Missouri Valley College graduate and Marshall resident Tim O’Connell, who has won back-to-back titles as the PRCA World Champion Bareback Rider, currently is competing at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
According to prorodeo.com, the Zwingle, Iowa, native scored a 90.0 aboard a horse named “Vitalix Ain’t No Angel” and won Round 9 of the 10-round event Friday night. The win earned him $26,230.77 in prize money and vaulted him back into the overall lead of the money list, with $253,378.11, just under $13,000 more than the second-place rider.
O’Connell, who also won Round 3 of the event, currently is second place in the average, but still sits atop the projected overall world standings, according to information on the website.
The final round is Saturday night, and O’Connell is scheduled to be riding a horse named “All Pink.”