The Puyallup Rodeo concluded Sunday with many of the top athletes in the PRCA taking home large cuts of the event’s $616,000 in prize money.

Puyallup was one of the few big-purse events left before the regular season ends in late September, making every single check crucial, especially for the athletes on the NFR bubble.

Many of those bubble athletes made clutch strides towards an NFR bid with their performances at Puyallup.

Here’s what you missed from the Puyallup Rodeo last weekend:

The 2023 Bareback Riding World Champion Keenan Hayes and the 2022 World Champion Jess Pope shared the win, each scoring 91 in the Finals. It’s Pope’s second win in the last three years at Puyallup. He won back in 2024 and set an arena record of 92.5 points.

Both Hayes and Pope won the Second Round of their respective Brackets before finishing 2nd and 3rd in the Semifinals.

Hayes earned $15,735 and jumped into 6th place, while Pope earned $17,929 and is now over $16,000 ahead of 5th-place Cooper Cooke.

World No. 1 Bareback Rider Bradlee Miller was 88 to win the First Round and 90.5 on Calgary Stampede’s Born Feerless to win the Semifinals. He finished 4th in the Finals, failing to score.

Miller earned $9,115 at Puyallup, bringing his season total to $274,351. He now holds a near $55,000 lead over Jacob Lees in 2nd place.

Garrett Shadbolt finished 3rd in the Finals and earned $12,026, which allowed him to replace Wacey Schalla in 15th place. If Shadbolt keeps his NFR bid, it’ll be his third consecutive and fifth overall NFR qualification.

Jesse Brown won his second straight Steer Wrestling Finals at Puyallup and earned $17,410. The 6x NFR qualifier is now less than $18,000 behind World No. 1 Tyler Waguespack.

He was 3.6 seconds to win Round One, but finished 4th in his Bracket and nearly didn’t qualify for the Semifinals. He finished 4th again in the Semifinals, with a 4.3, and barely qualified once more.

However, Brown dominated in the Finals, winning with a 3.8. No other Bulldogger was faster than 4.2.

James Arviso and Levi Lord tied with Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira at 4.1 seconds each and shared the Team Roping Finals win.

Both pairs of teams walked away with $14,858 each, and all four athletes are solidly inside the top 7, with Driggers and Nogueira leading their respective events.

Tanner Tomlinson and Wesley Thorp were 3.3 seconds to win the Second Round and set a new arena record. It’s the third year in a row that an arena record has been broken.

3x World Champion Ryder Wright was 88 on Korkow Rodeos’ Rubber Match to win the Saddle Bronc Finals for the second time in three years and is now within $19,000 of his brother Rusty Wright, who is the World Saddle Bronc Riding Leader.

Their other brother, Statler Wright, was an event-best 88.5 to win the Semifinals and finished 3rd in the Finals.

2x NFR qualifier Zachary Dallas finished 2nd and won $11,866, not enough to get him into the top 15, but it puts him less than $2,000 behind Gus Gaillard, who’s in 15th.

World No. 1 Tie-Down Roping Leader Riley Webb won his second straight Finals at Puyallup. The back-to-back-to-back World Champion was a lightning-fast 7.3 to win the Short Round, beating out 2nd-place Trevor Hale by 1.1 seconds, and added $18,726 to his season purse, becoming the first Tie-Down Roper and third athlete overall to surpass $300,000 in season earnings.

2x World Champion Shad Mayfield entered the top 15 for the first time this season after winning both of his Bracket Rounds. He took home $10,431 and now has earned $114,377 in total, most of which came after his return from injury in June.

Carlee Otero was 13.85 to win the Finals. She earned $16,533 and became the new World Barrel Racing Leader, replacing Hayle Gibson-Stillwell.

Sydney Graham and Michelle Alley were each an event-fastest 13.77 seconds to win their respective Bracket Rounds. Alley went on to win the Semifinals with a 13.85 and finished the Finals in 2nd with a 14.15. She took home $16,693, $160 more than Otero, and is now in 6th place.

World No. 8 Bull Rider John Crimber earned $17,410 and won the Puyallup Finals. He won three rounds in total, including Round One and the Semifinals. He was an event-high 89 in the Semifinals on Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s Trailer Trash.

Jace Trosclair entered Puyallup $21,910 behind the top 15 cut line. He finished last in the Finals, earning $8,516 overall, and is now less than $14,500 behind the cut line in 17th place.