DENTON, Texas – Dusty Tuckness has made a name for himself in the world of bullfighting by doing backflips over bulls during freestyle events.
On Friday night during the Miller Lite Bull Blowout Professional Bullfighters Tour event at the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo, Tuckness again flipped inside the arena. The difference this time was that the bull did the flipping, hooking the Meeteetse, Wyo., cowboy over its head.
Still, Tuckness landed on his feet and came away from the melee unscathed.
“I just praise God,” said Tuckness, 22, whose father, Timber, is a professional bullfighter. “I ended up going around and landing on my feet.
“I also had Andy pulling that bull off me when I was flying through the air.”
Tuckness and partner Andy Burelle of Ardmore, Okla., won the second straight night of the protection-bullfighting competition at Miller Lite Arena, scoring 157 points. With one more performance – at 7:30 p.m. Saturday – the two have earned $1,600 apiece by winning both rounds. They are also in the driver’s seat for the overall title.
“If you’re going to get hooked, make it look pretty,” said Burelle, 31, a 10-year veteran. “Dusty made the save, but that bull was right along the pen, so he couldn’t turn the bull away from the rider. In that case, his only choice was to take that bull straight away, and that’s when you have a better chance of getting run over.”
The scores are tallied by the judges and are registered on every bull the eight teams of bullfighters face. The judges – retired bullfighters Allen Nelson, Jon Brogan and Rex Dunn – allow for points under certain criteria as to how the action happened, like being in position, degree of difficulty, whether the bull was turned away from the rider, etc. And one element the judges have is showmanship.
Tuckness and Burelle scored well on that particular bull, especially after Tuckness threw his cowboy hat and helped get the crowd into the action.
“I give a lot of credit to my fighting to Rex Dunn, Leon Coffee and Lecile Harris,” Tuckness said, referring to some of the biggest names in the bullfighting business. “They would do all the freestyle and fight the bulls, but they had to come in and do comedy. They knew how to entertain.
“I didn’t want to get hooked, and I praise God that I was able to land on my feet. But this is still a show, and we still have to entertain.”
MILLER LITE BULL BLOWOUT PROFESSIONAL BULLFIGHTERS
Second performance, Friday, Aug. 22: 1. Team Wells Fargo Bank, Andy Burelle, Ardmore, Okla./Dusty Tuckness, Meeteetse, Wyo., 157 points, $800 each; 2. Team Rudy’s Bar-B-Q, Dave Jantzi, Sugarcreek, Ohio/Toby Inman, Davis Junction, Ill., 151, $600 each; 3. Deam Daisy, Kevin Pitts, Burleson, Texas/Jay Brewer, Graham, Texas, 137; $400 each; 4/5. Team Trailer Storage, Sam Gress, Hutchinson, Kan./Wacey Munsell, Ulysses, Kan., and Team Miller Lite, Ross Hill, Muscle Shoals, Ala./Lance McIlvain, Arlington, Texas, $100 each; 6. Team Hooters, Joe Butler, Stillwater, Okla./Chad Dowdy, Bristow, Okla., 123; 7. Team Ag-Power John Deere, Brian Flanders, Amarillo, Texas/Cole Otts, Shamrock, Texas, 118;; 8. Team First United Bank, Brandon Brazier, Louisiana, Mo./Joe Garretson, Springfield, Mo., 116.
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