RAPID CITY, S.D. – Wyatt Casper may call Miami, Texas, home, but with his recent success inside WW Arena it seems like Rapid City, S.D., may not be too far behind.
For the second straight year, Casper topped a loaded field of 24 contestants to walk away with the PRCA Xtreme Broncs Finals championship. The 28-year-old cowboy accomplished the feat with 174 points on two head in the average.
“I love Rapid City now,” laughed Casper, a four-time Wrangler NFR qualifier. “I never dreamt of probably even winning this deal one time, so to win it twice is a dream come true for sure.”
Casper was able to punch his ticket to eight-man finals after he put together an 87-point ride on Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo’s Disco Inferno in the first round. At the Xtreme Broncs Finals, each saddle bronc rider who advances to the short-go gets to choose their own horse by random draw in front of the bucking chutes.
As one of the highest marked rides of the first round, Casper was one of the first cowboys to select his horse, J Bar J’s Shady Jacket was on the other side of the card. It’s a match-up he was hesitant about after a rough outing just a few weeks ago.
“I got on him one time in Jordan, Mont., and had a really good score and rode him good. Then I got on him a couple weeks ago in Sentinel Butte (N.D.), and he kind of made me look silly,” Casper said. “I think I was only 77 points, so there were some mixed emotions drawing him out of the box, but I knew it could be good.”
Shady Jacket ended up being the perfect dancing partner for him on Sunday night. The duo combined for an 87-point trip, which was enough to push him to the top of the leaderboard. Casper edged out Allen Boore and Ryder Wright by a half point, with each cowboy scoring 173.5 points on two head.
Casper’s 16 seconds of work in South Dakota put more than $30,000 in his pocket, money that will count toward his ledger in the PRCA | RAM World Standings. Headed into the event, he was sitting just outside the top 5. Casper acknowledged a win like this takes a little pressure off his shoulders with the PRORODEO regular season concluding on Sept. 30.
“My goal every year is to go to the NFR in the top 5,” Casper said. “This will dang sure help get me up there where I want to be, and it’ll make the rest of the year a little easier. Now, I’m going to focus on staying healthy and hopefully we will win some more big checks in September.”
