RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The PRCA Seminole Hard Rock Xtreme Bulls Tour, presented by B&W Trailer Hitches, hit the ground running in Rapid City on Friday night, returning to the Black Hills Stock Show for the fourth straight year.
In a star-studded field of the world’s best bull riders, which included 2007 PRCA world champion Wesley Silcox, defending Rapid City Xtreme Bulls champ Bobby Welsh and nine other recent Wrangler NFR bull riders, Belvidere’s Clay Hindman couldn’t have planned his draw any better. Hindman had quietly been making a name for himself in late 2009, scoring 89 points last fall and hitting 90 at a rodeo in Elk City on Buetler & Son’s famed bull Tokyo Drift.
So drawing Cool Cat from the Berger family out of Mandan, N.D., was a dream in Rapid City. The bull is ridden more often than not, and cowboys average around 84 points on him, according to the PBR.
With Belvidere just 100 miles down the road from Rapid City, Hindman had the crowd on its feet with his wild ride, worth 89 points to win the go-round. It’s a crowd that bull riders anticipate each year, according to Wrangler NFR bull riding veteran Fred Boettcher, who scored 81 points Friday night to place sixth.
“I love coming here,” said Boettcher. “Whole families here plan their vacation around coming to Rapid City. The crowds and the people really get into it, and these rodeo fans are more educated than most. We were visiting at breakfast about the economic impact on this community, and its neat to see rodeo be responsible for that.”
Rapid City is the second stop on this year’s 10-event Xtreme Bulls Tour, which offers a combined purse of $530,000 that counts toward the PRCA world standings and qualification to the 2010 Wrangler NFR. The tour finale is scheduled for Sept. 4 in Ellensburg, Wash.
The 40 riders will compete again Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the second round, after which the top 12 will immediately be brought back for the finals, during which the 2010 average champion will be crowned. A live webcast of that round will be available on Saturday night at www.espn360.com.
Tickets for Saturday night, which start at $12.50, can be purchased by calling (605) 394-4115 or visiting www.gotmine.com.
RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The following are first-round results from the PRCA Seminole Hard Rock Xtreme Bulls Friday night performance, presented by the TriState Livestock News at the Black Hills Stock Show, Jan. 29, 2010.
First round: 1, Clay Hindman, Belvidere, S.D., 89 points on Dakota Rodeo Company’s Cool Cat, $1,706. 2, Ted Bert, Modesto, Calif., 87 points on Burch Rodeo Company’s Jingle Bob, $1,308. 3, Douglas Duncan, Alvin, Texas, 86 points on Burns Rodeo Company’s Seminole Wind, $967. 4, Jarrod Ford, Greeley, Colo., 85 points on Dakota Rodeo Company’s The Breeze, $626. 5, Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., 82 points on Dakota Rodeo Company’s Catie Done It, $398. 6, Fred Boettcher, Rice Lake, Wis., 81 points on Burns Rodeo Company’s Extreme Forces, $285. 7/8 (tie), Jesse Pohlmann, Huntsville, Texas, on Dakota Rodeo Company’s Shoulders and Dylan Werner, Bushnell, Fla., on Burch Rodeo Company’s Rozet Redneck, 79 points each, $199 each.
