Bradley Massey and Zack Mabry took control of the 2024 Southeastern Circuit this spring and never looked back, winning the year-end titles with $25,200.55 for Massey and $24,307.55 for Mabry.
The Florida and Alabama team went into the Southeastern Circuit Finals Nov. 8-10, in Davie, Florida, with $6,143.78 and $11,470.47 leads, respectively. They added $2,225 a man to seal the deal on Massey’s fifth year-end title—one of which was on the heel side—and Mabry’s second.
“I still work at it like I’m 20, I still rope three or four days a week,” Massey, 38, said. “I always feel like I have a pretty good horse for down here, and probably the biggest thing is that almost every year I have one of the best heelers. And if I do my job, most of the time, I win. There’s a lot of guys down here that are roping good, too. I mean, Marcus Theriot is down here almost every year, Keven Daniel made the Finals four times—there’s a lot of guys that rope good. So, I don’t think it’s luck, but I just kind of got it figured out somehow or another.”
For Mabry, the second title is just as sweet, and being able to finish what they started is the cherry on top.
“it’s always good to be able to win the circuit,” Mabry, 33, said. “I’m not a guy that’s going to strike out and go to Reno or anything, so winning the circuit’s kind of something that a guy that stays home can do. It means a lot.”
Kicking it off early
Getting an early start on the season was key in Massey and Mabry’s 2024 success. The team picked up $2,482 a man for second at Northwest Florida Championship Rodeo in Bonifay Oct. 5-7, 2023, and $2,865 each after winning the 10th Annual Arcadia Fall Rodeo (Florida) Oct. 21-22.
February and March are prime time in the Southeastern Circuit with a sizable portion of their rodeos taking place in the spring, and they raked in $12,294 a man between from January to March.
“I don’t think anything in our run was necessarily that dominant, but I think that we caught some steers early in the year that were big steers, and then we just kept placing along,” Mabry said. “It seemed like we hit at a few of the bigger rodeos, and that helped, but what helped us the most is we never had a month or two where we got cold; it’s not like we were red hot, it just was kind of steady.”
The Southeast summers might be hot, but Massey and Mabry actually slowed down for much of the summer. Regardless, when the regular season ended, Massey led the pack with $22,975.50 won on the year and Mabry with $22,082.50.
Looking to 2025
As Massey continues to add year-end titles to his resume, he begins to etch himself in the Southeastern Circuit history books. With a family at home, his goals on the circuit front keep him plenty busy.
“I’ve worked at it for a long time,” Massey said. “I’ve never went and really tried to make the NFR—I always had different goals. I know a lot of people can do it with families, but I’ve never felt that I could. My boys play travel baseball, my girl rodeos, and when I was young, I never felt like I roped good enough. Then when I got to where I felt like I roped pretty good, I felt like I had too much other stuff going. So, I’ve always put a lot of emphasis on [winning the circuit].”
But with a chance at some of the 2025 winter rodeos and their tickets punched for July’s NFR Open in Colorado Springs, there’s a chance Massey and Mabry may enter outside the circuit here and there.
“I think there’s an outside chance,” Mabry said. “We’ve still got a chance, maybe, to get into San Antonio and Houston. If we were to get into San Antonio and Houston again and did good, we might enter around a little bit. And I bet that when we go out [to Colorado Springs], we’ve talked about entering for three or four weeks, mainly just because I want to go.”
