With the exception of last season, when he sat out with injuries, Stetson Wright has been a runaway winner of the all-around cowboy competition that culminates at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

But when the Utah cowboy saddles up for Round 1 of this year’s pro rodeo Super Bowl, at the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night, he’ll finally have a fight on his hands.

Wright was stomped by a bronc in Washington state in September, forcing him to miss several weeks with broken ribs and a punctured lung. His once comfortable margin over 20-year-old Wacey Schalla of Oklahoma in the race for the coveted gold buckle has been reduced to $32,685.

As street hockey rivals Wayne and Garth said in the movies, “Game On!”

Wright said he is looking forward to engaging Schalla in a competition that,

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