Two-time NFR header Nelson Wyatt is once again inside the Top 15 after winning $13,884 on his Northwest weekend run, according to the Aug. 26, 2024, PRCA world standings.
Wyatt, 31, now sits No. 14 with $90,981.06 in season earnings, joining his two-time NFR heeler Jonathan Torres inside the Top 15 after picking up checks at the Horse Heaven Roundup Rodeo (Kennewick, Washington); Kitsap Stampede (Bremerton, Washington); Gem State Stampede (Coeur D’alene, Idaho); and Golden Spike Rodeo (Tremonton, Utah).
With the rodeo season’s fourth quarter in full swing, Wyatt and Torres had been plucking along, but it took more than $10,000 to push the Clanton, Alabama, native back in the race this week.
“The last probably month, we had a couple weeks where we didn’t win anything, and then the last couple weeks we’ve won $4,000 or $5,000 a week,” Wyatt said. “But it seems like every year this time, the guys that need to win, win, so $4,000 or $5,000 really wasn’t doing a whole lot. So, it definitely was a nice time to have a good week.”
While fighting tooth and nail for his third trip to Las Vegas, Wyatt also sits No. 2 in the PRCA Playoff Series standings, qualifying him for Puyallup. With a purse of $73,000 on both ends, and $144,444 per end at the Governor’s Cup in late September, qualifying for Puyallup and Sioux Falls could make a contestant’s year. Wyatt, however, doesn’t want to reach a make-or-break point in his season.
“We’re getting down to where I don’t want to be sitting at Sioux Falls needing to win $20,000—I don’t want to leave it up to that,” Wyatt said. “I would love to go these next couple weeks and keep making good runs and [Sioux Falls] just be a bonus for us at the end; that would be nice and ideal.”
Shifted perspective
Getting caught up in the standings is easy, but Wyatt prefers focusing on making a living rather than making the NFR.
“I was probably anxious about a month ago when we had a couple bad weeks, but I kind of got over that a little bit,” Wyatt said. “Just because the only thing that I can control is myself and what I do, and I need to try to make a living anyway, so just make it about that and not about making the Finals.”
Over the summer, Wyatt and Torres had a game plan to make the most out of each steer they ran, not getting caught up in the time. But toward the middle of July, they hit a dry spell right after winning the Ute Stampede in Nephi, Utah.
“We had some success over the Fourth and then started tasting a little bit of those big checks and then maybe started taking more chances than we originally did.”
Back at it
The pair kicked off August with a $2,127-a-man check at the The War Bonnet Round Up in Idaho Falls, and the momentum built. Prior to the week, Wyatt and Torres had collected $11,255 a man in August winnings.
They added $2,651 a piece to their month, thanks to a 5.4-second run for second and third in the first round in Kennewick. A 4.7 pocketed them $2,674 each for sixth in Bremerton.
They followed Bremerton up with a tie for first, second, third and fourth in Tremonton for $4,442 each. Their week rounded out with a tie for the Coeur d’Alene win for $4,117 a man.
“It seemed like this last week we just got back to the way we started,” Wyatt said. “And we ran five steers this week and we didn’t really run a bad one.”
Next Up
Wyatt and Torres rope in Walla Walla, Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 27. With the end of the season just around the corner, Wyatt is focusing on money over standings.
“I think it’s more or less about getting to a number than where you’re at right now,” Wyatt said. “Everybody’s got a certain amount of rodeos and number (money) a guy thinks it’s going to take. The standings, I don’t really think they matter so much right now because I was probably 19th or 20th starting the week and then had a good week and just got closer to the number. Who is to say another guy can’t do the same? You don’t know when the good weeks are going to come and when you’re going to run the good steers, so you just need to be ready.”
