A record-setting season ended with a second straight PRCA Team Roping World Championship gold buckle for Hoboken native Kaleb Driggers.
Driggers and partner Junior Nogueira captured the title December 16 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas over the course of 10 days.
The 2022 season started in January in Fort Worth, Texas. Driggers and Nogueira set a single-eason earnings record with $340,708.23 each, besting the former record held by Clay Smith and Paul Eaves of $289,921 a man by $50,787.23.
Driggers, 33, and Nogueira, 32, broke every regular season record possible in team roping, having bested the single-season earnings record by the end of July. They picked up $24,760 in Fort Worth.
The duo entered the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with Driggers $83,214 ahead of second-place Clay Tryan, while Nogueira was $97,546 ahead of Jake Long, his nearest competitor.
The NFR started off just as expected for the header from Hoboken and the heeler from Presidente Prudente, Sao Paolo, Brazil. They made a 4.7-second run in Round 1 to win third, then made a 4.4-second run to split third and fourth in Round 2.
“When we got started, we were kind of making our run,” Driggers said. “I knew that this week, a lot of times when I come in, I’m going for blood — first place. But maybe I’m getting older.”
Nogueira roped a leg in Round 3 and again in Round 4. By Round 5, Nogueira was frustrated with himself, and he couldn’t quite rebound. His horse stepped in his loop taking their first no-time of the week and, for the first time all season, putting a question mark on their gold buckles.
“It was different this year,” Nogueira said. “I don’t know if I over did it a little bit, or tried to cover every little detail. We did good at the jackpots, and we were trying to keep the same go. We dominated the whole year.
“We know how to press when we need to do good, too. I put pressure on myself and I felt a little bit behind the whole time. I was just behind and couldn’t get going. You start fighting your mind, until you figure something out.”
Entering the 10th and final round, Driggers and Nogueira ended up with a steer that nobody had been clean on. By the time they roped, Tanner Tomlinson and Patrick Smith had gone 3.7 to split the go-round with Rhen Richard and Jeremy Buhler and Tyler Wade and Trey Yates.
Driggers and Nogueira just needed to catch.
“The 10th round felt pretty tough,” Driggers said. “That steer was low-headed and checking off coming into me a little bit. And I had to be in the mind frame to slow down and make sure to get him caught.”
Catch he did — low-headed steer and all. And Nogueira did, too — sealing the deal.
