Hamilton takes lead in Liberty Bank Xtreme Bulls

Just about every sport has methods to scout opponents from video to watching live action, however, when you start dealing with bucking bulls which top the scales at 1,800 pounds or greater, you might as well throw out past performances because these powerful animal athletes have a mind of their own.

Friday night former world champion Ky Hamilton had a good idea of what Fire Time from the Championship Pro Rodeo herd would do, but smack in the middle of their matchup in the Liberty Bank Xtreme Bulls, Fire Time stopped spinning from clockwise to counter-clockwise in a split second.

Most riders would have hit the ground on that abrupt move, however, the 2023 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world champion handled the change and completed the eight-second ride to bring out a huge roar from one of the largest crowds in the history of the event as they realized they had just witnessed something special.

The Australian native watched the replay on the big screen with the fans and when an 86 was posted he had jumped into the lead, giving him a good chance to pick up a hefty check when the final bull is bucked Saturday night.

The final performance begins at 7 p.m. tonight at the Great Plains Coliseum, with gates set to open at 6 p.m.

Friday there were just seven qualified rides as the bulls were making short work of most of the riders, tossing former world champions, leaders in the current PRCA world standings and young guns trying to make their mark in the roughest of rodeo events.

What makes these bull riding competitions especially tough is that the three PRCA stock contractors providing bulls can hand pick their best to make each matchup capable of getting the rider a good check. The largest pen of bulls come from the Frontier Rodeo Company of Freedom, which has captured 10 Stock Contractor of the Year titles. Also providing bulls is “Mo” Betta Rodeo Company of Apache which is owned by Maury Tate who helped get the event started with promoter Charles Lupi.

“I thought this was a great performance and the crowd was great,” Tate said after Friday’s performance. “The bulls bucked hard and we had some guys make good rides on really tough bulls. Saturday’s performance has some really good matchups.”

While Hamilton is in good shape to get a check, he will have to wait to see if the 42 riders scheduled Saturday can top his score and grab a big chunk of the purse that should reach nearly $50,000, with the winner taking home somewhere around $12,000.

Among the top riders scheduled to compete Saturday include the current leader in the world standings, Wacey Schalla of Arapaho, who will have a golden opportunity after drawing the great National Finals Rodeo bull Misunderstood from the Frontier Rodeo Company.

Other top riders scheduled to ride in the final performance include former Lawton Xtreme winner Dustin Boquet; Jace Trosclair, who is currently sixth in the world standings; Trey Benton III, who is currently seventh in the world standings; and Trey Kimzey, the younger brother of eight-time world champion Sage Kimzey. Trey Kimzey is currently 11th in the world standings and eager to make another trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December.

There were other good rides Friday but none could get close to Hamilton. Hayden Welsh of Gillette, Wyo., is currently second with an 83 aboard Big Papi from the “Mo” Betta herd, followed by Ernie Courson, of Okeechobee, Florida, with an 82.5 for third. Cooper James of Erda, Utah, and JaCauy Hale of Ganado, Ariz., both earned scores of 82 to tie for fourth heading into Saturday’s final performance.

Another fan favorite was the junior bull riding with Braxton Bingham and Austin Young earning scores of 74 to tie for the lead heading into Saturday’s performance. The young riders are matched up with big steers that give them a challenge but aren’t as powerful as the bulls used for the Xtreme competition.