Team Wyoming saddle bronc rider Brody Cress drew the legendary Virgil at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), a bucking horse voted by competitors as one of the greatest bucking horses of the modern era.
This resulted in a much talked about ride Monday night in Las Vegas for a $29,000 purse, and what rodeo fans are calling another highlight in the long career of the retiring horse Virgil. Cress scored 89.5 points, coming in second to Damian Brennan, who posted a 90-point ride.
According to former Team Wyoming coordinator Chuck Coon, Cress drew well at the NFR and left his family and the Thomas & Mack Center crowd with a memorable ride at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
The Best Saddle Bronc of 2025
Virgil is a well-known horse in the rodeo circuit and among the Top 15 in the world. The horse earned the ProRodeo Bareback Horse of the Year in 2018 and 2019 and was chosen as the best saddle bronc horse for 2025.
“Most of these guys that ride them are pretty small,” Coon said. “It's almost like watching a kid on a rocking horse to watch them ride Virgil.”
Virgil had made his name as a bareback horse before being switched over into a saddle bronc.
“Many guys from Wyoming have been on him,” Coon told Cowboy State Daily. “Donny Proffit of Diamondville set a record in California on him and I believe Cole Reiner, bareback rider from Buffalo, has also had a really good trip on him.”
At18, Virgil is not ancient for a horse, but he is old for the professional rodeo business. He is finishing up his career in the arena as a saddle bronc horse this year. Coon said that the ride Monday night was ironic because Cress, on Virgil, ended up placing a close second to a horse, Black Tie, that Cress had ridden once before to victory.
“Brody won the Cheyenne Frontier Days on Black Tie this year,” Coon said. “So the same horse that that edged him out of winning the round was the one that Brody previously won on.”
Hillsdale Bronc Rider Brody
Cress grew up in Laramie County and was a state champion wrestler three years out of four in high school. According to Coon, wrestling is a natural tie-in to rodeo.
“Many of those bronc riders and bareback riders have wrestled in high school,” Coon said. “The focus and concentration they need to have for wrestling just fits well with rodeo.”
Coon said that he watched Cress’ career skyrocket after he left Wyoming to attend Tarleton State in Texas and get a master’s degree in business. As he travels around on the rodeo circuit, Cress is accompanied by his wife and toddler son. They are expecting their second child soon, and Cress is described as a family man.
“He's turned saddle bronc riding into a great career,” Coon said. “He's won the NFR average three times and although he has never been a world champion, he has come close. All of us who are from Wyoming can't wait for the day when he can get that gold buckle.”
Wyoming’s Sport
Coon was one of the founders of Team Wyoming in 2005 and said that since then, Wyoming has had a couple of world champions in steer wrestling and in team roping. He said that the number of competitors fluctuates each year.
Rodeo is Wyoming’s official sport and Coon said that ranching and rodeo go hand in hand.
“Rodeo is a natural fit for us,” Coon said. “One of our nicknames is Cowboy State and we have been well represented at the NFR over the years.”
The sport, he said, is only growing.
“There's a good crop of young bull riders in Wyoming now that are just out of high school, and I expect we'll see our number increase soon at the NFR,” Coon said. “We have had competitors wearing the Wyoming patch with pride for 20 years and we will see that continue for a long time forward.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
