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A new year brings new opportunities.

For Sage Newman, it’s about the path back to the National Finals Rodeo. He dreams of one day bringing home a world title. The Montana native kicked off 2023 on the right foot, claiming an average title at the New Year’s Eve Buck & Ball in Gillette, Wyo.

Newman started his party with an 87-point ride on Korkow Rodeos’ Onion Ring. The 2021 “Pendleton Whisky’s Let ‘er Buck Bucking Stock of the Year” award winner was a matchup Newman has been itching for.

“I’ve never drawn that horse before so I was pretty excited to see her name next to mine. I’ve been waiting a long time to get on that horse,” the 24-year old said. “Yeah, she had a good night and we matched up pretty good.”

Newman brought home the win with a 90.5-point trip on Powder River Rodeo’s Miss Valley in the finals. He finished with 177.5 points on two head, claiming the $2,394 winning check. The cowboy echoed excitement for his stop in Gillette, speaking highly of the unique opportunity.

“It’s a good time in rodeo. Everybody comes here to have a good time, ring in the new year, and have no worries doing it,” Newman said. “We’re just having fun riding some great horses.”

The saddle bronc rider emerged victorious from a strong field that included recent 2022 NFR qualifiers. Newman never takes winning for granted, knowing his event is loaded with talent.

“It’s awesome to compete against those guys. There’s a lot of great saddle bronc riders right now. In the top 30, any guy could jump out and win a rodeo on the right horse,” said the two-time NFR qualifier. “To be able to come out on top, it’s a pretty good feeling. I’m honored to be riding with them.”

After finishing fifth in the 2022 RAM | World Standings, Newman feels more motivated than ever for a gold buckle. He craves a chance at redemption in Las Vegas.

“It definitely made me hungry and coming back from that, it lit a fire in me for sure,” said Newman, who entered the 2022 NFR as the season leader. “I wasn’t super happy with how I ended up down there but I’m grateful to be down there… I’m ready to go back this year and redeem myself, that’s for sure.”

Newman doesn’t have plans on making big changes in 2023. Well, except for one thing.

“We’re not stashin’ and bashin’ anymore so now I guess we’re just straight bashin’,” he said.

Other winners at the New Year’s Eve Buck & Ball were bareback rider Dean Thompson (174.5 points on two head) and bull rider Blaine Beaty (82.5 points on one head).

Courtesy of PRCA

MINNEAPOLIS – The Unleash The Beast can sometimes be an intimidating place for newcomers. Riders who have spent their whole childhoods looking up to their heroes are then sitting next to those same idols competing for thousands of dollars on a weekly basis.

The 2023 season is a tad bit different, though, as many of this year’s potential Rookie of the Year contenders will already have spent three months competing at the PBR’s highest level of competition via the PBR Team Series.

However, even Daniel Keeping says there were still some butterflies knowing he is embarking upon his first full-time season on the Unleash The Beast despite becoming one of the diamonds in the rough to blossom during PBR Teams.

“I mean, it is still a little nerve racking, and you still have a lot of people cheering you on here and at home,” Keeping admitted Friday night in Minneapolis. “It isn’t like, ‘Oh my God!’ It is just doing my job correctly and doing it right. Showing everyone that all the work I am doing at home is paying off finally.”

Keeping has shown early on this UTB season that his Teams success with the Texas Rattlers (11-for-16) was no fluke or setup via easy matchups. The 23-year-old is tied with world leader Cooper Davis for the most round wins in the PBR (2) and has begun the UTB season 5-for-7.

On Friday night at the Target Center, Keeping got off to a good start at the Minneapolis Invitational with an 87.25-point ride on Pearl Jam to tie with Derek Kolbaba (87.25 points on Mike’s Effect) for second place in Round 1. Wingson Henrique da Silva, another PBR Team Series breakthrough rider as a member of the Carolina Cowboys, took the round win via 89 points aboard Blown Away.

Keeping has drawn MagicBru (11-1, UTB) for Round 2 on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET CBS Sports Network).

“Just taking it one by one and eventually I will get them all,” Keeping said. “I’m ready for the second round and see what they got for me.”

Keeping understands how he is quickly becoming a household name because of his time with the Rattlers, but he also says he doesn’t worry about what people’s expectations may be for him now. Instead, it is about the belief he has in himself that is more important.

“Everybody is going to have expectations of other people,” Keeping said. “That is human nature. Personally, me, I have no expectations for me. It is only belief. The belief I have in myself is riding one bull at a time and doing your job. That is all I am worried about.

“That is how you get paid and move up. If you don’t, you are just sitting and waiting for the last one.”

Keeping credits his inner circle for also feeding that belief.

Rattlers head coach Cody Lambert called him on Friday morning to “get my engine running.” Keeping also has the support of three-time PBR World Finals qualifier Pistol Robinson, stock contractor Danny Mason, his girlfriend Shelby Baker, and a slew of others in his corner keeping him focused and not overthinking his goals.

