Wright brothers aim for historic double at Calgary Stampede's Showdown Sunday rodeo
Saddle bronc rider Ryder Wright and bull rider Stetson Wright could both win championships Sunday—a feat no pair of siblings has ever achieved at the Stampede.
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Two Utah brothers could make Stampede history Sunday if Ryder Wright wins the saddle bronc championship and Stetson Wright takes the bull-riding title—a sibling double that has never happened at the Calgary Stampede.
Ryder, 28, finished the week's qualifying with multiple day-money wins, including a standout 91.5-point ride on "Suspicious Minds" Saturday. He also matched Idaho's Kade Bruno with an 88.5 score Thursday and posted a 90 Friday. "I don't know if I've ever even been here with Stetson," Ryder said, noting that three Wright brothers made it to the saddle bronc finale in 2019, but never in the same rodeo year.
"It'd be a fairy-tale ending to the awesome week it's been here so far if we both win," he added. "It's always been a healthy rivalry, for sure. We push each other to be better, and I think that's why we've had so much success."
Two Wrights have won championships in back-to-back years—Rusty in 2019, Ryder the year before—but never in a single rodeo. The four Wright brothers (Rusty, 30; Ryder, 28; Stetson, 26; and Statler, 23) all compete at high level, fueling what Ryder calls constant motivation.
"We're always just feeding off each other, and it seems like one of us is always doing good. So we always got that to look up to," Ryder said. "And we'll tell somebody when they're doing something wrong and not sugarcoat it to make them feel good. So we always push each other to do our best."
If Ryder wins first in saddle bronc, he'll set the stage for Stetson's marquee bull-riding finale—the Stampede's always-hyped final event.
