NFBR 2024

Domer Wins ProRodeo Breakaway Roping World Title, Her 10th Gold Buckle

By Ted Harbin

LAS VEGAS (December 4. 2024) – Truthfully, Kelsie Domer never considered this moment as a young girl raised in a roping family in northwestern Oklahoma, but she’s living a dream after a dominating performance at the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka over two December days at the South Point Equestrian Center in the City of Entertainment.

In the year that her main mount, Little Man, was named the 2024 WPRA Horse with the Most Heart, Domer made headlines herself with her 10^th world championship with four of those being in breakaway roping but this was her first in the ProRodeo Breakaway Roping era. She won the average title, worth $16,914, and cleared nearly $36,000 at the South Point to win the world championship and gather the most coveted piece of hardware in the game, the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle.

“This one means the most because it was won in ProRodeo,” said Domer of Dublin, Texas. “It was all year long. I worked hard for the other ones, too, but this one’s just different.”

She won the first of her WPRA titles a dozen seasons ago, when she claimed both the tie-down roping and all-around crowns. She finished the campaign with $6,847; and most of the other world championships she’s earned offered similar financial rewards. Things have changed, thanks to the insurgence of breakaway roping in ProRodeo. Domer finished the year with $168,758, outlasting a late surge by 2022 world titlist Martha Angelone by just $3,253.

“I knew I had to win as much money as I could, and I needed to hold my average spot,” said Angelone of Stephenville, Texas. “I probably should’ve just tried to win something on the one calf I missed today (in the ninth round), and I shouldn’t have gotten a leg yesterday, but it all works out. I’m so happy for Kelsie for winning the world and the average. She deserves it.”

Domer’s been around the game for several years and has been one of the elite cowgirls in the WPRA since her rookie campaign in 2011. She won her first three breakaway world titles from 2017-19, and the first National Finals Breakaway Roping took place in 2020.

She was more than solid on her first nine runs over the two-day championship. The lone hiccup came on her final calf of the 2024 campaign, when the loop didn’t find its mark. By finishing with a nine-run cumulative time of 22.0 seconds, she was better than eight seconds faster than the No. 2 cowgirl in the aggregate, Macy Young of Wittman, Arizona.

The miss, though, opened the door for Angelone and Josie Conner of Iowa, Louisiana, to leap through. Domer’s saving grace was her consistency and the big bonus that came with winning the aggregate race. Still, she was holding her breath after watching her rope hit the ground.

“Haven (Meged) actually came up to me and said, ‘Congrats, world champ,’ ” she said of the 2019 world champion tie-down roper and husband of Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, the 2023 breakaway titlist. “I just kind of looked and said, ‘Really?’ He was like, ‘I know for a fact.’ I wanted to accept it, but I wanted to see my name up there first and have them announce it.”

With her husband, Ryan, and daughter, Oaklynn, standing nearby, the emotions showed, A year’s worth of work – a lifetime of work – had come to fruition.

“I think (family) has affected it for the better,” Domer said. “It’s awesome that my family allows me to get to do this. I get to go with Oaklynn to every one of them if she wants to go, and that makes it that much more special. It’s not just about me anymore. It’s about supporting my family and hopefully showing my little girl that her mom worked her ass off for this.”

While the veteran took in the kudos, NFBR newcomer Rylee George of Oakdale, California, carried her own distinction away from the South Point. She posted two 1.7-second runs (tying Danielle Lowman of Gilbert, Arizona) to win the Betty Gayle Cooper Ratliff Fast Time award presented by the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

“It means the world to me,” said George, who received a set of earnings and matching scarf slide designed and made by Ryan Liggett of Loreena Rose Jewelry as well as a $1,000 cash award. “Being able to be that fast here is another accomplishment, and it’s just a dream come true this week.”

George is 10 years younger than Domer, but they have a lot in common. They chose to compete for a living, and they’re doing pretty well at it. They were part of a world-class competition that lived up to its billing, and it’s only an extension of a dream many ladies have had for the WPRA since its inception decades ago.

“Growing up, this really wasn’t a dream, because it wasn’t a reality for us,” Domer said. “I was naïve. I didn’t really know much about the WPRA. I junior high rodeoed, high school rodeoed, did all that, and college is really when I learned about it. That’s when dreams changed.

“It’s cool to see how much it has changed over the years, and it’s going to be cool to see that if my little girl wants to do it, she can dream of it starting today.”

The following are results from the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping, Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

Sixth round: 1. Martha Angelone, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. Jordan Joe Hollabaugh, 2.1, $5,128; 3. Rickie Fanning, 2.4, $4,060; 4. Kelsie Domer, 2.7, $2,991; 5. Hali Williams, 3.2, $1,923; 6. Rylee George, 3.5, $1,068.

Seventh round: 1. Danielle Lowman, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. Jackie Crawford, 2.2, $5,128; 3. (tie) Kelsie Domer and Martha Angelone, 2.3, $3,526 each; 5. TiAda Gray, 2.5, $1,923; 6. Macy Young, 2.9, $1,068.

Eighth round: 1. Rylee George, 1.7 seconds, $6,197; 2. (tie) Josie Conner and Hali Williams, 1.8, $4,594 each; 4. Kelsie Domer, 1.9, $2,991; 5. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, Jackie Crawford and Kendal Pierson, 2.0, $977 each.

Ninth round: 1. Hali Williams, 1.9 seconds, $6,197; 2. (tie) Macy Young and Kendal Pierson, 2.1, $4,590 each; 4. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged and Josie Conner, 2.3, $2,457 each; 6. Kelsie Domer, 2.7, $1,068. 

Tenth round: 1. Martha Angelone, 1.8 seconds, $6,197; 2. Hali Williams, 1.9, $5,128; 3. (tie) Kendal Pierson, Jackie Crawford and Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 2.0, $2,991 each; 6. Josie Conner, 2.1, $1,068.

Average: 1. Kelsie Domer, 22.0 seconds on nine runs, $16,914; 2. Macy Young, 30.1, $13,722; 3. Jordan Jo Hollabaugh, 42.8, $10,850; 4. Martha Angelone, 17.2 seconds on eight runs, $7,978; 5. TiAda Gray, 20.5, $5,744; 6. Josie Conner, 26.4, $4,149; 7. Jackie Crawford, 27.4, $2,872; 8. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 28.0, $1,596.

World Standings: 1. Kelsie Domer, $168,758; 2. Martha Angelone, $165,505; 3. Josie Conner, $165,046; 4. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, $160,729; 5. Jackie Crawford, $157,107; 6. Taylor Munsell, $143,686; 7. Macy Young, $121,099; 8. Hali Williams, $118,983; 9. Maddy Deerman, $117,389; 10. Daniell Lowman, $112,355; 11. Rylee George, $106,641; 12. Rickie Fanning, $105,559; 13. Kendal Pierson, $99,137; 14. Jordan Jo Hollabaugh, $95,235; 15. TiAda Gray, $93,110