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media

Courtesy of PBR

LAS VEGAS – Athletes understand they can’t attack each opponent the same way.

If a pitcher knows a batter is a fast-ball hitter, the pitcher will throw more off-speed and try to hit a target directionally. The same can be said in rodeo. For bareback rider Tanner Aus, he tries to make his spur ride the same on ever horse, but he understands that there are differences he needs to make depending on the horse.

Such was the case in Wednesday, when Aus rode Bridwell Pro Rodeo’s Meat Sweats for 81.5 points to finish sixth in the seventh go-round of the National Finals Rodeo. It was a much different ride than the 88-point marking he had Tuesday on J Bar J Rodeo’s Straight Stick.

“It could have went a little better, but the last time I got on that horse was the first round of 2019, and I took myself out of the average last night,” Aus said of how he played it a little closer to the vest and didn’t expose himself to as much danger. “I had a little bit of a vendetta for that horse, and it went better than it did last time … not by a lot, but still by a lot.”

It was more than that: He was 81.5 points better than three seasons ago. While it was the bottom payout of the placing scale at the NFR, it was still worth $4,664, which pushed his Las Vegas earnings to nearly $58,000. He has collected $184,700 this season and is sixth in the world standings with three nights remaining.

It’s all about taking a fundamental approach to his game.

“The good rides that I made all go back to the stuff I learned with I was 13, 14 years old,” said Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota. “From my dad and going to Wayne Herman’s school a couple of times at the Anchor K with the Korkows’, it’s just the fundamentals. It is what carries me through.

“If that’s the key to success here, I don’t know, but I sure feel like I ride a lot better when I focus on those things. It’s just one rodeo every night for 10 days. If I can get in the money amidst this crowd of competition, which is as tough as it’s ever been, then that’s great.”

Wednesday’s round served as a warmup for Round 8, which will feature the eliminator pen of bareback horses. Aus admitted there is a different feeling when the cowboys know they’re about to strap themselves to the hardest-to-ride broncs in rodeo.

“I still get a little nervous; it gives you butterflies,” he said. There are some (horses) in there that darn sure strike fear in the hearts of man. They are the best of the best when it comes to bucking horses and what a bucking horse.

“You think if you can ride a semi-eliminator that with a little more try, you can ride an eliminator, too. It is a part of rodeo. It is a fun night to get through, a fun night to have over with.”

One thing Tanner Aus knows is that he’ll make the most of every opportunity he has to earn Las Vegas dollars while he’s here.

Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com

LAS VEGAS – He’s a bit soft-spoken, but Cole Franks has no problem hiding the joy he is experiencing during his second trip to the National Finals Rodeo.

He’s a bareback rider, and he makes a living riding bucking horses. This is the best chance he has to really cash in on his season, so he’s making the most of every opportunity. On Wednesday night, he rode Powder River Rodeo’s All Eyes on A & K for 84.5 points to finish fifth in the seventh round.

It marked the sixth time in seven nights that he’s earned a paycheck in the Nevada desert.

“It’s always fun,” said Franks, 21, of Clarendon, Texas. “If it wasn’t fun, I don’t think I’d be able to do it. I like having fun. I like challenges. It has been challenging, for sure, but it has been a blast being here. I love it.”

The NFR is 10 rounds of the best rodeo has to offer. Only the top 15 contestants in each event qualify, and the bareback riders select the top 100 horses to be part of the sport’s richest rodeo. All Eyes on A & K fits into that category.

RELATED: Franks Keeps Adding WNFR Cash

“That’s just a really nice horse and has been nice all year,” Franks said. “I was pretty excited to have her.”

He should have been. By finishing fifth, he added $7,462 to his bankroll and pushed his NFR earnings to $63,319. He is eighth in the world with nearly $180,000 collected this season. He’s also in line to add more to his pocketbook. Franks is tied for third in the average race with 592 points on seven rides. If he stays in that position when Saturday’s final round ends, he will add more than $41,000.

All this happened after he got off to a rocky start. Bareback riders use a rigging that is supposed to be strapped tightly to the bronc’s chest. They wear specially made gloves that have binds in them, then put their hands into the handhold of the rigging to lock themselves onto the horse. If the equipment is set up right, then the rest is muscle memory.

“I didn’t really pull my rigging very good,” Franks said, indicating that it was a bit looser on his horse than it should have been. “We started pulling (the cinches) a little early. (Arena director) Tom (Neuens) started us a little early, and I didn’t think about finishing it off.

“I chased my rigging most of the time.”

It served as a lesson learned for the young bronc buster. He’s gained a lot of those over his first two years in ProRodeo. He’s earned a lot of money in a short time, but much of that came toward the bottom end of the round payouts. He’d love to win a round and earn almost $29,000, but he’ll wait it out and see what the future holds over the next three nights.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” he said. “Everything is moving up, and that’s the only way it’s going to hopefully go.”

Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com