Former Missouri Valley College men’s rodeo cowboy Jess Pope captured the 2022 Bareback Riding World Championship, along with placing first in the average at the 2022 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pope captured his first world championship after finishing on top of the prize earnings standings in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bareback riding. Pope earned $390,620 to finish first in the world standings. Second place was Kaycee Feild with a season total of $316,490. Former Viking rodeo cowboy and three-time World champion Tim O’Connell was sixth overall. Two other former Viking cowboys, Cole Franks at fourth with and Tanner Aus in eighth, placed in the world top ten.

Pope becomes the second former Viking cowboy to earn a world championship, joining O’Connell, who won three consecutive world titles in bareback riding from 2016-2018.

Pope also placed first in the average at the 2022 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Pope finished with an 860. He won the third go-round with an 86.5 riding Mr. Harry, and the seventh go-round with an 89 riding Mayhem. He finished in the money in eight of the ten go-rounds.

Cole Franks finished second with an 852, O’Connell finished with an 838.5 and Aus finished with a 738.5 in the average.