2025 Pro Rodeo Canada Champions Declared
A record-smashing CFR wrapped up at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta on Saturday night as the 2025 Canadian Professional Rodeo Champions were crowned. Along the way there were triumphs, heartbreak, bumps, bruises and some unforgettable performances that will go down in the record books including one cowboy’s brilliance that brought the Rogers Place faithful to their feet in an extended standing ovation.
But in a Canadian Finals Rodeo that featured several highlight reel moments, it was the King of the Canadian cowboys, Zeke Thurston, who provided some of the biggest and best enroute to his record extending sixth consecutive saddle bronc riding championship.
The Big Valley, AB talent capped off another brilliant CFR with the highest marked ride of the Finals—a 91.5 point effort Saturday night that had a huge Rogers Place crowd roaring its approval from start to finish. Thurston, the 31-year-old, four-time World Champion, matched up with Macza Rodeo’s 6 Squash Blossom Steely Dan, a horse he’s enjoyed great success on previously to put the exclamation point on a Finals and a season for the ages.
“That’s the fourth time I’ve been on that horse and I think the lowest score has been 89.5,” Thurston acknowledged. “I’ve been fortunate to draw him at some really big rodeos and he’s won me a lot of money.”
The significance of his record week, part of an unmatched career, was not lost on the second generation athlete. “I feel like I’ve been blessed to have been given some amazing talents and it’s my job to go out there and do my very best and honour the sport that I love that has given me so much.”
Thurston won three rounds and was third in the other two as he amassed $122,481 in season earnings to easily eclipse the $113,000 record he had previously established in 2019.
The Canadian will now head south to Las Vegas in December in search of a fifth world title and he does so riding perhaps as well as he has at any point in his amazing career. And that prospect has to be making fourteen other NFR bronc riders more than a little nervous.
Provost, Alberta’s Scott Guenthner turned in one of the most remarkable efforts in Canadian rodeo history as the superstar steer wrestler topped the field in all five go-rounds. His times of 3.7, 4.2, 3.6, 3.7 and 3.6 earned him $57,000 in go-round money. Add to that the $17,100 aggregate cheque and $39,349 in regular season money and Guenthner’s single season earnings easily established a new record at $113,449. It was his final go-round winning run—a second 3.6 second gem–that brought the CFR faithful to their feet in a salute to a cowboy and a feat that will likely stand as a record for a long time. And it was Guenthner’s dad, Ken, who was co-holder of the previous record for most go-round wins at three.
“I joked with my dad when I tied his record that I was wanting to beat him, but to do this is a dream come true,” Guenthner grinned. “I’m kind of speechless and it hasn’t really sunk in yet. To win all five rounds against these guys, I mean they’re not easy, is a dream come true. Since I was a little kid I’ve wanted to win Canadian championships but to do it like this and set a record that I hope will be around for a while is kind of unbelievable.”
Guenthner achieved his success on the back of Tanner Milan’s steer wrestling horse extraordinaire, Eddie, a horse that has also won honours as the best at his craft and on Guenthner’s other side doing the hazing was the incomparable Bailee Milan (riding Stump, 2024 Canadian Hazing Horse) who Guenthner called “one of the best hazers in the world”.
That combination will now make their way to Las Vegas as Guenthner rides into the Thomas and Mack Arena in search of a first world title.
One year ago, Jared Parsonage was in a hospital watching the CFR on television (after sustaining a bull riding injury). 365 days later, the Maple Creek bull rider claimed his third title with an outstanding performance that saw him ride all five of his bulls, place in all five rounds and lock down the title with a third place 84 score. He added an aggregate win that carried him past two worthy challengers, in Garrett Green and season leader Jake Gardiner.
“I won’t lie, sitting in the hospital last year and watching it happen wasn’t fun but it’s part of the game,” the Maple Creek, Saskatchewan cowboy acknowledged. “At my age, it would have been easy to quit, but my pride wasn’t going to let me go out like that so I just took my time and got focussed. And, heck, what better way to come back than showing you can still play the game.”
And play the game he did as Parsonage collected $46,331 in CFR money to go along with $31,769 for his winning total of $78,100.
After being three times a runner-up for the Canadian title, Carstairs, Alberta tie-down roper Kyle Lucas captured his first champion’s buckle in dramatic fashion as he and the 23 year old Manitoba sophomore, Stran Dunham, went head to head in the final round of CFR 51. Lucas roped first on Saturday night and put together an 8.3 second run When Dunham could manage only a 9.4 second response, the wait was over for the long, tall Albertan as he received the coveted champion’s buckle in a year that will also see him heading for the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas for his first trip to the Wrangler National Finals.
