2024 Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping
LAS VEGAS (December 3, 2024) – With some of the greatest tie-down ropers in ProRodeo history packed inside the South Point Equestrian Center, the ladies of the WPRA were busy putting on a show during the opening day of the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
Story written by Ted Harbin, Courtesy WPRA
WPRA photos by Clay Guardipee
When the dust settled, six combatants are in position to leave Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon with rodeo gold, and it all came to a head while calf-roping legends Joe Beaver, Fred Whitfield and Cody Ohl looked on from the red seats. That trio of super stars accounts for 22 world championships, and they watched as the top 15 breakaway ropers set the stage for a championship shootout in the Nevada desert.
“This is really fun,” said Josie Conner, who entered the two days of competition second in the world standings but shot past season leader Shelby Boisjoli-Meged with a powerful display Tuesday, placing in three of five rounds and earning $13,679 in the process. “There is a bunch of talented girls, and it’s cool to be able to compete with them.”
Conner pushed her season earnings to $152,778 but owns just a $91 advantage over reigning world champion Boisjoli-Meged. Here’s the kicker: Kelsie Domer is sixth in the world standings, but she’s just $11,511 behind Conner. That difference could be made up in two go- rounds as the ladies close out the 2024 campaign.
“I had a pretty good day placing in three out of the five rounds, and I think by the time it comes down to the 10th round, if I keep catching them, I’ll be in a good spot in the average,” said Conner, who was saddled with a no-time in the third go-round. “I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Josie Conner moved into the No. 1 position in the world standings after the first day of competition at the 2024 Wrangler NFBR with $152,778 in world standings earnings. WPRA photos by Clay Guardipee
She should be. Seven women caught all five of their calves, so Conner remains in position to catch some money in the aggregate race. Macy Young of Wittman, Arizona, leads the average with a five-run cumulative time of 10.7 seconds; Domer sits second at 12.4.
Newcomer Rylee George of Oakdale, California, is doing everything she can to win the Betty Gayle Cooper Fast Time award. As the second roper Tuesday afternoon, George stopped the clock in 1.8 seconds. Four rounds later, she upped the ante, finishing off her day with a 1.7- second run. She was then matched by Danielle Lowman of Gilbert, Arizona, so the tandem head into the final five rounds as the frontrunner for the honor.
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame has partnered with the WPRA in presenting the Betty Gayle Cooper Fast Time award, which honors the late 1987 Cowgirl Honoree and a nine-time world champion that included being crowned the 1989 breakaway champion. Cooper worked as a rodeo director of the WPRA to strengthen the sport, and she coached the men’s and women’s teams for Southeastern Oklahoma State University to win two national titles. For the first two years, the award was given to the fast time in the first round of the NFBR. It’s been given to the fastest time of all 10 rounds since 2022. The 2024 winner will receive a set of earrings and a matching scarf slide designed and made by Ryan Liggett of Loreena Rose Jewelry as well as a $1,000 cash award.
“I told Joe B (Beaver) yesterday that I was going to go for all the rounds and have a lot of fun,” said George, who won the first round, shared the fifth-round win with Lowman and shared second place in Round 4, earning $17,419 on the opening day. “He said, ‘If you’re winning a lot of rounds, it’s a lot of fun.’
“I’m having a good time out here.”
Part of the fun is riding good horses, something George doesn’t take for granted. She has confidence in her mounts, including Deputy, a horse that ProRodeo legend Trevor Brazile rode for many years.
“He loves Vegas,” she said of Deputy. “He has all the confidence in the world here, and he gives me that (confidence) also. I knew my last calf fought the chute pretty bad, and he just stands there like a rock in the box, so I decided to get on him.”
Lowman had her struggles at times during Tuesday’s performance, but she came out with a bang to close out here day.
“After not doing so good in the first rounds, I thought there was no backing off the wall just because I’m out of the average,” said Lowman, who had posted a 2.1-second run in the fourth round. “That’s what I told Rylee: ‘I’m coming for you; either I’m going to tie you or I’m going to beat you,’ and she goes, ‘OK, you can tie me.’
“It worked out.”
It was a fast-paced ending and the perfect setting for the final day of the season. Watch all the action live on the Cowboy Channel.
