KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Two Montana cowboys won titles at the RAM National Circuit Finals in Kissimmee, Fla., over the weekend.
Edgar bull rider Parker Breding and Stevensville bareback rider Richmond Champion took home championship belt buckles after three days and five performances at the tournament-style annual event.
Another Montana circuit champion, Scott Guenthner of Alberta, claimed gold in the steer wrestling event.
Breding won the average title in bull riding as the only rider to successfully ride three bulls across four rounds for a total of 249.5 points on three head.
He won the semifinals with an 88-point ride and won the championship round with an 86.5, the only qualified ride among the four competitors.
Breding, 28, is the first bull rider to win the RAM National Circuit Finals four times with wins also coming in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Breding pocketed $13,006 on the weekend.
Breding qualified for the event by winning the year-end and average titles at the Montana Circuit Finals in Kalispell back in January.
"I haven't won a whole lot since I won our Montana Circuit Finals Rodeo. I needed to come here and win something, and it worked out better than I even expected in the finals,” Breding told the PRCA. “I just kept telling myself to nod my head and get out of the chute and just react to whatever the bull does, and that's exactly what I was able to do. It ended up being an awesome little bull. I was pretty dang excited when I made the whistle."
Champion qualified for the final round after rides of 85.5 and 86 points across the first two days of competition. In the sudden-death finals, he recorded an 87-point ride aboard Risky Mistress, edging out Nebraska’s Garrett Shadbolt who scored an 86.
"I didn't know a whole lot about that horse," Champion, who earned $15,010, told the PRCA. "Tanner Aus had her at the Riggin Rally last week and she had stumbled, but he said she was really fun, and she was. It's amazing to win this rodeo. This is a saddle you want in your house and a buckle you want on your belt. I'm super grateful."
Guenthner had to balance time between the U.S. and Canada last season during the pandemic and didn't get to rodeo much until the start of July.
He won the RAM NCFR for the first time Saturday night with a 3.6-second run and took home $16,805.
"This is a big deal, especially with this counting for the world standings," Guenthner told the PRCA.
The Montana PRCA circuit begins in June.
