Waguespack is Taking Planes, Trains, Automobiles to Make 2024 NFR Following Major Injury

Writer Brian Hurlburt takes us into the minds and hearts of the PRCA World Champions who clinched titles during the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo®. 

Word in rodeo circles during the summer of 2024 was that there would be no successful title defense for Tyler Waguespack, the 2024 PRCA Steer Wrestling World Champion after he suffered a torn left bicep during the Sisters Rodeo in Oregon in early June.

There was just a small problem with that popular theory: the man himself, Tyler Waguespack, had some other ideas.

By August, Waguespack was back in the saddle, literally and figuratively. He made his return at the Dodge City Roundup in Kansas with a runner-up finish, and by the time of this writing (Aug. 7) he had placed in the money in rodeos from Kansas to Idaho to Colorado.

The uphill battle to qualify for the 2024 NFR was back in motion even after Waguespack missed about two months of action. He will hit dozens of rodeos over the next couple months in his quest to repeat and win his sixth gold buckle in 2024.

Also as of this writing, Waguespack stood 33^rd in the World Standings.

“The good news is that at the time that I got hurt, I had only been to 20 something rodeos and we can go to 80 for the year,” Waguespack said. “For these next two months, I have about 60 rodeos that I can try to get to. I know I can’t get to all 60, but I can definitely go to a lot more rodeos than the rest of the guys can. I’m entered up and booked up. We’ll be rodeoing by planes, trains, and automobiles for the next eight weeks. I will try and do as much damage with good results as we can in a short amount of time.”

The initial feedback from the comeback trail for Waguespack was more than promising.

“I just started back up this weekend and yesterday was actually the first one that I’ve been back to,” Waguespack said by phone after his perf at the War Bonnet Round Up in Idaho Falls. “I will have a long road to hoe, but I have a lot of rodeos left on the schedule. If everything works out the way we need, I will hopefully be able to catch back up and have a shot at making it back to Vegas this year.

“No doubt, I am back a lot earlier than expected. I am only seven or eight weeks out of surgery right now, but I competed in Idaho Falls this morning and I’m winning the bulldogging (he ended up winning). It’s still sore, but not as much as I expected. The arm is not quite as strong as it was, so it is still going to take a little while to get that back. However, I know if I take too much time off, I won’t have a chance at all for this year, so I have to drive through it. I know it is getting stronger and stronger by the week.”

Waguespack isn’t one to look in the rearview mirror, but was willing to take us back to the Sisters Rodeo and relive the injury.

“I was a little bit late at the barrier and got rocked back a little bit in my saddle, and the saddle horn just pulled the tendon off the bone,” Waguespack said matter-of-factly. “It was a big jolt, for sure. I went to Salt Lake City and Dr. (Steven) Huish was able to reattach it two days after the rodeo. I have been rehabbing it ever since, trying to get back.”

If you know Waguespack, you realize he performs best when his back is against the wall. Several of his world titles have been come-from-behind victories when most had counted him out. Now, he is faced with a different challenge, and embraced his rehab like he does rodeo. 

“I was able to push it pretty hard in rehab, and Dr. (Andrew) Shea with Competitive Edge really spent a lot of time with me and pushed me,” Waguespack said. “He stayed on the phone and Facetime with me and showed me different exercises and all kinds of different activities that I could do to strengthen it faster and get the mobility back faster. I credit a lot of my healing and success to him being able to help me all of the time.”

Waguespack said he also took advantage of the downtime and knows there is a higher power in play.

“I’ve always been pretty strong mentally and I am ready for this challenge,” Waguespack said. “For the last two months all I’ve been doing is running steers in my head, so I feel like I’ve been practicing all the time. God gave me a new challenge. We are hopefully going to get back to Vegas this year, but if not, we are going to work through it and make sure that we’re good for the following year.”

If (when, most likely) Waguespack makes it back to Vegas for the 2024 NFR, he will be in familiar surroundings and where he loves to be: under the brightest lights with it all on the line.

“Last year was crazy,” Waguespack said. “I was chasing Dalton Massey all year, which we’re doing again this year. It all came down to the 10th round. I was backed deep into a corner in the 10th round and had to come out and win the round to win the world title, which I did. All the cards fell into play for me. That was definitely my favorite NFR so far.”

Waguespack may have a new favorite NFR should be make the impossible, possible over the next 60 days and earn one of the 15 coveted spots in the 2024 NFR.

We know one thing: it isn’t wise to bet against Tyler, so the odds are that the cards will fall in his favor again and he will be saddling it up in the Thomas & Mack Center in 2024.