First round: 1. Rylee George, 1.8 seconds, $6,197; 2. Taylor Munsell, 1.9, $5,128; 3. (tie) Josie Conner and Martha Angelone, 2.1, $3,526 each; 5. Maddy Deerman, 2.2, $1,923; 6. (tie) Kelsie Domer and Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 2.4, $534 each.
Second round: 1. Macy Young, 1.9, $6,197; 2. Josie Conner, 2.0, $5,128; 3. Jackie Crawford, 2.1, $4,060; 4. Rickie Fanning, 2.2, $2,991; 5. (tie) Martha Angelone and TiAda Gray, 2.6, $1,496 each.
Third round: 1. Kelsie Domer, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. Hali Williams, 2.0, $5,128; 3. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, Martha Angelone and Macy Young, 2.1, $2,991 each; 6. Maddy Deerman, 2.3, $1,068.
Fourth round: 1. Hali Williams, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. (tie) Jackie Crawford, Taylor Munsell and Rylee George, 2.0, $4,060 each; 6. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, Martha Angelone and Danielle Lowman, 2.1, $997 each.
Fifth round: 1. (tie) Rylee George and Danielle Lowman, 1.7 seconds, $5,662 each; 3. (tie) Josie Conner and Hali Williams, 1.8, $3,525 each; 5. (tie) Kendal Pierson and Macy, 2.0, $1,496 each.
Domer Wins ProRodeo Breakaway Roping World Title, Her 10th Gold Buckle
LAS VEGAS (December 4. 2024) – Truthfully, Kelsie Domer never considered this moment as a young girl raised in a roping family in northwestern Oklahoma, but she’s living a dream after a dominating performance at the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka over two December days at the South Point Equestrian Center in the City of Entertainment.
In the year that her main mount, Little Man, was named the 2024 WPRA Horse with the Most Heart, Domer made headlines herself with her 10th world championship with four of those being in breakaway roping but this was her first in the ProRodeo Breakaway Roping era. She won the average title, worth $16,914, and cleared nearly $36,000 at the South Point to win the world championship and gather the most coveted piece of hardware in the game, the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle.
“This one means the most because it was won in ProRodeo,” said Domer of Dublin, Texas. “It was all year long. I worked hard for the other ones, too, but this one’s just different.”
Kelsie Domer 2024 ProRodeo Breakaway Roping World Champion. WPRA photo by Clay Guardipee
She won the first of her WPRA titles a dozen seasons ago, when she claimed both the tie- down roping and all-around crowns. She finished the campaign with $6,847; and most of the other world championships she’s earned offered similar financial rewards. Things have changed, thanks to the insurgence of breakaway roping in ProRodeo. Domer finished the year with $168,758, outlasting a late surge by 2022 world titlist Martha Angelone by just $3,253.
“I knew I had to win as much money as I could, and I needed to hold my average spot,” said Angelone of Stephenville, Texas. “I probably should’ve just tried to win something on the one calf I missed today (in the ninth round), and I shouldn’t have gotten a leg yesterday, but it all works out. I’m so happy for Kelsie for winning the world and the average. She deserves it.”
Domer’s been around the game for several years and has been one of the elite cowgirls in the WPRA since her rookie campaign in 2011. She won her first three breakaway world titles from 2017-19, and the first National Finals Breakaway Roping took place in 2020.
She was more than solid on her first nine runs over the two-day championship. The lone hiccup came on her final calf of the 2024 campaign, when the loop didn’t find its mark. By finishing with a nine-run cumulative time of 22.0 seconds, she was better than eight seconds faster than the No. 2 cowgirl in the aggregate, Macy Young of Wittman, Arizona.
The miss, though, opened the door for Angelone and Josie Conner of Iowa, Louisiana, to leap through. Domer’s saving grace was her consistency and the big bonus that came with winning the aggregate race. Still, she was holding her breath after watching her rope hit the ground.
“Haven (Meged) actually came up to me and said, ‘Congrats, world champ,’ ” she said of the 2019 world champion tie-down roper and husband of Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, the 2023 breakaway titlist. “I just kind of looked and said, ‘Really?’ He was like, ‘I know for a fact.’ I wanted to accept it, but I wanted to see my name up there first and have them announce it.”
