The WPRA's first-ever Breakaway Roping World Champion, Becky Berggren.

In the mid-1970s, the WPRA included breakaway roping in the World Finals for the first time. They only did it for two years—1974 and 1975—before leaving it off the schedule again until the ’80s, but Becky Berggren was there to clinch the title that very first year.

WPRA World Champion Breakaway Roper: 1974

College: Sam Houston State University

College National Finals Rodeo Championship Titles: All-Around (1965), Barrel Racing (1965), SHSU Women’s Team (1965, 1966).

Hometown: Scottsbluff, NE

Click here for the Complete List of Breakaway World Champs

*Please note: The above image is of an unidentified roper taken circa 1945 by Ralph R. Doubleday, courtesy of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. 

Tags ∙ Becky Berggren ∙ Breakaway Roping History ∙ WPRA ∙ WPRA World Champion Breakaway Ropers ∙ WPRA World Champs
By
G.R. Schiavino is the managing editor of The Breakaway Roping Journal and The Team Roping Journal. She is a recipient of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Magazine Article for her story “Warriors to Ride the River With,” published in American Cowboy magazine. More recently, Schiavino was a finalist for the American Horse Publication’s Equine Media Awards for her story “Beating the Odds” in The Team Roping Journal.

Related