Some cowboys were able to collect nearly $20,000 at Rodeo Austin this year, with a myriad of other large checks being handed out throughout the last week of competition. The PRCA schedule will settle down for a little bit after this past weekend saw the last big rodeo of the winter run, leaving some competitors with a healthy cushion from a successful winter of rodeos, and others ready to hustle once the big rodeos fire back up in the spring.

Cole Edge & Tyson Durfey Dominate Rodeo Austin

If you’re going to pick a rodeo to dominate, it might as well be a big one. Both steer wrestler Cole Edge and tie-down roper Tyson Durfey won or split all three brackets of competition during Rodeo Austin over the past two weeks, earning $18,357 and $19,121 respectively. 

Edge, who made his first and only appearance to date at the WNFR in 2014, is looking strong this year with $47,102.41 to lead the PRCA standings in the steer wrestling. Edge and Josh Garner split the win at Rodeo Austin with their matched times of 4.0 seconds. 

Durfey laid down the fastest time of the rodeo this year when he took his long-round calf in night one of competition. He made a smooth 7.9-second run, easing his way through the run on a pen of cattle that gave the competitors a little trouble that evening. 

How Does Sage Kimzey Do It?

In a sport where your win percentage is much lower than your loss percentage, it seems nearly impossible that Sage Kimzey places as much as he does. In fact, when I look at results and don’t see Kimzey’s name on the list, I often catch myself thinking, "Well, what happened?"

Then I remind myself that Kimzey has won more than any other bull rider in the PRCA for four years running—and it’s looking like he might make it five. Kimzey has $93,333.67 won in the standings already, leading the competition by over $35,000. Kimzey added to that large number this weekend by winning both the semifinals and finals of Rodeo Austin to pick up $17,860.

Kimzey’s consistency is made all the more impressive in my mind by the quality of the bucking bulls that are going today. It’s not uncommon to see results where the competitors that are able to hang on for eight seconds also receive ground money because there were not enough qualified rides to payout each placing—so for Kimzey to win so consistently is truly impressive.

Extra Cushion After The Winter Run

Some of the current season leaders have left themselves a little wiggle room for the spring rodeo season by pulling away from their closest competition in the standings race. When you talk to pro rodeo competitors, they all have different ideas of where they would like to sit in the standings. Some like to get way ahead and have the luxury of coasting if they have a bad stretch, some like the pressure of having to win checks to get back in the race, and some outright refuse to watch the standings at all. 

Whatever way they want to look at it, here's how the leaders of each event compare to their second-place rivals:

Isn’t That Roddy’s Boy?

If you know bronc riding, you’ve heard of the non-chicken eating, no-pickup-man-using Rod Hay. The eight-time Canadian champion and 20-time WNFR qualifier is arguably one of the greatest bronc riders of all time, and he proved it into his 40s until his leg was shattered at the Innisfail Pro Rodeo in June of 2010, ending his career and forcing him to turn out of that 20th WNFR qualification. 

Now it may be time to take notice of the next generation of Hay: Dawson. The 19-year-old let his presence be known at Rodeo Austin this past weekend. While fellow Canuck, Clay Elliott, took home the championship, Hay split eight three ways in the long round, placed fourth in the semifinals, and fourth again in the championship round to collect $5,250 and get him on the board in the standings race in the 45th spot. 

The young Hay has also been rodeoing for Oklahoma’s Panhandle State University rodeo team and currently sits sixth in the saddle bronc riding standings for the Central Plains region. Having watched both Dawson and his brother Logan Hay get on some of their very first broncs under the watchful eye of their father a few years ago, it is exciting to see the next generation start to carve their names into the history books of rodeo.