“I felt like I was a lot less nervous, and maybe being more relaxed and not worried about the outcome played a factor,” a jubilant Lucas recounted. “The calf kind of cut left in the delivery of my throw and that can be the hardest time – almost when you’re throwing, it’s like a pool shot… the shot’s already made. That’s where the preparation and practice come into play. I’ve got to thank God for that loop going on. I think he maybe had something to do with it going on the way it did. My Dad (4 time Canadian Champion ‘Smokin’ Joe Lucas) said a lot of people had those loops this week; you might as well have one too. Either way, we were happy.”
Lucas started the week a little slow, failing to place in the first round and splitting the fifth place cheque in round two. But a winning 7.6 second run in round three gave the 32 year-old roper some momentum and he added a second and that critical fourth place in the final performance to win both the aggregate title and the championship.
“Being a champion is a lot more mental than physical, especially at my age/this point in my career.,” he offered. And of that all important final loop, Lucas added this. “I thought initially that it could be good enough but I knew I didn’t have it wrapped up. After Stran roped, I knew I’d won the average and thought maybe that was why Katy (his sister and Cowboy Channel broadcaster) was interviewing me. But it worked out and I was grateful for that outcome. Stan came and congratulated me afterwards. He’s one of the coolest guys out there.”
Gleichen, Alberta cowgirl Jayden Wilson brought her trademark consistency to Rogers Place and won her first Canadian title by continuing the pattern that earned her the season leader accolade already for 2025. She didn’t win a ton of rodeos during the regular season but was always in the top few for sizable cheques. She repeated the pattern that had been working so well for her as she picked up two second-place cheques, one third and the aggregate title as well to earn her first Canadian Champion’s buckle on her talented Barrel Horse of the Year, Whiskey.
In the Bareback Riding, veteran Clint Laye put together a solid five-round result that included a second, two thirds, a fourth and a fifth enroute to his third Canadian Championship. The Cadogan, Alberta cowboy took home $40,485 in CFR earnings, which included the aggregate title, for a total on the year of $85,381 to top defending champion, Kody Lamb for the 2025 crown.
Longview, Alberta’s Bradi Whiteside, wore the number one back number at CFR, a reflection of her being the biggest rodeo money earner through the regular season. And though she did not qualify for the CFR in the barrel racing, the 23 year-old emerged victorious in her second event—the breakaway roping. At a Finals that saw several cowgirls, including Whiteside, struggle at times, Whiteside won round two and followed that up with a second place run in round three to hold off the rest of the field and lay claim to her first title. And Whiteside was a double winner as she took home the All-Around cowgirl crown with $73,610.39 to edge Quesnel, British Columbia cowgirl, Taylor Cherry by $3000 for the honour. Mikenna Schauer earned the Breakaway Aggregate title.
And in the team roping, it was a pair of Ponoka cowboys, Kash Bonnett on the heading side and heeler Logan Cullen to win three rounds in a row, rounds two, three and four, as well as the aggregate. The team also survived a miss in the final round to secure their first team roping title.
Both ropers topped $90,000 in total earnings for a comfortable $30,000 plus margin of victory and were able to overtake season leaders, Kavis Drake and Denim Ross, who came into the CFR as the heavy favourites.
In the youth events, Strathmore’s Clay Greenslade won the Novice Saddle Bronc title while Quaide Skjonsberg, Bluffton, AB was the Novice Bareback titlist. The 2025 Junior Steer Riding Champion was Grande Prairie cowboy Ryder Topolinski while Dayton Cronkhite won the Aggregate.
Additional winners were:
All Around: Logan Spady
Kenny McLean: Kyle Wanchuk
Rookie: Taylor Cherry
Permit: Taylor Cherry
Stock of the CFR:
Bareback: Macza Rodeo’s 118 OLS Tubs Stevie Knicks
Saddle bronc: Calgary Stampede’s C-35 Crocket
Bull: Vold Rodeo’s 308 Splash Tide
For complete results, visit rodeocanada.com
-30-
About CPRA
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) with headquarters in Airdrie, Alta. is the official sanctioning body for Professional Rodeo in Canada. The CPRA approves 60 + events annually with a total payout exceeding $7.4 million. The organization oversees the SMS Equipment Pro Tour Finale each fall in Armstrong, BC, holds their premiere event–the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR)–at Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB in early October and endorses the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals as part of Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, SK. For details, please see RodeoCanada.com
For more information:
Barb Poulsen
CPRA Communications and Media
Phone: 403 625-9225
Email: media@rodeocanada.com