18 year old rookie bull rider follows father's footsteps to Cheyenne

WEATHERFORD, Texas - July 13, 2015 - PRLog -- The #7 ranked bull rider in the Championship Bull Riding World Standings is not accustom to looking past the top five to find his name.

I could not ask for anything better for my first year year, it’s like a dream being on CBR TV tour,” said the youngest rider to qualify for the CBR World Finals at Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Winning the inaugural “Bulls on the Border” CBR Bull Bash in Mercedes, Texas, the third stop of the 2014-15 “Road to Cheyenne” bull riding tour last October, eighteen year old Wyatt Rogers of Rose, Oklahoma, won his first bull riding event title as a professional while participating at his first Mahindra Rodeo to Cheyenne Championship Bull Riding.

Competing on a personal invitation from Tuff Hedeman, Rogers was one of twenty-six bull riders including five world champions, the top 5 ranked bull riders in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and six rookie riders all trying to win the lion’s share of the $70,000 purse created after no single rider completed the 8 second ride in the Shootout Round in the first two events.

Taking advice from the only bull rider to ever beat him in high school rodeo, World Champion Sage Kimzey, Rogers posted a 92 on Barrett and Craig’s Boomer to win his first event, but more importantly launch his CBR career.

“I just rode them jump for jump”, claimed the high school senior who dedicates his rides to his father who died suddenly in May of 2014. “This year is all for my dad.”

Warren “Dusty” Rogers of Rose was a steer wrestler and team roper who began teaching his son to be a cowboy at an early age. Dusty Rogers was entered and competed in the Steer wrestling division of Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo on the same day Lane Frost lost his life in the Frontier Park arena.

Wyatt, who rode his first sheep at two years old, went on to win the Jr. Bull Riding division of Little Britches at 13 before winning the Oklahoma High Bull Riding State Championship in 2013 and 2014.

Rogers has ridden an impressive 56 percent (10 for 18) of his bulls on the Mahindra Road to Cheyenne televised tour events, and that includes three rides for 90 points or more. The highlight of his season was undoubtedly his 92-point ride aboard Boomer to clinch the win in Mercedes. He also rode Firehouse (El Paso) and White Wolf (Las Vegas) for 90 points en route to a pair of other high finishes.  Rogers made the final four Shoot Out round three times, actually four, but a tie and a losing tie-breaker mark from the back judge, kept him out of the Las Vegas final round.

Rogers is fan of Barrett and Craig’s Ragin JT and Boomer, and applauds the CBR bulls because of their perennial consistency.

Graduating from Locust Grove high school less than thirty days ago, Rogers has been off the bull riding trail nursing a pulled groin sustained while competing in March. The injury slowed down his race for the 2015 CBR World title considerably as he bucked off in Mulvane, was forced to miss Fort Worth, and although he attempted a comeback in Del Rio, he was not able to complete the two day event.

Rogers stays in shape playing basketball, running, getting on practice bulls, calf roping and steer wrestling.  Rogers recently made the short go in the final round of the Steer Wrestling at the 2015 International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Looking forward to being a part of the history, Rogers expects an adrenaline rush when he steps onto the sands of Cheyenne for the first time. “My dad loved it and so will I,” said Rogers.

“Wyatt’s dreams of being a cowboy and getting to go to the “daddy of ‘em all” are fueling his efforts to become the next CBR World Champ.

“It’s a great rodeo worth over a million dollars and one of the richest bull ridings of the year,” doesn’t get much better than that.”

Follow Wyatt Rogers and the top bull riders in the World as they prepare for the CBR's annual World Finals held in conjunction with Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 20-21st, Frontier Park Arena in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Tickets available at cfdrdoeo.com.  For more information contact cbrbull.com