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| Cole Reiner |
Full Name: Cole Reiner | Current Status: Active professional bareback rider, PRCA, building toward a sixth Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) appearance in 2026.
In June 2026, a 27-year-old cowboy from Buffalo, Wyoming climbed aboard a bronc named Outta Hand and rode to 92 points, breaking a Vernal, Utah arena record that had stood for roughly two decades. That rider was Cole Reiner, and by then the record-breaking ride was just another line in a resume that already included five straight trips to the NFR.
Biography Summary
Cole Reiner is a professional bareback rider competing on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. He grew up on a family ranch outside Buffalo, Wyoming, and turned a late start in roughstock events into one of the most consistent bareback careers of his generation.
Since debuting in 2020, Reiner has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo five years running, a streak that puts him among a small group of riders who reach Las Vegas almost automatically each December. What stood out to me while cross-referencing his season-by-season earnings was how steady his climb has been — no single breakout year, just repeated top-15 finishes.
He is best known for pairing raw power with a wrestler's balance, a skill set that traces directly back to his high school mat career before rodeo ever entered the picture.
Early Life
Reiner was raised in Johnson County, Wyoming, near both Buffalo and Kaycee, on a working ranch belonging to his parents, Joe and Michelle Reiner. Ranch life put him on horseback and around livestock from a young age, alongside his brother, Clay.
Before bareback riding ever entered his plans, Reiner was a standout wrestler. He posted a 168-28 record at Buffalo High School and won two Wyoming Class 3A state championships, adding two more runner-up finishes along the way. He graduated from Buffalo High School in 2017.
Rodeo started as a family summer activity built around tie-down roping and team roping. He didn't touch a bareback rigging until age 17 in 2016, after talking his father into letting him try saddle bronc — only to end up on a bareback horse instead because that's the rigging they owned.
He got his real start at the Kaycee night rodeos run by John Forbes, then carried that into high school and college rodeo. A broken arm suffered in a riding-school mishap nearly ended things during his teenage years, but a friend's teasing about being the better cowboy pulled him back into the sport.
Professional Career
Reiner's professional path runs through two Wyoming junior colleges, a Resistol Rookie of the Year title, and five consecutive trips to the Thomas & Mack Center. Below is a breakdown of how each phase of his career unfolded.
College Rodeo and the Jump to Pro (2018–2019)
Reiner competed collegiately for Sheridan College before transferring to Casper College, where he rode bareback as a sophomore while pursuing an Agriculture Business degree. He has said he progressed faster in the college ranks than most riders his age, despite starting roughstock later than many competitors.
2020: Rookie of the Year and NFR Debut
Reiner turned pro in 2020 and immediately made an impact, entering his first Wrangler NFR ranked No. 12 in the world with $45,043 in earnings. He won Wednesday's opening go-round on his NFR debut and was recognized with the Rookie of the Year award at the Finals. He went on to win the season-long PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year title in bareback riding, finishing more than $31,000 ahead of the next closest rookie. He capped that first NFR by winning Rounds 6 and 9 and placing sixth in the Average on nine head.
2021: Second NFR and a Breakout Season
Ranked No. 8 in the PRCA World Standings entering his second NFR with $98,216 earned, Reiner won three rodeos outright that year, including a $12,500 Shootout Round victory at Pikes Peak or Bust aboard Vegas Confused and a swept average at the Horse Heaven Round-Up in Kennewick. He also shared titles at four additional rodeos, including one alongside new traveling partner and five-time world champion Kaycee Feild. He averaged 83.63 points per qualified ride across the season and posted 20 rides of 85 points or better.
2022: A No. 1 World Ranking
Reiner entered his third NFR as the No. 1 bareback rider in the world, edging two-time NFR Average Champion Jess Pope by roughly $1,700 in season earnings ($160,971 to $159,259). He placed in all three rounds of his first bracket at the Finals and cashed a check for a fourth-place ride worth 88.5 points, though he came up short of a world title that year.
