LAS VEGAS – Wearing his traditional pink shirt, Tyson Durfey busted out of the chutes Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in the opening round of ProRodeo’s championship, the National Finals Rodeo.
The Colbert, Wash., cowboy roped and tied his calf in 7.7 seconds and held the tie-down roping lead until Oklahoman Hunter Herrin posted a 7.5 to win the first round. Still, the Missouri-born Durfey finished second and earned the $13,251 paycheck that came along with it.
It also moved him to eighth in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association tie-down roping world standings. In rodeo, points are dollars earned, and the top 15 cowboys and cowgirls on the money list in each event at the end of the regular season. The contestants with the most money won when the NFR concludes are crowned world champions.
Durfey, 24, also inched closer to the standings leader, Coloradoan Josh Peek, who has earned more than $150,000 this season. Peek finished out of the money in the opening round, though.
Durfey wears pink during each performance in which he competes – carrying rodeo’s Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign to the next level – in an effort to raise money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. He has teamed with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure campaign, and in January 2008, he donated a portion of his 2007 earnings to the organization.
Donning attire made available through a commitment from Cinch Jeans, Durfey definitely makes his presence known in and out of the arena at rodeos across the country. Now competing in his second straight NFR, the two-time Canadian tie-down roping champion is putting his cause before millions of viewers on national television as ProRodeo’s grand finale is broadcast across the ESPN networks.
In 2006, Durfey was the first American to win an event championship in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association. This past November, he edged the field of tough competition at the Canadian Finals Rodeo to win his second title. Now he’s hoping that success translates into success at the NFR.
