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RELEASE DATE: Mar. 18, 2025

OPSU’s Frost earns rodeo gold

GUYMON, Okla. – In early February, Josh Frost received a package from Columbus, Montana, that he’d waiting for all his life.

Inside was a symbol of the years he’d put into his craft, a shining example of a trying 2024 ProRodeo season that saw him battle challenges, overcome a shoulder injury and come out on top anyway. The golden piece of hardware was made for moments like this, inscribed with his name and the title of world champion bull rider.

“I was waiting for it to sink in, but when that buckle showed up, that was when I realized that was what I was waiting for,” he said of the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle, the trophy presented annually to ProRodeo’s titlists in each event.

Will the most cherished prize in rodeo sit in Frost’s trophy case or on his belt?

“I go with this theory, which I learned from Robert Etbauer: He said, ‘If I worked my whole life to win this buckle, I’m going to work the rest of my life wearing it every single day,’ ” Frost said of his former coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. “That’s where I am. I stuck her on my belt the night it showed up.”

He’s earned the right to do it. That shoulder injury happened in August, and he took some time off the rodeo trail to tend to his ailment while building strength to prepare for the National Finals Rodeo, where he was one of five cowboys with ties to the Oklahoma Panhandle to compete: bareback rider Cole Franks, who was born in Guymon; former Panhandle State bronc riding brothers Dawson and Logan Hay; and NFR bronc riding average winner Wyatt Casper, who grew up in Balko.

All but Frost are expected to return to their roots for the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 2; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 4, at Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena. Frost, who had surgery on his shoulder in January, is not expected back into competition until mid-June. Until then, he’ll continue to rehabilitate his injury, work on his place in Utah and enjoy wearing rodeo’s gold.

“Winning the world meant a lot after being the reserve world champion three years in a row,” said Frost, who earned his second NFR average title this past December while pocketing more than $265,000 over 10 days in Las Vegas; the five-time NFR qualifier ended the year with $476,887. “It was kind of funny how different this year was just with having injuries.

“I sat out the whole month of February. In the three years prior, it seemed like the winter rodeos really set me up. (In 2024), I wasn’t even in the top 50 in April, so it looked different. It comes down to the fact that if you stay on the bulls, they pay you pretty good.”

With that, he became the eighth cowboy with ties to the Oklahoma Panhandle to earn a world title, joining bronc buster Billy Etbauer, who lived in Goodwell for a time in his career and whose brothers still live there, and six other Panhandle State alums: team roper Jhett Johnson; steer roper Rocky Patterson; and saddle bronc riders Robert Etbauer, Taos Muncy, Jeffrey Willert and Tom Reeves.

In all, they account for 17 gold buckles, with Billy Etbauer owning the most with five. Patterson, whose son is a two-time and reigning steer roping world champion, is a four-time titlist, while Muncy and Robert Etbauer have two gold buckles each.

“Being on that list means a lot,” said Frost, who has also competed in steer wrestling and tie-down roping and owns four Linderman Awards for being handy on both ends of the arena. “Panhandle State, in my opinion, is one of the most cowboy rodeo colleges there is. It’s dang sure got the reputation for being a bronc rider college, but they take every event serious there. Being a multi-event cowboy, I went there and wasn’t even a bronc rider but being somebody that was riding bulls, roping calves, steer wrestling and team roping.

“I feel there aren’t very many places out there that you have the ability to really train in every aspect of rodeo. Even though there were 35 bronc riders on the team, we still had the opportunity to get on bulls, rope calves, steer wrestle and team rope just like they were a priority.”

Frost has plenty of reasons to celebrate his magical 2024 seasons, but there’s a level of disappointment in knowing he won’t be returning to competition in time to ride in Guymon the first weekend in May.

“That area is my second home,” Frost said. “The whole support the community gives the college and rodeo in general is unduplicated anywhere else I’ve ever been.”

Tucked away in the Wasatch Mountains in northeastern Utah, Randlett is hamlet of about 100 people. It’s where Frost was raised alongside his siblings, including another Panhandle State alumnus, brother Joe, also a five-time NFR qualifier. Josh Frost left home to attend college in Texas County, Oklahoma, and he’s proud of how it all came together to help him to develop into a world champion.

“I tell everyone that Vernal, Utah, and Guymon, Oklahoma, are my two hometown rodeos,” he said. “Robert Etbauer was a two-time world champion, but he got there because of the hard work and the coaches who have been there prior to him. What’s instilled by going to Panhandle State is being a cowboy, getting up and getting to work.”

Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo

Where Champions Come to Play the First Weekend in May

For information contact Ted Harbin, imteditor@gmail.com, (660) 254-1900