2023–2024: Consistency and a Career-Best Ride
Reiner's fourth NFR came in 2023 after he publicly set a world championship as his season goal. Cowboy Channel reporting later noted that across his first four NFR trips (2020–2023), he finished seventh in the world standings three times or better. In February 2024, he posted the highest-marked ride of the San Antonio Stock Show bareback field at 91.5 points on Frontier Rodeo's Breaking News, and went on to win the event title with an 89-point ride on Night Crawler. That June, at the Darby Xtreme Bareback event in Montana, he recorded his first-ever 92-point ride — a new career best. He closed 2024 by clinching a fifth straight NFR berth at the Pendleton Round-Up, entering Las Vegas ranked No. 12 with $137,128 and finishing the regular season at $185,524, pushing his career earnings toward the $1 million mark.
2025–2026: Building Toward a Sixth NFR
Reiner opened 2025 as a semifinal-round champion at the San Antonio Stock Show and continued competing through the winter and summer swings. By June 2026, he was ranked No. 10 in the PRCA World Standings and had already won money at the Black Hills Stock Show and Red Bluff rodeos. That momentum peaked at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in Vernal, Utah, where his 92-point ride on Outta Hand of Powder River broke an arena record that had stood since Royce Ford's 91-point ride roughly two decades earlier.
Career Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Rode his first bareback horse at age 17, near Kaycee, Wyoming |
| 2017 | Graduated Buffalo High School; two-time Wyoming Class 3A wrestling state champion |
| 2018–2019 | Competed in college rodeo for Sheridan College and Casper College |
| 2020 | Turned pro; PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year; 1st NFR qualification |
| 2021 | 2nd NFR; three outright rodeo wins; No. 8 in world standings entering Finals |
| 2022 | 3rd NFR; entered ranked No. 1 in the world |
| 2023 | 4th NFR; publicly targeted a world title |
| 2024 | 5th consecutive NFR; won San Antonio title; first career 92-point ride at Darby |
| 2026 | Set arena record with 92-point ride at Vernal's Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo |
Major Achievements
Reiner's résumé is built more on remarkable consistency than a single signature title, which is part of what makes it distinctive.
- 2020 PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year — Bareback Riding
- Five consecutive Wrangler NFR qualifications (2020–2024)
- Entered the 2022 NFR ranked No. 1 in the PRCA World Standings
- 2024 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo bareback riding champion
- Arena record at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in Vernal, Utah (92 points, 2026)
- Multiple go-round wins at the Calgary Stampede and semifinal advances at Cheyenne Frontier Days
Highlights & Video
Awards and Honors
- PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year, Bareback Riding (2020)
- NFR Rookie of the Year recognition at his 2020 Finals debut
- No. 1 world ranking entering the 2022 NFR
- 2024 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo bareback champion
Career Statistics
| Season | NFR Trip | Reported Earnings | Notable Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1st | $45,043 (entering NFR) | Rookie of the Year; won Rounds 6 & 9; 6th in Average |
| 2021 | 2nd | $98,216 (entering NFR) | No. 8 world entering Finals; 3 outright wins |
| 2022 | 3rd | $160,971 (entering NFR) | Entered No. 1 in the world |
| 2023 | 4th | Not publicly confirmed | Publicly targeted a world title |
| 2024 | 5th | $185,524 (season total) | San Antonio champion; first 92-point ride |
| 2026 (in progress) | Pursuing 6th | In progress | Arena record, 92 pts, Vernal, Utah |
Season earnings above reflect arena winnings reported by rodeo and PRCA-affiliated press coverage. Some seasons do not have a publicly confirmed final total and are marked accordingly rather than estimated.
Records
- Arena record at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo (Vernal, Utah) — 92 points aboard Outta Hand of Powder River, 2026, surpassing Royce Ford's 91-point mark set roughly two decades earlier on Big Chill.
- Career-best marked ride of 92 points first achieved at the Darby Xtreme Bareback event in Montana, June 2024.
- Five straight NFR qualifications to open a professional career (2020–2024).
Net Worth
No verified personal net worth figure for Cole Reiner has been published by financial or PRCA sources. What is documented is his on-arena career earnings, which were approaching $1 million through the end of the 2024 season according to rodeo press coverage.
Any specific net worth figure circulating online for Cole Reiner beyond documented PRCA arena earnings should be treated as unverified. This article does not estimate a personal net worth and reports only sourced competition earnings.
Gear and Equipment
Reiner rides with a Barstow rigging, a detail he has confirmed directly in interviews. Like most bareback riders, he also travels with multiple gloves and rosin setups, and has spoken about resetting his equipment mid-season when his riding wasn't clicking.
