Patterson rides high on night one at NFR

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

A few minutes after his opening-round ride at the National Finals Rodeo, saddle bronc rider Weston Patterson was looking for video.

“I literally blacked out and don’t remember my ride until the whistle blew,” said Patterson, a Clarendon College alumnus and first-time NFR qualifier from Waverly, Kansas. “I got off on the pickup man, got down and just heard the crowd. That was pretty cool.”

Yes, it was. It was just as exciting to watch the replay on Snapchat. He matched moves with Cervi Brothers’ Womanizer for 88.5 points to finish as the runner-up on Night 1 of ProRodeo’s grand championship. For that, Patterson pocketed $28,280 and moved from 11th to eighth in the world standings.

“That’s just a really good horse,” Patterson said of the 2020 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year. “That’s really the one you want. I knew it was going to be a good chance to do something if he had his day.”

The powerful paint did, and so did Patterson, a College National Finals Rodeo qualifier while competing at Clarendon College. It was a big move on the first night of his first NFR.

“I wasn’t really nervous tonight,” he said. “I was just excited to get this started.”

There’s a lot of new when it comes to competing on the sport’s biggest stage. This is where every young cowboy dreams of being, which offers a purse of $17.5 million. By the time the 10-day championship comes to a close Dec. 13, the world champions will be crowned.

Patterson has increased his season earnings to $212,715, with nearly $40,000 coming during the opening week in Las Vegas. In addition to the money earned Thursday, each qualifier earns $10,000 for advancing to the championship.

“Probably the coolest thing I’ve gotten to experience is just hearing that crowd when I got off that horse,” said Patterson, who finished the 2021 intercollegiate campaign as the reserve champion and was part of men’s team title at Clarendon.

The last time he was in competition was the Sept. 30, and he won the bronc-riding in Roggen, Colorado. He decided to knock the rust off his riding skills a couple weeks ago.

“It went OK, but I got bucked off two of the three horses I got on,” he said with a laugh. “It didn’t really affect my confidence, though. I just thought, ‘You rode well enough to get there, so just go out there and have fun.’ ”

It’s working so far.