Parker Fleet picks up first major win at National Western since return from injury

Parker Fleet spent the 2025 season figuring out a way to make ends meet.

The 25-year-old Axtell, Texas, saddle bronc rider had hip surgery following the 2024 season, in which he earned $63,023. His recovery kept him out all 2025, forcing him to resort to building bridges and day work to collect paychecks.

Healthy to start the new year, Fleet padded his pockets with $8,316 Sunday, Jan. 25, in Denver, matching Cervi Championship Rodeo’s R. Watson’s Prairie Fire for 89.5 points to secure the first PRORODEO Playoff Series Rodeo championship of his career.

“I had to find a way to stay afloat,” Fleet said of his construction work in 2025. “I’ve made the short round one other time here and it didn’t really go my way. It’s a great rodeo and I’m happy to be here. It felt great.”

Fleet was matched in the Finals Jan. 25 with some of the top saddle bronc riders in PRORODEO.

Ten-time PRCA World Champion Stetson Wright headlined the group. His 89-point ride on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Vitalix Womanizer nearly blew the roof off the Denver Coliseum. It was the highest marked ride of the short round up to that point. But three riders later Fleet beat it by a half point.

Still, the lead wasn’t secure. Four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Kade Bruno and three-time PRCA World Champion Ryder Wright were the final two cowboys to ride in the short round.

Both had 88-point rides. Fleet was announced as the champion.

“Everybody rides great here, especially if you’re making the short round,” Fleet said. “You can throw a rock and hit somebody who rides great. But you can’t think about it too much. You just have to do your job and focus.”

The win does more for Fleet than give momentum heading into the Texas swing and winter run. It showed that he belonged.

He hopes his showing will give him the opportunity to compete at some of the biggest rodeos in the PRCA. A year ago, he could only dream of that opportunity while he built bridges.

“It’s going to get me into some stuff,” Fleet said. “I’m going to keep going now. It’ll be fun.”

Team ropers Tanner Tomlinson/Coleby Payne tie arena record

Fresh off the 2025 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Tanner Tomlinson and Coleby Payne were eager to begin their 2026 seasons with a bang in Denver.

The two teamed up for the National Western, made a run to the Finals and put on a show, tying the arena record with a 3.6-second run to win the title.

“It’s a very long season so any time you can get started like this, it seems to make things a lot easier and save us in the summer from going to rodeos we don’t have to go to and killing ourselves,” Payne said. “Everything in the winter is gravy, I think. Get as much as you can before June.”

The pair finished 10th and 11th respectively in Las Vegas. Tomlinson won Round 6 with his NFR partner, Travis Graves.

Payne knew Tomlinson would set him up for a win in Denver if the two became a pair. Chemistry wasn’t an issue, either, as the two have been friends for years. In their minds, talented ropers benefit more from friendship.

That showed in the Finals.

“I think team roping isn’t all about the talent, it’s about the friendship and chemistry,” Tomlinson said. “We’ve roped together forever and we’ve been best friends for years now. We’ve been waiting for this opportunity, and we’re blessed to be here.”

Other winners from the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo were bareback rider Cooper Filipek (85.5 points on The Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s R. Watson’s Mamo); steer wrestler Mike McGinn (3.6 seconds); tie-down roper Dylan Hancock (7.1 seconds); barrel racer Heidi Gunderson (14.91 seconds); and bull rider Stetson Wright (90 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Vitalix Ringling Road).
-PRCA