Three regional cowboys count themselves as first-timers at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) next month.
Jamie Howlett, Rapid City, S.D. and Cole Reiner, Buffalo, Wyo., will compete in the bareback riding while Shorty Garrett, Eagle Butte, S.D., will compete in the saddle bronc riding.
For all three men, this is their first qualification to the “big show,” the PRCA’s world championship, held December 3-12 in Arlington, Texas at Globe Life Field, the home of MLB’s Texas Rangers.
Of the three, Howlett is a transplant, having grown up in Australia. He came to the U.S. in 2009 and again in 2010 as a contestant at the National High School Finals Rodeo. Three years later, he was offered a rodeo scholarship to West Texas College in Snyder and came to the U.S. to stay.