‘Dance my own dance’
Diné bulldogger Rooster Yazzie makes run at The America Rodeo Semi-Finals
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Coyote Canyon, N.M., steer wrestler Rooster Yazzie competed in The American Rodeo Semi-Finals in Arlington, Texas, on Friday night. He posted a 15.72 run, missing a chance to compete for $2 million.
GANADO
The buy-in to compete in The American Rodeo qualifier was too hard to pass up for Rooster Yazzie.
This past spring, Yazzie paid a pretty penny and bought his way into The America Rodeo West Qualifier in Las Vegas, Nevada.
At the west region qualifier, 54 steer wrestlers were entered. In the first round, Yazzie turned in a 4.23 run and placed fourth, winning $539.25. In the second round, he had a no time, but in the redemption round he placed second with a 4.14 run that paid him $1,080.
Those two runs put him into the finals in Las Vegas as he posted a 4.62 in the championship round and placed fifth, which earned him a qualification to The American Rodeo Semi-Finals in Arlington, Texas.
“It went pretty good,” Yazzie said of the west region qualifier. “For $2 million dollars the entry fees (to compete) really didn’t matter.”
To read the full article, please see the May 28, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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Highway 264,
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