Central Oregon cowboys Russell Cardoza, Charly Crawford qualify for National Finals Rodeo

Published 11:00 pm Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Two cowboys from Central Oregon — Russell Cardoza and Charly Crawford — are bound for the 2017 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Cardoza, 30 and of Terrebonne, is sixth in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association team-roping heelers standings with $99,773.64.

Crawford, 39 and of Prineville, is 15th in the team-roping headers standings with earnings of $74,145.82. The top 15 money winners in each event qualify for the NFR, which this year features a total prize purse of more than $10 million.

The NFR, staged at the Thomas & Mack Center, includes 10 rounds of world championship competition in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing (for cowgirls) and bull riding, and an all-around cowboy also will be crowned.

Cardoza’s ticket to Las Vegas is as good as punched. But because Crawford is in the final qualifying spot, he is not officially in the field until auditors confirm the final placings, according to the PRCA.

“It looks like he should be in, but we can’t confirm anything yet,” Tracy Renck, media coordinator for the PRCA, told The Bulletin on Monday. “But he should be fine.”

Renck added that the standings should become official by the end of the week.

This marks the sixth NFR qualification for Cardoza and the ninth for Crawford, who last appeared in the NFR in 2014.

Cardoza, a central California native, last season finished sixth in the overall team-roping standings with $193,441 in season earnings after the NFR. He also placed fifth in the all-around standings, with $204,720.

NFR at a glance

What: National Finals Rodeo

Where: Thomas & Mack 
Center, Las Vegas

When: Dec. 7-16

Format: Ten rounds, total prize purse of more than $10 million