Youth World Champions Are Crowned at 2023 WCJR

Nearly 1,000 youth rodeo athletes rewrote the WCRA Division Youth (WCRA DY) record books this week, with the first WCRA Division Youth full series under the organization’s belt. The Lazy E Arena and the WCRA (World Champions Rodeo Alliance) capped off a dominant event as $407,200 was shelled out at the 2023 WCJR (World Championship Junior Rodeo) in Guthrie, Oklahoma. 

Four athletes rose to the No. 1 position in a highly competitive leaderboard race to earn the coveted all-around title. Kreece Dearing (Chico, Texas) and Amy Ohrt (Victoria, Texas) distanced themselves from the Junior Division competition by more than 8,000 points, respectively. Dearing took home more than $2,600 at the event, while Ohrt cashed in over $2,100 at the event. 

Briar White (Lawton, Oklahoma) ended the rodeo with a near 18,000 points. White walked away with $3,120 in earnings from competing in tie-down and team roping. Alli Autrey (Abilene, Texas) rose to the occasion and held onto her lead throughout the week to take home an All-Around Cowgirl Youth win.  

Bareback riding was a slugfest throughout the entire contest, with three riders notching 80+ scores.  Rhett Robbins(Bookville, Kansas) landed in the Championship Round after an 83.5 ride and an 85-point ride in the qualifier rounds. The Kansas Cowboy went into the semi-final round with more than 7,000 points. He distanced himself from Kashton Ford (Sturgis, South Dakota) by more than 2,000 points. Despite Ford winning the event with an 84.0 score, Robbins took home the world title with an equally impressive 80.0 score. Robbins earned a total of 8,849 points at the event and more than $3,081 in earnings. 

Merrick Moyer (Woodward, Oklahoma) went into the pole bending semi-finals edging Junior All-Around Cowgirl Amy Ohrt by less than 800 points. The Texas Cowgirl found herself in a shootout with Cassidy Evans (Fort Supply, Oklahoma). The two ladies expertly navigated the course as Evans’ 19.704 in the championship round would push her to the top of the event champion leaderboard. Moyer would hold the runner-up position to take home the world championship title with more than 8,000 points and $3,107 in earnings. In a similar battle, youth division pole benders Drew Ellen Stewart (Normangee, Texas) and Arina Dee Haugen (Sturgis, South Dakota) found themselves in a race for a piece of the historic payout. Haugen walked away as the event champion after a 19.813-second time, while Stewarts earned the World Champion Youth Title with a 20.157. Stewart recorded 5,558 points and $2,480 in earnings.   

Savannah Shumpert (Mooreville, Mississippi) dominated junior barrel racing. She edged out the competition by more than 1,200 points while Kailyn Armstrong (Mesa, AZ) ran off with the Youth World Title. 

Sam Shofner (Jasper, Texas) was unstoppable in steer wrestling. The Texan was seeded into the Championship Round after earning the Leaderboard No. 1 position coming into the event.  Sam ran in the qualifying rounds to earn points and came into the championship round leading the event by 400 points. He recorded a 4.82-second run while Jake Shelton (Krum, Texas) took home the event champion after his 4.27-second time. Shofner ended the week with more than $4,130 in earnings. 

Kersten Freeman (Moore Haven, Florida) was last to rope in the breakaway roping, courtesy of her winning time in the semi-final round.  The Texan backed into the box, knowing she needed to win the event to take home the world championship title. Freeman did just that and delivered a powerful performance as she stopped the clock at 2.22 seconds. Freeman’s time was good enough to take her from fourth in the world standings going into the round, to the top spot. 

In the Youth Division, breakaway roper Josey James (Bulverde, Texas) delivered only one of four qualified times in the championship round with a 2.61-second time, good to solidify the Youth World Championship. She was defeated by Remi Wells (Central City, Nebraska) for the event win after Wells ran a 2.47 in the round. 

As the Saturday evening event continued, a hotly contested race in the saddle bronc began to unfurl. After being in the top two in both long rounds, Jasper Frost (Browns Valley, California) entered the championship round leading the competition by just under 1,000 points. Calm and collected, Frost remained poised in the chutes as he readied for a career-defining moment. Reaching the requisite 8.0 for 76.0 points, Frost captured the World Title and the accompanying $2,614 payday. With a 79-point score aboard Mortal Sun, Cooper Lane (Keller, Texas) went home with the event win after edging Jase Stout’s (Decatur, Texas) 78.5-point score. 

Kyan Wilhite (Clovis, New Mexico) was the undeniable star of the tie-down roping after earning the World Championship and Event Champion titles. Courtesy of his leaderboard position, Wilhite was seeded into the semi-final round after having the No. 2 position. With earning more than $3,789 throughout the week in winnings, Wilhite locked in the dual-win after topping the competition in the championship round after a 6.71-second time. 

After the fastest times of the week in the qualifying rounds and the semi-finals rounds, youth athlete Briar White-backed into the box in the Championship with the tie-down world champion title already concrete after being more than 7,000 points ahead of Weston Smith (Hutchinson, Kansas). After earning the third-place spot in the championship round, the Oklahoman tie-down roper earned the number one spot on the leaderboard. 

Alli Autrey (Abilene, Texas) went into the arena less than 200 points behind Sadie Patterson, who was on top of the goat-tying world champion leaderboard. Not only did Autrey record the fasted time of the round with a 6.25 to take the event championship, Autrey left The Lazy E with more than $1,630 in earnings.

Mylee Modlin (Blanchard, Oklahoma) secured the Goat Tying Junior World Championship after earning a qualified time in the championship round. Modlin entered the event in the No. 2 spot in world points behind Amy Ohrt. Ohrt did not qualify for the Championship Round, so Modlin took the opportunity to make a run at the world title. Despite earning the 7^th place spot, she earned enough points in the round to top the world champion leaderboard. Rylee Grace Abel ran the fastest time of the evening with a 6.59-second time. 

Credit: WCRA Rodeo