Eastern Oregon steer wrestlers top the card for the NFR
By Terry Murry on Friday, December 8th, 2023 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LAS VEGAS – Two cowboys from Eastern Oregon are sitting pretty in steer wrestling for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo which begins this evening (Friday) in Las Vegas. Dalton Massey of Hermiston is ranked number one as he makes his first NFR appearance. Ranked second is Jesse Brown of Baker City, appearing for the fourth time.
Local rodeo fans were lucky if they were on hand for the Farm-City Pro Rodeo this summer in Hermiston. Massey and Brown tied for the win bringing each of their steers down in 3.3 seconds.
While this is Massey’s first appearance at the NFR, he’s led the world standings since March with a win at RodeoHouston. His time there was 4.5 seconds. He has won $193,430 this season.
Massey, who has been a PRCA card holder for 10 years, credits his wife’s encouragement and hard work in the gym with his breakout season in an interview with the Cowboy Channel.
This year Jesse Brown earned $160,613 for the regular season. He almost didn’t make it, though. A knee injury at the Pendleton Round-Up almost forced an early-ending season.
His highest earning of the year came after that though. On the last day of the regular season he took the Cinch Playoff Series Championship with a 3.4 second run and shook up the steer wrestling standings.
Brown has only been a PRCA member since 2016. He won the 2017 Resistol Steer Wrestling Rookie of the Year title. He then qualified for the world standings in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
At the NFR, Massey’s back number is 13 and Brown’s is 21. Find out more about the National Finals Rodeo at https://www.prorodeo.com/nfr.
EMG’s Joe Hathaway contributed to this story
