rested.
 
“It was really muddy, and I made an OK run on her (the borrowed horse), but I could have done better on my part,” Cox said. “For the second round, the conditions were great, so I knew it was do or die.”
 
A “phenomenal calf” combined with Hemi’s speed to help Cox clock in at 7.8 seconds in Round 2 to win the average. It also gave him the confidence boost he needed to kick off his summer run.
 
“It means the world,” Cox said. “It’s a big win. I’ve had a rough winter. I just bought Hemi in January, and he’s literally the easiest one I’ve ever owned, but we had heck this winter and nothing has gone our way.”
 
Before June 8, Cox was out of the top 50 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings, but his 2019 season hasn’t been without some wins. He won the Henderson County Go Texan Rodeo in Athens, Texas, April 27, and the Helotes (Texas) Festival Association Rodeo, May 4. He moved up to 39th in the June 10 world standings with $17,144.
Now, Cox is shooting for his second qualification to the Wrangler NFR since 2016, and he is working toward the Canadian National Finals Rodeo alongside his travel partner Shane Hanchey.
 
Other winners at the $135,620 rodeo were all-around cowboy Ross McGuire ($1,682, tie-down roping and steer wrestling); bareback rider Jake Brown (89 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo's Black Kat); steer wrestler J.D. Struxness (10.2 seconds on two head); team ropers Tate Kirchenschlager/Buddy Hawkins II (5.7 seconds); saddle bronc riders Jade Blackwell (82 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo's Red Wings) and Colt Gordon (82 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo's Nutrena's Red Man); barrel racer Skyla Whitters (17.12 seconds); steer roper Chet Herren (42.8 seconds on three head); and bull rider Trey Kimzey (87.5 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo's Day Money).
Luke Branquinho out with season-ending knee injury

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Luke Branquinho, a five-time PRCA Steer Wrestling World Champion, had his season end abruptly June 2 when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a run at the Santa Maria (Calif.) Elks Rodeo, a ProRodeo Tour stop.

“A steer came over my leg and I’ve been to enough rodeos to know what happened,” Branquinho said about the injury. 

Branquinho, who won world titles in 2004, 2008, 2011-12 and 2014, is scheduled to have surgery June 19 in Dallas. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Tandy Freeman. Branquinho was 30th in the June 10 PRCA | RAM World Standings with $22,423.

Branquinho, who has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo 14 times – 2001-04, 2006-15 – expects to be sidelined until October. He has the RAM California Circuit Finals made, and he will be back in time to compete there.

“The last three years it is kind of what has been going on with me (battling injuries),” said Branquinho, 38. “I’m hoping this is the end of it. Obviously in our sport and the older you get, there are more risks, and I’m hoping I will not have to deal with it anymore. I have never had any knee issues before or had surgery on any knee. I’m just going to focus on what is in my future, whether it is rodeo in 2020 or no telling. I’m focusing on the future. I’m not going to take anything for granted and go to it like I have done every other injury.”

In 2018, Branquinho suffered a left biceps injury and in 2017 he was sidelined with a rotator cuff injury.

