PRCA photo by Tyson Woods

The Caldwell Night Rodeo solidified No. 1 rankings and produced plenty of new NFR contenders as the weekend’s highest paying rodeo.

Caldwell wasn’t even the only Playoff Series Rodeo in Idaho as Gooding showcased its raucous atmosphere once again.

Then, the inaugural Darby Xtreme Bulls shook up the Bull Riding World Standings even more.

With each passing week, the pressure rises as the end of the regular season starts to loom.

Saddle bronc rider Zac Dallas sweeps a loaded bronc riding in Caldwell to get into the Top 15. Dallas won a Long Round that featured eight rides of 87.5 or more with a 90-point ride on C5 Rodeo’s Devil’s Son. The Short Round was even better, there were six rides of 90 points or more, but it was once again Dallas topping the leaderboard, this time with 92 on C5’s Hangover Face. He won $13,600 to get in position for a third straight NFR.

World No. 1 bull rider Noah Lee went 90 twice over the weekend, giving him 17 such rides for the year. That makes up roughly 30 percent of his qualified rides. This time, it was 91 to win Caldwell and 92.5 to win the Long Round at the Darby Xtreme Bulls. The leader last year in that category was Stetson Wright with 13. The 18-year-old rookie is within $41,000 of the regular season earnings record with five weeks left.

Jess Pope won the bareback riding in Caldwell and has now won a check on 10 of his last 11 horses. Pope was 88 to win the Long Round ad 89.5 in the Short Round, enough to edge Jayco Roper by one point in the Average. Pope has won $53,000 since July 24 and is now No. 3 in the World Standings.

Just one week after losing the No. 1 saddle bronc riding spot to his brother, Rusty Wright is back on top of the World. Rusty took second in the Average in Caldwell thanks to rides of 89 and 90.5 points and the $8,600 he won there along with $1,008 in Gooding was enough to push him past his brother Ryder. As it stands right now, Rusty has $219,24, Ryder has $217,723, and Stetson has $215,323.

Steer wrestler JD Struxness impressed to win Caldwell and move to No. 5 in the World. Struxness was a terrific 7.2 seconds on 2 to win the rodeo by eight-tenths. He was 3.5 and 3.7 on his two runs, winning Round 1 and taking second to Tyler Waguespack’s 3.4 in the Short Round.

Bull rider Hudson Bolton won $21,076 for the week to move from No. 7 to No. 4 in the World. Bolton made an 83.5-point ride in Gooding in Moses Lake and then really started to heat up with 90 to win Gooding and 88 and 92 to win the Darby Xtreme Bulls. Bolton is now covering 60.9% of his bulls this season.

Nelson Wyatt/Jonathan Torres vault into NFR contention with victory in Caldwell. Wyatt entered Saturday’s Short Round No. 24 in the World and Torres was No. 25. They left ranked No. 14 and 18 respectively after a 5.4-second run sealed them the Average win in Caldwell, where they made $12,495 in total.