Ahead of the 2024 WCJR (Cinch World Championship Junior Rodeo presented by Montana Silversmiths) in Guthrie, Oklahoma, the organization announced the roster highlighted by nearly 900 entries. Athletes will compete at youth rodeo’s most prestigious event as the intense battle to be crowned the 2024 WCRA Division Youth World Champion approaches a climactic end July 23-27 at Lazy E Arena. The fourth edition of the Youth World Championship event will shell out a projected of over $385,000.

In a highly competitive leaderboard race, four athletes have risen to the No. 1 position on the all-around rankings. Jake Shelton (Krum, Texas) and Rylie Edens (Hillsboro, Texas) have distanced themselves from the Junior Division competition by more than 2,000 points, respectively. Drew Ellen Stewart (Normangee, Texas) and Weston Smyth (Hutchinson, Kansas) will begin the event, topping the No. 1 positions on the Youth All-Around Leaderboard by 3,000 points. Junior All-Around World Champions will earn a $4,000 bonus, while each Youth All-Around World Champion will take home $2000 each.

Shelton will compete in four disciplines during the five-day event- Team Roping Heading, Team Roping Heeling, Steer Wrestling, Tie-Down Roping, and the Junior Ironman Sidepot. He comes into the event qualified in at least the top 20 positions on the three leaderboards- two in the top seven on the WCRA DY Leaderboards.

Edens finds herself in one of the top spots on the Junior Leaderboard in Breakaway Roping and Pole Bending. She ranks second in breakaway roping, taking the position by nearly 12,000 points.  Entering the event as her first year as a Junior, she tops the rankings with over 20,600 all-around points.

Competing in four disciplines (Pole Bending, Goat Tying, Breakaway Roping, Barrel Racing), Stewart goes into the world championship in the Youth Division, ahead of fellow Breakaway Roper and Goat Tyer Allie Calcote (Sugartown, Louisianan) by less than 3,000 points. She is joined by all-around men’s contender Weston Smyth (Hutchinson, Kansas) in the youth division, who will face off against 2023 all-around runner-up Bronc Evans (Fairview, Missouri) in the Team Roping.

Athletes entered at the WCJR are eligible to earn Elevated Bonus Event World Points (4X multiplier). They will automatically be eligible to earn Event World Points without a nomination for any disciplines at the event. All WCJR point information can be found here.

According to WCRA President Bobby Mote, there are 6,900 points available.  The Qualifying Rounds have 800 points available for a round win.  The round champions in the Semi-Finals can earn up to 1200 points and 2700 points in the championship round.

The full roster of athletes can be found below:

Junior Division Roster HERE.

Youth Division Roster HERE.

The top 16 from each WCRA Division Youth Leaderboard earned an automatic exemption into the semi-final round. Each open-entry athlete will compete in the qualifying rounds July 25-27, with up to 16 athletes earning a position in the semi-finals. The top eight from each discipline will advance to the July 27 Championship Round, where the top athlete will take home the title of WCJR Event Champion.

Schedule of events below:

A detailed schedule of events can be found HERE.

Late entries for the youth world championship will close on July 22 at 5 p.m. CT. Entry fees for the Junior Division (ages 19-13) will be $400, while the Youth Division (ages 15-10) will be $300 per entry. All athletes participating in the event through Open Entry will begin their competition in the qualifying rounds.

Fans can watch the world championship event on PlutoTV (Ridepass), and the Cowboy Channel+ App daily on July 23-27.

All rodeo athletes interested in learning more about the WCRA DY, the VRQ, or event format and payout details should be directed to dy.rodeo or download the WCRA DY app HERE. 

-WCRA-