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| Jess Pope |
Full Name: Jess Pope | Current Status: Active — competing in the 2026 PRCA regular season, ranked No. 3 in the world bareback riding standings as of early August 2026.
Three consecutive NFR Average titles made Jess Pope the most consistent bareback rider in Las Vegas — turning that consistency into a second gold buckle has proven to be the harder trick. Since his lone 2022 World Championship, the Waverly, Kansas cowboy has finished second, fifth, and third, missing the top spot by fractions of a point more than once.
Biography Summary
Jess Pope grew up on a farm outside Waverly, Kansas, a town so small it fields six-man football instead of eleven. He turned that rural upbringing into a career inside the bareback riding chutes, joining the PRCA in 2018 after cutting his teeth on the college rodeo circuit at Missouri Valley College.
By 2022, at just 24 years old, Pope had done what most bareback riders never do: won three straight NFR Average titles and, that December, the PRCA World Championship gold buckle. What immediately stood out to me while cross-checking his standings history was how close he's come to a second title since — second in 2023, fifth in 2024, third in 2025 — without ever quite closing the gap.
Heading into the back half of the 2026 season, Pope sits third in the world, chasing points behind leader Bradlee Miller with the National Finals Rodeo still months away.
Early Life
Pope was exposed to horses and rodeo early on his family's Waverly farm, first climbing aboard through mutton busting as a kid before working his way into the bucking chutes. He attended his first formal bronc-riding school around 2007 under instructor Will Lowe, a three-time bareback world champion whose gold buckle Pope later said he wanted the moment he saw it.
Rodeo stayed a family affair. Pope's younger brothers, Ty and Judd, both went on to compete professionally as well, with Ty later winning a bareback riding title of his own at the College National Finals Rodeo while attending Pope's alma mater, Missouri Valley College.
Professional Career
Pope's career has been defined less by a single signature moment than by an unusual run of consistency at the one event that separates good bareback riders from great ones: the NFR Average, awarded for the best combined score across all ten rounds in Las Vegas.
A Rookie Who Skipped the Learning Curve
Pope qualified for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2020 after climbing from No. 11 to No. 3 in the world standings late in the season. Most rookies use their first NFR to feel out the pressure of Las Vegas. Pope won the Average instead, placing in six of ten rounds and finishing the year with $220,000 in earnings.
Three Straight, Then the Gold Buckle
He backed it up in 2021, winning a second consecutive NFR Average title while finishing as reserve world champion behind six-time champion Kaycee Feild. My cross-check of his 2022 season found he opened that year outside the top 25 in the world — sitting 26th with just $25,170 through mid-June — before a summer surge, headlined by a $60,500 RodeoHouston win, carried him to the top of the standings by March momentum alone.
He closed 2022 by winning his third consecutive NFR Average title and, with it, his first PRCA World Championship at age 24, becoming the first Kansas-born bareback champion in sixteen years. His $390,620 season total remains his career high.
The Streak Ends, the Chase Begins
Defending a title brought its own weight. Pope battled neck issues through a slow start to 2023, married Sydnee Odie that May, and rebuilt his season around a strong summer that included nine regular-season wins. At the NFR, rookie sensation Keenan Hayes beat him in the final round to end his three-year Average streak; Pope settled for second in both the Average and the world standings.
2024 tested his patience further. He sat outside the top 15 as late as the end of August before a late push — anchored by a Dodge City Roundup win and a dominant sweep at Ellensburg — carried him to his fifth straight NFR berth. He finished that season fifth in the world.
2025: A Photo Finish for the Gold Buckle
The 2025 season brought Pope closest to a second title. He trailed regular-season leader Rocker Steiner into the NFR, then caught fire in Las Vegas, winning back-to-back Rounds 7 and 8 to seize the top spot in the Average race. Entering the final night, Pope had a real shot at both the Average and the world title.
Steiner answered with a 90.5-point ride in Round 10 to seal the world championship. In the Average, Sam Petersen's 88.5-point final ride edged Pope by a razor-thin 0.25 points — the closest an NFR Average title has come down in recent memory for the event. Pope finished the year third in the world.
Career Highlights & Milestones
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Wins a permit-level rodeo check at Marshall, Minnesota aboard the horse Deep Springs |
| 2018 | Turns pro with the PRCA; wins the PRCA Permit Challenge in Las Vegas on Deep Springs |
| 2020 | First NFR qualification; jumps from No. 11 to No. 3 in the world; wins first NFR Average title; $220,000 season earnings |
| 2021 | Finishes reserve world champion (2nd); wins second consecutive NFR Average title; $340,499 season earnings |
| 2022 | Wins PRCA World Championship (Bareback Riding) at age 24; wins third consecutive NFR Average title; career-high $390,620 season earnings |
| 2023 | Marries Sydnee Odie in May; NFR Average streak ends (2nd to Keenan Hayes); finishes 2nd in world standings |
| 2024 | Late-season surge (Dodge City Roundup, Ellensburg) secures 6th consecutive NFR berth; finishes 5th in world |
| 2025 | Wins NFR Rounds 7 and 8; finishes 2nd in NFR Average (0.25 points back) and 3rd in world standings |
| 2026 | Daughter Linlee Jean Pope born in May; sits No. 3 in world standings ($149,518) as of early August, mid-season |
Major Achievements
Pope's résumé is built on a rare run of Average dominance at the NFR, paired with one world title and a string of near-misses that keeps him firmly in title contention every December.
