PRCA
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – When bareback rider Cole Reiner qualified for the 2020 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, he wasn’t just happy to be there.
The PRCA | Resistol Rookie of the Year placed in seven rounds and won Rounds 6 and 9 to finish fifth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $154,325.
“It was a great experience,” said Reiner, 22. “I was happy to win rookie of the year and qualify for the NFR, but I wanted to do well at the NFR and to do as well as I did against the other 14 best guys in the world was an incredible feeling.”
Reiner will try and make another memorable debut when he competes in his first RAM National Circuit Finals at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla., April 8-10.
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.