Playing Style
Reiner's style leans on lower-body control and core strength carried over from wrestling. He has directly credited his high school mat career for teaching him how to absorb impact, stay compact in the rigging, and reset instantly after a hard landing — skills that translate directly to controlling a bucking horse for eight seconds.
Injuries and Challenges
As a teenager, Reiner broke his arm after getting hung up in his rigging at a riding school, an injury that kept him away from bareback riding for five to six months and nearly ended his interest in the event before he restarted.
Training, Diet and Fitness
Reiner has spoken about the physical and mental demands of a full PRCA season, describing conditioning and mindset work as central to staying competitive across dozens of rodeos. He has also discussed deliberately limiting how many rodeos he enters in a season, following a game plan borrowed from veteran traveling partners Kaycee Feild and Tilden Hooper to preserve his body over a long year.
Personal Life
Reiner comes from a ranching family in Johnson County, Wyoming. His parents, Joe and Michelle Reiner, and brother, Clay, have been described as regular presences at his rodeo runs, along with extended family including an aunt, uncle, and grandmother who have traveled to cheer him on at the NFR. He has named fellow bareback rider Kaycee Feild as both a mentor and travel partner.
Official Social Media Profiles
A verified, official personal social media handle for Cole Reiner could not be confirmed through PRCA or press sources at the time of writing. Readers looking for the most current updates should check his official PRCA contestant profile linked in the References section below.
Legacy
Reiner's career is still being written, but his five-year run of consecutive NFR qualifications already places him among the more dependable bareback riders of his generation. Digging through his season summaries, what struck me most was the lack of a single "big" title — instead, year after year of top-15 finishes and a No. 1 world ranking along the way.
If he adds a world championship or another arena record to his résumé, it will build on a foundation already rooted in steady, repeatable performance rather than one signature moment.
Interesting Facts
- Reiner didn't ride his first bareback horse until age 17, later than many pro riders.
- He originally competed in tie-down roping and team roping before switching to roughstock.
- He was a two-time Wyoming Class 3A state wrestling champion at Buffalo High School.
- His career high school wrestling record was 168-28.
- He attended two different Wyoming junior colleges, Sheridan and Casper, for rodeo.
- He entered the 2022 NFR as the No. 1 ranked bareback rider in the world.
- His first career 92-point ride came at Darby Xtreme Bareback in Montana in June 2024.
- He broke a roughly 20-year-old arena record in Vernal, Utah in 2026.
- He has competed internationally at the Calgary Stampede in Canada.
- His traveling partner, Kaycee Feild, is a five-time PRCA world champion.
- He rides with Barstow riggings.
- He named team roping as the rodeo event he'd try if not bareback riding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What sport does Cole Reiner compete in?
Cole Reiner is a professional bareback rider on the PRCA circuit.
Where is Cole Reiner from?
He is from Buffalo, Wyoming, and grew up on a family ranch near Kaycee in Johnson County.
How many times has Cole Reiner qualified for the NFR?
He qualified for five consecutive Wrangler National Finals Rodeos from 2020 through 2024, and was pursuing a sixth qualification in 2026.
Has Cole Reiner won a world championship?
Not as of this writing. He entered the 2022 NFR ranked No. 1 in the world standings but has not been documented as winning a PRCA world title.
What is Cole Reiner's highest-scored ride?
He has recorded multiple 92-point rides, including his career-best at the 2024 Darby Xtreme Bareback event and an arena-record ride in Vernal, Utah in 2026.
Did Cole Reiner play another sport before rodeo?
Yes, he was a highly successful high school wrestler, winning two Wyoming Class 3A state titles at Buffalo High School.
What is Cole Reiner's net worth?
No verified personal net worth figure has been published. His documented career arena earnings were approaching $1 million through the end of the 2024 season.
Conclusion
Cole Reiner's path from a Wyoming wrestling mat to five straight NFR trips is a study in steady progression rather than overnight stardom. From a late start in bareback riding to an arena record in 2026, his career keeps building on the same foundation of consistency.
What do you think Cole Reiner needs to finally capture a world title — a big NFR average run, or another record-breaking regular season? Drop your prediction in the comments below.