Branquinho has had a storied career, which includes 25 round wins at the Wrangler NFR, the most of any steer wrestler in PRCA history. Branquinho is one short of the PRCA record for steer wrestling world championships with six held by ProRodeo Hall of Famer Homer Pettigrew.
What to Watch For
ProRodeo Live with Steve Kenyon
Lexington (Ky.) Rodeo, June 14-15, 7:30 p.m. (ET)
News & Notes From The Rodeo Trail
Veteran saddle bronc rider Isaac Diaz’s journey to qualify for his seventh Wrangler National Finals Rodeo has hit a detour. The Desdemona, Texas, cowboy had surgery for a sports hernia injury May 30 in Philadelphia performed by Dr. William Meyers . Diaz expects to be out of action at least eight weeks. “My groin and lower abdomen both tore off my pelvis,” said Diaz, 32. “I irritated it back in Mercedes (Texas) in March, and it seemed like it was getting worse all spring and then it was getting better. It was back and forth, but I was riding (May 19) and I heard it pop like four times before I could get off the horse. The day I hurt it, I went straight to Dr. Tandy (Freeman’s office) (May 20). He told me I needed to fly up to Philadelphia to have them do the surgery.” Diaz was 11th in the June 10 PRCA | RAM World Standings with $52,520. Diaz has qualified for the Wrangler NFR six times – 2007, 2009, 2012-13, 2015 and 2018. He finished a career-best sixth in the 2016 world standings. A year ago, Diaz placed eighth in the world standings. “It just depends on how hard you work at it and how good you heal,” said Diaz when asked about his timetable for recovery. “The doctor told me professional athletes are typically back in six weeks to full competition, but he said we are not considered the same thing because roughstock athletes are using their groins a lot more than say a pro football player is, so he said it will be eight to 10 weeks to recover from the injury.” Although Diaz is going to be sidelined, he’s highly optimistic the injury will not ruin his season plans. “I don’t have any doubts whatsoever that I can make the NFR,” Diaz said. “I’m hooked up with physical therapist Brad Bettis and I told him I want to be back in eight weeks at the latest. He’s going to push me as hard as he can. I’m hoping to be back for Dodge City (Kan., July 31-Aug. 4).”
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The 76th annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo May 30 through June 2 , brought out an estimated 35,000 people and raised a record $800,000 for charitable causes during its four-day run according to a report in the Santa Maria Times on June 3. "The stands were full, there were people on the midway, parking was full," said Johnna Clark, media director for the rodeo. The Santa Maria Elks Rodeo was a PRCA ProRodeo Tour rodeo. During this year's event, hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for a variety of charitable causes, including a record $795,526 from the Elks Rodeo Queen campaigns. 
Next Up
June 11         Weatherford (Texas) Division 2 Xtreme Bulls
June 12         Sangamon County Fair, New Berlin, Ill.
June 12         Johnson County Sheriff’s Posse, Cleburne, Texas
June 12         Buffalo Bill Rodeo, North Platte, Neb.
June 12         Parker County Sheriff’s Posse Frontier Days and PRCA Rodeo, Weatherford, Texas, begins
June 13         Coleman (Texas) PRCA Rodeo begins
June 13         San Juan Stampede Pro Rodeo, Monticello, Utah, begins
June 13         Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo, Silver City, N.M., begins
June 14         Dawson County Fair and Rodeo, Glendive, Mont.
June 14         Bonneville (Alberta) Pro Rodeo begins
June 14         Stockyards Championship, Fort Worth, Texas
June 14         St. Croix Valley PRCA Rodeo, Glenwood City, Wis., begins
June 14         Lexington (Ky.) Rodeo begins
June 14         Newtown (N.D.) Rodeo Days Adrian Foote Memorial
June 14         Stanley (Wis.) Rodeo begins
June 14         Innisfail (Alberta) Pro Rodeo begins
June 15         Goshen (Conn.) Stampede
June 15         Mesquite (Texas) Championship Rodeo
June 15         Cowtown Rodeo, Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J.
June 15         Belt (Mont.) PRCA Rodeo begins
June 15         Evergreen (Colo.) Rodeo begins
June 15         Earl Anderson Memorial Rodeo, Grover, Colo., begins
June 16         Goshen (Conn.) Stampede
June 16         Jordan (Mont.) Match Xtreme Bronc Ride      
2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings Leaders
Unofficial through June 10, 2019

AA: Caleb Smidt, Bellville, Texas, $83,412
BB: Kaycee Feild, Genola, Utah, $115,965
SW: Ty Erickson, Helena , Mont., $99,912
TR-1: Ty Blasingame, Casper, Wyo., $73,229
TR-2: Kyle Lockett, Visalia, Calif., 86,561
SB: Ryder Wright, Milford, Utah, $145,299
TD: Michael Otero, Weatherford, Texas, $81,435
SR: Vin Fisher Jr., Andrews, Texas, $37,787
BR: Sage Kimzey, Strong City, Okla., $101,578
2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings
Please see prorodeo.com for the latest standings update. All standings are unofficial.


2019 PRCA Rodeo Results
About The PRCA
The PRCA, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., is recognized as the unsurpassed leader in sanctioning the sport of professional rodeo. The PRCA's mission is to unify membership in providing an innovative fan experience, to grow the sport of professional rodeo and provide new expanded opportunities for our membership and sponsors. Since 1986, the PRCA has paid out more than $1 billion in prize money to its contestants. The PRCA offers the best cowboys and the best rodeos; delivering the best fan experience while positively impacting our communities and embracing the spirit of the West. A membership-based organization, the PRCA sanctioned 650 rodeos in 2018, and there are more than 40 million rodeo fans in the U.S. The PRCA televises the sport's premier events, with the world-renowned Wrangler National Finals Rodeo on CBS Sports Net and streaming on  ProRodeoTV.com . The PRORODEO® Tour and RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo also air on CBS Sports Net, and ProRodeoTV.com . PRCA-sanctioned rodeos donate more than $40 million to local and national charities every year. For comprehensive coverage of the cowboy sport, read the ProRodeo Sports News, the official publication of the PRCA, and make sure to check out the digital edition of the PSN. The digital PSN and daily updates of news and results can be found on the PRCA's official website,  www.prorodeo.com .

For additional information about this press release, contact:
Tracy Renck
719.528.4758
trenck@prorodeo.com

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
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