Back to the NFR for Local Cowboy
The National Finals Rodeo takes place in Las Vegas over the next two weekends and one local cowboy is heading back to the biggest cowboy event of the year for the 5th time in 6 years.
28-year-old Dustin Egusquiza qualified for the 2022 NFR once again this year as a Header in Team Roping with his Heeling partner Travis Graves.
(For all you non-Cowboy types, that means he ropes the head of the steer when it runs out of the chute and his partner ropes the legs in a contest to see which team can catch the steer the quickest.)
Egusquiza is a Palo Pinto County transplant from Florida and has made his home in the area for the last six years with long-time girlfriend Mariah Horton of Mineral Wells.
Last night Egusquiza and Horton attended the prestigious Back Number Ceremony in Las Vegas at the NFR. He will wear number 74 this year and compete for 10 nights in the Team Roping event with partner Travis Graves, of Lipan, and 120 other rodeo cowboy and cowgirls for an almost $11 million purse.
The ProRodeo athletes who qualify for the NFR are assigned a back number based on the amount of money earned throughout the regular season, and the back numbers for the 2022 Wrangler NFR have been made official along with the 2022 PRCA World Standings.
The Top 15 competitors in each event pin numbers to the back of their shirts or vests at the Wrangler NFR at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Dec 1-10. This year there will not be a #21 for contestants. The PRCA is using that number to acknowledge the 21 lives lost in the shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May.
Egusquiza had a stellar performance last year finishing 3rd in the 2021 World Standings. Check out his 2022 success below:
2022 Highlights – Partner Travis Graves
• Won the Southeastern Livestock Exposition (Montgomery, Ala.)
• Won the Old Fort Days Rodeo (Fort Smith, Ark.)
• Won the Jayhawker Roundup (Hill City, Kan.)
• Won the Farm-City Pro Rodeo (Hermiston, Ore.)
• Won the Moses Lake (Wash.) Round-Up Rodeo
• Won the Kitsap Stampede (Bremerton, Wash.)
• Won the Stockyards Pro Rodeo (Fort Worth, Texas)
• Won the Pasadena (Texas) Livestock Show & Rodeo
Want to follow Dustin and see the NFR Live? Check your local listings for programming schedule or Stream it on The Cowboy Channel every night. It will cost you a $100 subscription if you don’t already have one.
MWAN would like to Congratulate Dustin Egusquiza for another NFR qualification. Your adopted hometown will be watching and rooting you on!
