 |
Dan Mortensen | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 16, 1968 |
Daniel Earl Mortensen (born December 16, 1968) is an American six-time World Champion saddle bronc rider, and a one-time World Champion all-around cowboy. [1] He competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) where he won those championships at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted him in 2009.
Mortensen was born in Billings, Montana, to Sheryl and Don "Mort" Mortensen. He is the youngest of four, having three sisters, Dawn, Denise and Darcy. His father, Mort, was an electrician and his mother, Sheryl, has worked as a teaching assistant at the Lockwood Schools for over twenty-five years.
Mortensen developed a passion for rodeo at and early age and won his first team roping competition at the age of 6. By the age of 12 he had progressed through steer (age 10) up to riding bulls at the local youth rodeos. [2] He lives in Billings, MT
Mortensen attended Lockwood primary, elementary and junior high schools (k-9) from 1974 through 1984, and Billings Senior High (10-12) from 1985 through 1987. While attending Billings Senior High, Mortensen was an active member of the Future Farmers of America and competed in the Montana high school rodeo circuit.
During his Sophomore and Junior years at BSHS, Mortensen won the Montana High School Bull Riding Championship. Before graduating in 1987 he went on to win the Montana High School Saddle Bronc Championship and placed 2nd in the bull riding competition.
After graduation Mortensen accepted a scholarship to attend Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. He spent two years on the Trapper rodeo team where he finished 2nd in the saddle bronc category to fellow future rodeo legend Ty Murray in both the College National Finals Rodeo and the Final National Standings for 1989. Mortensen then accepted a scholarship to Montana State University - Bozeman in Bozeman, Montana.
Mortensen joined the PRCA in 1990. Placing 15th in the standings Mortensen was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award.
Mortensen followed up his rookie year in the PRCA by winning the National Intercollegiate Saddle Bronc Championship.
In 1992 Mortensen graduated from MSU-Bozeman with honors, earning a degree in Agri-business and Economics. The university later awarded Mortensen with its most prestigious award, The Blue and Gold Award, for his great lifetime service bringing international distinction to Montana State University - Bozeman.
Three years after joining the PRCA, Mortensen competed at the NFR and won the first of his six World Saddle Bronc Championships. He went on to win the saddle bronc titles in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2003. His six titles ties him for most all time with the legendary cowboy Casey Tibbs. [3] [4]
At the 1997 NFR, Mortensen was also the World's Top Cowboy by winning the World All-Around Cowboy Champion title. [4]
During his 1998 NFR run for the saddle bronc championship, Mortensen became the first rider in PRCA history to win over $200,000 in a single event. The following year Sports Illustrated named Mortensen one of Montana's top ten athletes of the century. [5]
Mortensen claimed another first in rodeo history at the 2003 Pendleton Round-Up rodeo in Pendleton, Oregon, by becoming the first rough stock rider to exceed $2 million in career earnings. [6]
Rodeo was included as a cultural event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mortensen participated on the U.S. team in competition against the Canadian team. Mortensen took home the bronze medal for the competition.
The Montana Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame honored Mortensen in October 2002 with the unveiling of an 18' statue of Dan riding the bronc Tee Box, as the center piece of their Wall of Fame monument at the Metra Park in Billings, Montana. The sculpture was the last work of western artist and fellow Montanan, R.F. Rains. [1]
Montana State University - Bozeman inducted Mortensen into its Athletics Hall of Fame on September 17, 2004, at a ceremony in Bozeman. [7]
At a ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on July 9, 2009, Mortensen was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. [8] [6]
Mortensen officially retired from rodeo November 2008 at the age of 39. [9] [10]
Dan is now coaching the Northwest College Rodeo Team in Powell, Wyoming, where he attended college for his first two years of schooling.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The PRCA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, present and future." It is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and only inducts Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women's Professional Rodeo Association members. It is the "only museum in the world devoted exclusively to the sport of professional rodeo."
Ty Monroe Murray, is an American nine-time World Champion professional rodeo cowboy. He was one of the top rodeo contestants in the world from the late 1980s to early 2000s. He is one of the co-founders and a board adviser of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). From 2005 to 2020, he was also a regular color commentator for several televised PBR events.
Richard Neale "Tuff" Hedeman is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship three times, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world championship. He also won the 1993 world championship for the now-defunct Bull Riders Only (BRO) organization. He is also one of the co-founders of the PBR and is known for having been one of rodeo icons Lane Frost's closest friends. Hedeman and the infamous bucking bull Bodacious had a few historic clashes. He later served as the President of the PBR and then the President and Ambassador of Championship Bull Riding (CBR). In 2018, he formed his own bull riding organization: the Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour (THBRT).
