Last December, in front of 17,820 fans at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas, Ryder, Stetson and Statler Wright finished first, second and third in Round 9 of the National Finals Rodeo.
According to NFR Experience, no set of brothers had swept a saddle bronc round since the Etbauers in 1990, and the oldest Wright brother, Rusty, was not there.
This time, he is the one leading the way. For the first time, all four Wright brothers, Stetson, Rusty, Ryder and Statler, will ride against each other in saddle bronc at the NFR, Sports Illustrated reported. Rusty, 30, sits on top of the world standings with $274,685, about $4,000 ahead of No. 2 Zeke Thurston, and he is still chasing his first world title.
The brother who missed that historic sweep is now the one everyone else has to catch.
Rusty Wright Leads a Saddle Bronc Field Where His Three Brothers Already Own World Titles
Rusty has come close before. Lucchese notes that his best NFR finish was second in 2018, and he won Calgary in 2019. This season he won 14 rodeo titles, including the Kitsap Stampede and Utah’s Own PRCA Rodeo.
Stetson, 27, is a 10-time world champion, with one of those titles in saddle bronc. He enters at No. 3 with $267,837 after winning RodeoHouston early in the season and the Pendleton Round-Up at the end of it. Ryder, 28, is No. 4 with $267,182 and 10 rodeo wins, Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Puyallup Rodeo among them. He won the world title in 2024.
Statler, 23, is the youngest of the four and the reigning world champion. He sits at No. 13 with $159,617 and eight rodeo wins, including The Governor’s Cup. Only the top 15 qualify for the NFR, which means 11 other cowboys will be riding against the Wrights for the same title.
The Wright Brothers Have Dreamed About the Thomas & Mack Since They Were Kids
The road started with their father. Cody Wright is a two-time saddle bronc world champion in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, the family has spent about 250 days a year on the circuit and driven 100,000 miles, and the Wrights hold 18 PRCA world championships.
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“I’ve never wanted to do anything else after watching my dad win two world titles!” Ryder said in a Q&A for Lucchese.
At the previous NFR, only three of the brothers qualified, and they finished No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 in the world in saddle bronc. After the Round 9 sweep, Stetson talked about what reaching the NFR together meant.
“That’s something we’ve dreamed of since we were kids, getting here and dominating,” he said.
He also explained what it is like to be the big brother. “It’s awesome because you big brother him all year and you’re teasing him that he’s a notch down from you,” he said. Then the younger one shows up and starts beating you, he added, and watching those two both win meant everything.
Statler, who said at that NFR that he had only been riding bucking horses for five years, climbed from No. 9 to No. 1 to win the world title and the average. He finished with $455,940 to Ryder’s $455,594, with Stetson third. “Just being at Thomas & Mack with my brothers is a dream come true,” he said.
A whole season came down to $346 between brothers.
In December, Rusty rides into the Thomas & Mack about $4,000 ahead of Zeke Thurston, with Stetson $6,848 behind him, Ryder $7,503 behind him and Statler, the reigning champion, in the same field. Cody Wright won two saddle bronc world titles, and now his oldest son, Rusty, will ride for his first against the three brothers who already have one.
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