News
NFR competitor has ties to Bottineau
Scott Wagar
12/17/2013
For one grandmother from Bottineau her trip to Las Vegas, Nev. this past week was one of the most enjoyable experiences she has ever had; and, it wasn’t the downtown strip that brought her all the fun, but one special cowboy who competed in the 2013 National Final Rodeo (NFR).
Bottineau resident, Peggy Nelson, was in Vegas to watch her grandson Ty Breuer compete in the NFR’s bareback event.
“It’s a fun time watching him ride at a national event like the NFR,” Nelson said. “It was awesome to think that is my grandson riding like that.”
Breuer is from Mandan, N.D., and a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
In order to compete at the NFR in Las Vegas each year, members of the PRCA have to compete in the season’s rodeo circuit and must rank as one of the top 15 participants in their event to earn a spot to vie for the national title and spot in the world rankings.
Breuer, who ended the rodeo season ranked seventh in the nation in bareback, earned a spot in the national competition. During the season, he competed in close to 100 events and won 17 of those competitions. He gave his best performance at the Denver Stock Show in Cody, Wyo., where he scored 91 points out of 100.
The events at the NFR takes place for 10 days. In the events, the competitors ride each day with the top contender being named a champion who has the best average of all 10 days of the competition.
Each evening in the NFR, the top four winners in each event split $60,000 with the first place winner taking home around $20,000.
In the bareback competition, Breuer received some of the cash reward in the first round when he tied for fourth place with two other participants. For the remainder of the competition, Breuer didn’t win any other cash prizes, but finished the competition in 14th place.
One of the NFR announcers who called the bareback event, stated that Breuer, as a first year competitor at the event, learned a lot in the 10 days he competed, and that with what he showed at the national event he had a bright future at the NFR.
Breuer, who is 23 years old, has been a member of the PRCA for six years and has been riding professionally since he was 18 years old.
Breuer has been a competitor in bareback riding since a young age and was the high school and college bareback champion.
In 2010, the PRCA named Breuer the Pro Rodeo Bareback Rookie of the Year.
Breuer’s mother is Penny (Abrahamson) Breuer, who is a 1993 Bottineau High School graduate, stated that she enjoyed watching her son compete in the NFR.
“It’s been a fun time,” Penny Breuer said. “And, it’s fun to have family here to watch Ty compete.”