Lewis Feild was an American professional rodeo cowboy. He specialized in bareback bronc riding and saddle bronc riding and competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. He was the World All-Around Cowboy Champion from 1985 to 1987 at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He was also the World Bareback Riding Champion from 1985 to 1986. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame inducted him in 1992 in the all-around category.
Billy Etbauer is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in saddle bronc riding. He competed on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit along with his two brothers, Robert and Dan. He won the PRCA saddle bronc riding world championship five times.
The NFR Open is an annual championship rodeo event of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) held annually in the United States. The event was previously known as the National Circuit Finals Rodeo (NCFR) from 1987 through 2021, before being renamed as the NFR Open in 2022. Qualification for the event comes via winning the season title or winning the average title at the regional circuit finals rodeos in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping or bull riding. To qualify, a competitor must compete in one of the 12 PRCA U.S. regional circuits; Montana, Mountain States, Wilderness, Columbia River, California, Turquoise, Texas, Prairie, Badlands, Great Lakes, Southeast, and First Frontier.
Monty Henson, sometimes known as Hawkeye Henson, is a three-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world champion saddle bronc rider.
Trevor Brazile is a semi-retired American rodeo champion who competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2022. He holds the record for the most PRCA world championship titles with 26. He won his 26th title in 2020. He also holds the record for the most all-around cowboy world champion titles at 14, breaking the record of 7 titles held by Ty Murray; Murray's last earned was in 1998.
Cole Elshere is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in saddle bronc riding. He qualified for the 2012, 2013, ,2014 and 2020 National Finals Rodeo.
Zeke Thurston is a Canadian professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in saddle bronc riding. He is a four-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Champion saddle bronc rider, as well as a four-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) champion saddle bronc rider.
Kaycee Feild is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bareback bronc riding and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He is a son of PRCA World Champion all-around cowboy Lewis Feild. He has won six bareback riding world championships, the most of any PRCA bareback riders. He won them from 2011 to 2014, and again from 2020 to 2021. He is the first cowboy to win three consecutive bareback riding average titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR).
Steven Peebles is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bareback bronc riding. He qualified for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)’s National Finals Rodeo (NFR) seven times and won the world championship in 2015, after recovering from a near-fatal injury incurred after being bucked from a horse. He has won many of the elite rodeos, including the Calgary Stampede, the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, the Reno Rodeo, the Cody Stampede, and the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
Phil Lyne is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA)/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). Lyne was the RCA Rookie of the Year in 1969. Two seasons later at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), in 1971, he won the all-around cowboy world championship and the tie-down roping world championship. At the NFR in 1972, he repeated as the all-around world champion cowboy and added a second tie-down roping world championship. Lyne won his first and only steer roping world championship at the National Finals Steer Roping (NFSR) in 1990. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
Ty Erickson is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in steer wrestling. He competes in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. He is the 2011 PRCA Steer Wrestling Rookie of the Year and is the PRCA 2019 Steer Wrestling World Champion.
Sage Steele Kimzey is an American professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. For most of his career, he competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), winning seven bull riding world championships. He also competed in the now-defunct Championship Bull Riding (CBR) organization, where he won three world championships. Since 2023, he has ridden for the Carolina Cowboys during the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Team Series season. As of 2024, he competes full-time in the PBR.
Grated Coconut #G-65 is a Canadian former rodeo bucking horse that was specialized in bareback bronc riding. He was a six-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year. He was also a six-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Horse of the Year from. He has been inducted into three halls of fame, including the ProRodeo Hall of Fame of the PRCA, the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame of the CPRA, and the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame of the PRCA-sanctioned Ellensburg Rodeo.
Virgil F13 is a rodeo bucking horse. He is specialized mainly in bareback bronc riding, but is sometimes used in saddle bronc riding. Although born in North Dakota, United States, he has lived most of his life in Alberta, Canada. Virgil is a two-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year, as well as a two-time Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Bareback Bucking Horse of the Year. He won the award in both organizations in the same years; 2017 and 2018. He was also awarded the Bareback Horse of the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) four times from 2015 to 2018, as well as the Bareback Horse of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2017. He is also the horse that was ridden for the highest-scored bareback ride in PRCA history, which occurred in 2022.
Medicine Woman #302 was an American rodeo bucking horse that specialized in saddle bronc riding. She competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and was a four-time PRCA Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year. She won the award in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016. She also was the Saddle Bronc Horse of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2010 and 2015. In 2022, she was posthumously inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
Descent was a bucking horse who was specialized in saddle bronc riding and competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association. He is a six-time Bucking Horse of the Year awardee. He won the award in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, and 1972. He is also a 1979 ProRodeo Hall of Fame inaugural inductee.