Ty Wallace, a native of Colorado, currently living in Oklahoma, qualified for his fourth National Finals Rodeo with earnings of $60,233.83 and an impressive 85.77 average ride score, a four-point increase over his career record in 2018.
The 26-year-old competed in 51 rodeos with 22 qualified rides or 43%. Wallace's highest marked bull ride was a 92 on Braggin Rights owned by Honeycutt Rodeo to win the Fort Mohave Extreme Bulls Classic.
Wallace had four PRCA rodeo event title wins, including Fort Mohave Extreme Bulls Competition.
Wallace weathered the storm of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak at his home in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Wallace, a native of Collbran, Colorado, made his home in Ardmore a little over a year ago and started his horseshoeing business while recovering from an injury.
“The key to a long break from rodeo, Wallace believes, isn’t just staying in physical shape or trying to practice. It’s also about staying mentally sharp until the rodeos can once again commence.
He had hoped to return to the rodeo road, and the NFR in 2020 after a broken arm sidelined him until early 2019. But the pandemic abruptly halted what was going to be his strong comeback season.
“Everybody’s like, ‘We can’t rodeo, there’s nothing to go to,’ but also, hindsight is 20/20,” Wallace said. “Stay in shape. Keep motivated. A lot of people just go home and sit around. Really, you could be taking advantage of a lot of this time to prepare for when it does come back around.
“Be prepared to get out there and be your best, staying in shape and working on fundamental stuff and staying busy. That’s how I look at it.”
Wallace has made the National Finals Rodeo three times, most recently in 2017. At 23 years old, he finished No. 3 in the world standings with $305,352 in prize money, placed in six rounds of the NFR, fourth in the average with 500.5 points on six head. In 2016 he Finished 20th in the world standings with $57,259.
In 2015 he finished in the top ten in the world standings with $155,136. He won Round 7 and placed in two other rounds at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
“I put a lot of time when I was younger into getting on bulls and doing it that way,” Wallace said. “I don’t just get on bulls just to keep tuned up. It’s a dangerous sport. I feel like if you can stay healthy and keep your mind sharp, like getting on a barrel, I have a drop barrel at home, I’ve been shoeing a lot of horses down here where I moved to, those things help.”
In 2014 he placed second in Round 8 and third in Round 5 of his Wrangler NFR debut. Finished 12th in the world standings with $93,935
2013 was Wallace’s rookie year, and he finished 47th in the world standings and eighth in the rookie standings with $22,587 while missing much of the summer season with a broken collarbone and separated A/C joint in his shoulder.
His first year of pro-competition was 2012; he won the Steamboat Springs (Colo.) ProRodeo Series on July 20 and earned $6,070 on his permit.
Wallace qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo as a freshman in 2013 and scored the highest marked ride of the rodeo (86 points) to win the second round and finished fifth in the average.
Wallace enjoys roping, riding colts, and ranching.