Jordan Jo Hollabaugh advanced through the WCRA Stampede At the E Qualifying and Progressive Rounds with unassuming skill before striking in the short round—topping the field with a time of 2.33 seconds, winning $15,000.
“I am very thankful to start the year off and grateful we get to rope here,” Hollabaugh, 33, said. Tonight the first girl out did a great job with a 2.6. There were a lot of girls tonight that could have make the [outcome] go either way.”
Hollabaugh roped in 2.58 and 2.99 seconds in the Qualifying Rounds, advancing to the Progressive Rounds thanks to her 5.57-second average. From there, she roped in 2.95 and 2.5 seconds, catching a check in each of the rounds. It was a blank slate in the short go, and she “let it all hang out.”
“My game plan anymore is to score as sharp as I can and throw as fast as I can every time. The competition has changed so much—you can’t back off. When I started roping professionally you had to knock them down and be clean but it’s changed and these young ladies who are roping have challenged us so much. You can’t back off.” – Jordan Jo Hollabaugh
Hollabaugh drew 19-year-old Marybeth Beam’s winning calf from Progressive Round 2—and Beam went 1.76 on him.
“I knew I had a good calf—I wasn’t as fast as Marybeth but I got the job done,” Hollabaugh said. “The young ladies like her motivate me. And you always hear, ‘Irons sharpens iron.’ The ability the young women in this sport have to take risks and chances—where my generation and the one before me was a little more conservative—it really pushes me to take risks.”
Hollabaugh rode 14-year-old “Cookie” throughout the event, the same mare she won the NFBR Average Championship on in 2020.
“She’s a lot of horsepower for me to ride but I’ve learned a lot from her and she was great for me here,” Hollabaugh said. “She broke [the rope] off faster every time and I am thankful have her and get to ride her. She makes my job easy.”
Hollabaugh praised the format of the WCRA’s event, saying she enjoys the format and how ropers are able to progress via round-winning times or the average race.
“Every girl roping here tonight got a check,” Hollabaugh said. “That’s huge. To get to rope with girls of this stature and money like this, is great.”
