Steiner battles injuries, seeks bareback title — NFR DAY 7 PHOTOS
Bareback rider Rocker Steiner has already had an eventful National Finals Rodeo, and that was before his go-round win Tuesday night.
Steiner is dealing with a wrist injury. But that wasn’t his most notable health issue.
On his run Saturday, Steiner got hit in the back of the head and was briefly knocked unconscious as he fell to the ground. He laid on the dirt for a few seconds before regaining consciousness and getting helped back up.
“(My) hand injury, I’ve been preparing for everything,” Steiner said Tuesday. “The one thing you can’t prepare for is a knockout. It’s very unfortunate. I guess that’s just the way it goes. Everything happens for a reason, so we’re just going to keep on kicking.”
A few days later, Steiner was the center of attention for a better reason. He won his go-round Tuesday on the sixth night of NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center with a score of 89 points and claimed $33,687 in earnings.
“I felt like I was riding really good, and the score sounded great,” Steiner said. “The crowd sounded great. My feet felt fast, and the victory lap horse did not buck me off, so here we are. That’s a good night.”
The win put Steiner in the lead of the bareback riding standings. On Wednesday, Steiner finished second in the go-round with a score of 87 points and added $26,623 in total earnings. Steiner ($338,947.06 total earnings) leads Bradlee Miller by more than $23,000.
‘Beat everybody’
Steiner, 20, entered NFR leading the standings by nearly $14,000 lead over defending champion Keenan Hayes, 21, another emerging rodeo superstar.
“There’s a lot of guys out there that can come in No. 1,” Steiner said. “It’s just about who has the most luck and who stays injury-free. I was lucky enough to be that guy this year.”
Steiner has continued improving after stellar performances in his first two years competing. This year, he has picked up 17 event wins and was co-champion two other times.
“I can’t say anything but great things about this year,” Steiner said. “I won a lot of big rodeos. I felt great, I stayed injury-free, had my best friends around me, had my family around me.”
Steiner did not place high enough to claim any earnings on the first two days. He has claimed $105,628.12 in total earnings at NFR but sits last in the NFR average standings, which is another chance for the riders to add to their overall earnings for their consistent performances at NFR.
“This is a very long rodeo. There’s no rodeos that you’re riding 10 days in a row,” Steiner said. “Every go-round here is the biggest rodeo of the year. Every round pays $33,000. One bad round isn’t the end of it. You just got to realize that it’s a very long 10 days and there’s a lot of things that can happen.”
Last year at NFR, Steiner won three go-rounds and finished fifth in the standings. He was 10th in 2022 and won the Resistol Rookie of the Year. Steiner, Hayes and Miller, a 21-year-old NFR rookie, are the top three in the standings and make up the young core in bareback riding.
The Weatherford, Texas, native said the average is too far out of reach, so he said he’s focused on going for go-round wins to stay ahead.
“You just got to go out there and beat everybody,” Steiner said. “As simple as that sounds, it’s very hard. But with the right horses, staying somewhat healthy, there’s a lot of things that can happen. We’re just going to keep my chin tucked and keep my feet rolling fast, so we’ll see what happens.”
‘Fire me up’
Steiner would add to his family legacy if he could hold on for the world title. His father, Sid, won the 2002 steer wrestling world title at the Thomas & Mack, and grandfather Bobby won the 1973 bull riding world title when NFR was held in Oklahoma City. Mother Jamie and grandmother Joleen were also NFR qualifiers in barrel racing.
“They’re very good to have in my corner,” Steiner said. “They’re very feisty. They want me to win, and they fire me up.”
To put it bluntly, Steiner said his right wrist “feels like (expletive), but it’s all right.”
Steiner has become a fan favorite for being bold and brash. Having those traits could help him get his first world title.
“Everything happens for a reason, you just got to keep on going,” Steiner said.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
Nevada native takes steer wrestling lead
Steer wrestler Dakota Eldridge is the only participant at this year's National Finals Rodeo who is from Nevada.
Eldridge is over six hours away from his home in Elko, but he's making the Thomas & Mack Center feel just like home.
On Wednesday, Eldridge shared the go-round win with Jesse Brown of Baker City, Oregon. Both riders posted a time of 3.5 seconds on their runs and claimed $30,155 in earnings.
"It was awesome," Eldridge said. "It's been awhile since I won a round. … When you draw a steer that hasn't placed, it's hard to have that mindset (to win rounds). It gives you that much more confidence because they can run anything in there for me and I can place on them."
Eldridge has jumped Will Lummus in the lead for the steer wrestling standings. Eldridge ($259,000) leads Lummus by $21,379 with three rounds to go.
"I feel great, horses are feeling amazing right now, and I'm just going to keep giving them hell," Eldridge said.
But Lummus is ahead in the aggregate, which is an average of all the total runs by a competitor at NFR. Lummus would add $86,391.31 to his overall earnings if he can hold onto the top spot.
Eldridge is 11th in the aggregate and would not claim any additional earnings. Eldridge would need Lummus to have a disastrous final three runs, while picking up more go-round wins, to make it a close title fight at the end.
"I got to win the rounds to have just a slight chance to win the gold buckle," Eldridge said. "As it is right now, Will's really going to have to screw up. I wish it was still more of a race between me and Will because we've been practicing the last three weeks."
Eldridge finished second Tuesday and claimed earnings in rounds 1 and 3, but Lummus has completed all seven of his runs and consistently posted fast times.
"If I do it, it's going to be the hard way," Eldridge said. "Either way, I'm still going to give him a run for his money, and it's fun to be here and battle it out right now."
Regardless of how close Eldridge gets to the title, he said it's special to be the only Nevada competitor at NFR and hold the Nevada flag as the competitors are introduced by country and state before the night's events.
"It means everything to carry that flag," Eldridge said. "I hope there's more and more up-and-comers coming from Nevada because (NFR is) the best rodeo of the year. It's the Super Bowl of rodeos. We need to get more kids involved and more people from Nevada (to) rodeo."
Other go-round winners:
— Bradlee Miller, Huntsville, Texas, in bareback riding (87 points).
— Coleman Proctor, Pryor, Oklahoma, and Logan Medlin, Tatum, New Mexico, in team roping (3.5 seconds).
— Brody Cress, Hillsdale, Wyoming, in saddle bronc (88 points).
— Dylan Hancock, San Angelo, Texas, in tie-down roping (6.7 seconds).
— Kassie Mowry, Dublin, Texas, in barrel racing (13.19 seconds).
— Cooper James, Erda, Utah, in bull riding (88 points).
