Merriman, Neb. cowboy Garrett Shadbolt rides at the Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings. The tenth-ranked bareback rider in the world has qualified to compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the PRCA’s world championship running Dec. 2-11. Photo by Anita Burcham.
A Nebraska cowboy will be among the 119 contestants at this year’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Garrett Shadbolt of Merriman, Neb., has qualified to compete at the PRCA’s world championship in the bareback riding. He’s ranked tenth among the top fifteen cowboys in that event who will compete for a world title Dec. 2-11 at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas.
Shadbolt, a fifth-generation rancher on the family ranch south of Merriman, grew up ranching and riding. But he didn’t begin rodeo till his senior year of high school, and a broken cheekbone and eye socket ended his high school rodeo as soon as it started.
He wrestled in his youth, then took some time off before wrestling his junior and senior years of high school. Doane College in Crete offered him academic and wrestling scholarships, so he wrestled collegiately and spent his summers cutting his teeth in the regional rodeo associations, hitting 35-40 rodeos a summer.
Shadbolt became a PRCA member three years ago, and this year has been the best of his career. The best livestock across the nation is selected for the Wrangler NFR.
Shadbolt enters the Wrangler NFR in tenth place in the world with over $96,000 in winnings. When he’s not rodeoing, he’s at home, helping on the ranch alongside his parents and his sister. He also volunteers at Gordon-Rushville High School with the wrestling team.
The Wrangler NFR runs Dec. 2-11 and will be aired nightly at 7:45 pm CST on The Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV. World champions are crowned in each event after the final performance on Dec. 11.
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