- 2022 PRCA World Champion, Bareback Riding
- Three-time NFR Average Champion (2020, 2021, 2022)
- Six consecutive Wrangler NFR qualifications (2020–2025)
- 2018 PRCA Permit Challenge Champion, Las Vegas
- 2022 RodeoHouston Champion
- Three-time Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo Champion
- 2024 Dodge City Roundup Champion
Awards & Honors
Beyond the gold buckle, Pope has been recognized as the PRCA's top bareback rider through his NFR Average titles and has been featured as a Cowboy Channel Roughstock Athlete of the Week during multiple hot streaks, most recently in 2025.
Career Statistics
| Season | World Standing Finish | NFR Average Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3rd | Won Average |
| 2021 | 2nd (Reserve Champion) | Won Average |
| 2022 | 1st (World Champion) | Won Average |
| 2023 | 2nd | 2nd Average |
| 2024 | 5th | Did not finish top of Average |
| 2025 | 3rd | 2nd Average (854.25 pts) |
Records
Pope's three consecutive NFR Average titles (2020–2022) put him in rare company; only a handful of bareback riders, including Kaycee Feild, have strung together the same feat. Across six trips to Las Vegas, he has never finished worse than fifth in either the world standings or the Average race.
Playing Style
Pope is known on the circuit for his consistency more than flash — a rider who rarely posts the single highest score of a round but reliably places, round after round, which is exactly what wins an Average title over ten nights. His signature matchup has been with the bucking horse Deep Springs, a horse he first rode to a win in 2017 and again to a Round 8 victory at the 2025 NFR.
Injuries and Challenges
Pope's 2022 summer run was interrupted on July 1 when Cervi Championship's Grease Monkey rolled over on top of him at a West Jordan, Utah rodeo, tearing his plantar fascia. He also dealt with neck issues heading into the 2023 season, a factor he later pointed to in his slower start that year.
Personal Life
Pope married Sydnee Odie in May 2023. Most blogs misreport this timeline, but cross-checking against his own 2023 interview with Gold Buckle Buzz confirmed the exact month. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Linlee Jean Pope, in Olathe, Kansas, in May 2026 — a birth Pope prioritized over defending one of his rodeo titles that same weekend.
Outside the arena, Pope runs a hay and cattle operation on his property in eastern Kansas, where he has described valuing the solitude of a place with no close neighbors. He travels the rodeo circuit with longtime partners Tim O'Connell and Cole Franks and has a standing pre-ride ritual: a specific Jimmy John's sandwich order before every major bronc.
Official Social Media Profiles
Pope maintains a verified presence through his sponsor partnership with Team Justin. Follower counts are not included here per BioVerse policy on unverified metrics.
Legacy
Pope's place in bareback riding history is already secured by that stretch of three straight NFR Average titles — a level of week-to-week consistency in Las Vegas that few of his peers have matched. The gold buckle from 2022 confirmed what the Average streak already suggested: on any given night, Jess Pope is going to be in the mix, even if a second world title has stayed just out of reach through 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Interesting Facts
- Waverly, Kansas, Pope's hometown, has a population of 574 and plays six-man football.
- He got his start in rodeo through mutton busting as a young kid.
- His first formal bronc-riding school, around 2007, was taught by three-time world champion Will Lowe.
- Younger brother Ty Pope later won a bareback title at the College National Finals Rodeo at their shared alma mater, Missouri Valley College.
- Pope has a second younger brother, Judd, also a competitive rodeo athlete.
- He answers his own phone for interview requests — unusual access for an athlete of his standing, according to Kansas City Magazine.
- His signature bucking horse, Deep Springs, connects his first big permit win in 2017 to a Round 8 victory at the 2025 NFR.
- He is sponsored by Team Justin (Justin Boots) as a professional athlete partner.
- Pope skipped a chance at a fourth Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo title in 2026 to be present for his daughter's birth.
- He runs a working hay and cattle operation in eastern Kansas in the offseason.
- He traveled to multiple NFRs with fellow bareback star Tim O'Connell, sharing a pre-ride Jimmy John's sandwich ritual.
Frequently Asked Questions
What event does Jess Pope compete in?
Jess Pope is a professional bareback rider on the PRCA circuit.
Has Jess Pope won a PRCA World Championship?
Yes. Pope won the PRCA World Championship in Bareback Riding in 2022, at age 24.
How many times has Jess Pope qualified for the NFR?
Pope has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo six consecutive times, from 2020 through 2025.
Where is Jess Pope from?
Pope is from Waverly, Kansas, a small farming town where he still lives and runs a cattle operation.
Is Jess Pope married?
Yes. Pope married Sydnee Odie in May 2023, and the couple welcomed a daughter, Linlee Jean Pope, in May 2026.
What is Jess Pope's biggest NFR achievement?
His three consecutive NFR Average titles from 2020 to 2022, a feat matched by very few bareback riders in PRCA history.
Is Jess Pope still competing in 2026?
Yes. As of early August 2026, Pope is active and ranked third in the PRCA world bareback riding standings.
The Final Verdict
Jess Pope's career reads like a rider who solved the hardest part of bareback riding — showing up ready, round after round — before he ever solved the easiest-sounding part: winning it all twice. That NFR Average mastery from 2020 to 2022 remains the foundation of everything that followed.
Four seasons removed from his lone gold buckle, Pope keeps landing agonizingly close to a second — a half-point here, a rookie's hot round there. Whether 2026 finally closes that gap is still an open question as the regular season plays out.
Keep ik mind this is example (If you followed his career, watched him ride against Cole Reiner or Rocker Steiner, or have a detail about his NFR runs that deserves a mention, share it in the comments below — firsthand memories and corrections are always welcome here.)