Dalton Turner and Cooper Bruce had a milestone year in 2024, winning the Great Lakes Circuit year-end team roping titles.

Turner, 29, wrapped up the 2024 season with $32,213.59 won on the year after the Great Lakes Circuit Finals in Louisville, Kentucky, Nov. 14-16. The year-end heading title is Turner’s first and was long awaited.

“It feels good, for sure,” Turner, from Sidney, Arkansas, said. “This was my third year I went in leading it, so finally; it was a big, big burden off my shoulders.”

Bruce, on the other hand, has one other Great Lakes Circuit year-end title: the 2023 heading title. The 34-year-old heeler from Franklin, Missouri, joined an elite group of circuit champion switchenders but is in a league of his own as the only man to win back-to-back year-end titles on opposite ends.

“It took a little while to sink in, but it’s pretty cool,” Bruce, who won the 2024 title with $31,754.64, said. “That was one of the goals, to do it back-to-back on different ends, and I succeeded. I know there’s one guy that has won it switching ends, but I’m pretty positive it wasn’t consecutive years.”

Fight for the lead

Turner and Bruce started their partnership off at Claremore, Oklahoma’s Will Rogers Stampede in May and kept the ball rolling. June brought in $5,433 a piece, but July was the game changer.  All in all, Turner and Bruce each pocketed $11,114 in July to give them the lead in the standings.

August was off to a good start with the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo win for $3,973 apiece, but the rest of the month was a tick dry for Turner and Bruce.

“Honestly, we did good at Fort Madison, but between Sikeston and Fort Madison (held Sept. 5-7), it was just OK,” Turner admitted. “We kind of clicked along, nothing big; we placed here and there. We won the (Ram – Jim Baier) Chute Out at Fort Madison and the rodeo there, so we finished strong, but in between there, I wouldn’t say it was super hot.”

Turner and Bruce had to work to keep their lead, and they raked in $5,928 a man in Fort Madison to kick off September. They entered the Great Lakes Circuit finals No. 1, a feat Bruce credits Turner for turning so many steers throughout the summer.

“All I had to worry about was doing my job and I didn’t do a very good job of it all year,” Bruce said with a laugh. “I made a lot of mistakes, but Dalton, he doesn’t mess up. He turned 90% of the steers, didn’t break the barrier and they’re for good money. I think that’s the main deal, and our run just works—when we catch it’s fast enough to place, and I think that was the main reason.”

Turner had a $1,375.34 lead over second entering Louisville, and Bruce had a $916.39  ead on the heel side. While the circuit finals didn’t go as planned, they walked away with the Round 1 win for $2,931 a man, Louisville Slugger baseball bats and the year-end titles.

“I really wanted that bat, and I got me another title and Dalton got his first one,” Bruce said. “That was cool. We’ve been friends a long time, and I know he’s finished second a couple times; he’s come into Louisville leading it more than once, so it is pretty cool to win it with a good friend and for him to get his first title that he deserves.”

After the previous years of entering Louisville with the lead and having it slip out of his fingers, Turner had to remain patient and trust it would be worth it.

“Just had to trust the process,” Turner said. “I’m not going to say I didn’t get worried, but I just trusted the process and knew the work that I put in was going to show one day.”

2025 Focus

With their tickets punched for the NFR Open in July, Turner and Bruce aren’t against the idea of entering out West next summer, but it all depends on how the winter treats them.

“There’s a chance, it just kind of depends on how this winter goes,” Turner said. “Just kind of see what happens. Since we have to go out there anyway, we’ll probably enter for a couple weeks.”

The focus of their year, however, will remain in the Great Lakes.

“We’re going to rodeo smart, keep our money together and we’ll just see where it goes,” Bruce said. “Not ruling it out, but it’s not like we’re going to go rodeo type deal.  We’re going to rodeo where we can through the winter and obviously try to have as much money won as we can. But we are going to focus on the circuit, for sure. Our circuit finals are so good, it’s hard not to focus on that.”