With her husband, Ryan, and daughter, Oaklynn, standing nearby, the emotions showed, A year’s worth of work – a lifetime of work – had come to fruition.
“I think (family) has affected it for the better,” Domer said. “It’s awesome that my family allows me to get to do this. I get to go with Oaklynn to every one of them if she wants to go, and that makes it that much more special. It’s not just about me anymore. It’s about supporting my family and hopefully showing my little girl that her mom worked her ass off for this.”
While the veteran took in the kudos, NFBR newcomer Rylee George of Oakdale, California, carried her own distinction away from the South Point. She posted two 1.7-second runs (tying Danielle Lowman of Gilbert, Arizona) to win the Betty Gayle Cooper Ratliff Fast Time award presented by the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
“It means the world to me,” said George, who received a set of earnings and matching scarf slide designed and made by Ryan Liggett of Loreena Rose Jewelry as well as a $1,000 cash award. “Being able to be that fast here is another accomplishment, and it’s just a dream come true this week.”
George is 10 years younger than Domer, but they have a lot in common. They chose to compete for a living, and they’re doing pretty well at it. They were part of a world-class competition that lived up to its billing, and it’s only an extension of a dream many ladies have had for the WPRA since its inception decades ago.
“Growing up, this really wasn’t a dream, because it wasn’t a reality for us,” Domer said. “I was naïve. I didn’t really know much about the WPRA. I junior high rodeoed, high school rodeoed, did all that, and college is really when I learned about it. That’s when dreams changed.
“It’s cool to see how much it has changed over the years, and it’s going to be cool to see that if my little girl wants to do it, she can dream of it starting today.”
The following are results from the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping, Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
Sixth round: 1. Martha Angelone, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. Jordan Joe Hollabaugh, 2.1, $5,128; 3. Rickie Fanning, 2.4, $4,060; 4. Kelsie Domer, 2.7, $2,991; 5. Hali Williams, 3.2, $1,923; 6. Rylee George, 3.5, $1,068.
Seventh round: 1. Danielle Lowman, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. Jackie Crawford, 2.2, $5,128; 3. (tie) Kelsie Domer and Martha Angelone, 2.3, $3,526 each; 5. TiAda Gray, 2.5, $1,923; 6. Macy Young, 2.9, $1,068.
Eighth round: 1. Rylee George, 1.7 seconds, $6,197; 2. (tie) Josie Conner and Hali Williams, 1.8, $4,594 each; 4. Kelsie Domer, 1.9, $2,991; 5. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, Jackie Crawford and Kendal Pierson, 2.0, $977 each.
Ninth round: 1. Hali Williams, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. (tie) Macy Young and Kendal Pierson, 2.1, $4,590 each; 4. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged and Josie Conner, 2.3, $2,457 each; 6. Kelsie Domer, 2.7, $1,068.
Tenth round: 1. Martha Angelone, 1.8 seconds, $6,197; 2. Hali Williams, 1.9, $5,128; 3. (tie) Kendal Pierson, Jackie Crawford and Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 2.0, $2,991 each; 6. Josie Conner, 2.1, $1,068.
Average: 1. Kelsie Domer, 22.0 seconds on nine runs, $16,914; 2. Macy Young, 30.1, $13,722; 3. Jordan Jo Hollabaugh, 42.8, $10,850; 4. Martha Angelone, 17.2 seconds on eight runs, $7,978; 5. TiAda Gray, 20.5, $5,744; 6. Josie Conner, 26.4, $4,149; 7. Jackie Crawford, 27.4, $2,872; 8. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 28.0, $1,596.
World Standings: 1. Kelsie Domer, $168,758; 2. Martha Angelone, $165,505; 3. Josie Conner, $165,046; 4. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, $160,729; 5. Jackie Crawford, $157,107; 6. Taylor Munsell, $143,686; 7. Macy Young, $121,099; 8. Hali Williams, $118,983; 9. Maddy Deerman, $117,389; 10. Daniell Lowman, $112,355; 11. Rylee George, $106,641; 12. Rickie Fanning, $105,559; 13. Kendal Pierson, $99,137; 14. Jordan Jo Hollabaugh, $95,235; 15. TiAda Gray, $93,110.
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