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Las Vegas • Payson's Kaycee Feild claimed his first world bareback championship Friday night.

Lewis Feild, his Hall of Fame father, saw it coming a long time ago.

Kaycee Feild finished tied for fourth place in Round 9 of the $6 million Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Feild earned $5,000, which bumped his season total to $256,236 and wrapped up the same world title his father won five times.

"I watched Kaycee ride several times this year, and he just seemed dominant," Lewis Feild said. "Then, he gets here and wins the first three rounds so, yeah, I was pretty sure this was going to happen."

Casey Colletti of Pueblo, Colo., won the round with an 87.5. Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas, who was the only cowboy who could have caught Feild, was second with an 87.

It was not enough, however, to prolong the battle for the world championship into Saturday night's final round.

"I knew I had to try and lock it up," Kaycee Feild said. "I had a good horse ... [and] I'm happy it turned out the way it did. Happy for the week. Happy I drew the horses I did. Happy I rode as good as I did."

According to his father, Kaycee Feild has earned the right to be called the best bareback rider in his family.

"People come and say, 'Do you think he …' and then they don't say it," Lewis Feild said. "They want to say, 'Do you think he rides better than you?'

"They think they're going to make me feel bad, but nothing makes me feel better. And I do think he rides better than me. But I'm very proud of that."

For Kaycee Feild, it's been a dream season. Despite missing three weeks while visiting United States military bases around the world as part of the Armed Forces Entertainment-Wrangler National Patriotic Tour, he has won 16 individual rodeos.

"It's been the most fun I've ever had," Feild said. "Me and my travel partners, we rodeoed a little different this year. We focused on some different things. When we got to the rodeos, we had fun. It didn't matter if we had a good horse or a bad horse. We just got there and rode the best we possibly could."

Good idea.

"This year," Lewis Feild said, "Kaycee has proven he's the best there is."

In other events:

• Milford's Jesse Wright won the saddle bronc with an 87 to stay alive in the world championship race with season earnings of $195,508. His brother, Cody Wright, shared second with an 82.

• In barrel racing, Ogden's Jody Sheffield placed second with a time of 13.82 seconds and earned $14,134.

• In bull riding, neither Wesley Silcox of Santaquin nor Steve Woolsey of Payson finished their eight-second ride. —

Highlights

R Payson's Kaycee Feild clinches his first world bareback championship.

• He joins his father, Hall of Famer Lewis Feild, as a world champion.

• Milford's Jesse Wright stays alive in the world saddle bronc race by winning Round 9.