Tierney looking to add to his titles

DUNCAN — While he was born and raised in South Dakota, Paul David Tierney has made a fortune and a home in Oklahoma, now living in the state’s capital city.

The second of four children born to ProRodeo Hall of fame cowboy Paul Tierney, rodeo was in his blood from the beginning. His father won at all levels, claiming the PRCA all-around championship in 1980. Paul Tierney’s two sons followed in the fancy roping footsteps of their father.

In fact, Paul David Tierney has already secured another championship; he leads the Prairie Circuit’s all-around standings with nearly $38,000 in earnings, and the men behind him don’t stand a chance of catching that. But Tierney is in line to add two more titles to his name this year.

He has qualified in two events for the Chisholm Trail Ram Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at the Stephens County Arena in Duncan. He is third in the heading standings with $17,474, less than $3,000 behind leader Andrew Ward of Edmond, Oklahoma.

Where he’s got the best shot to add to his total regional titles is in tie-down roping, where he leads the money list with $20,216. He has a $5,500 advantage over the No. 2 cowboy, Ryan Jarrett of Cherokee, Oklahoma, who has Prairie Circuit and world titles to his resume.

Paul David Tierney initially moved to the Sooner State to attend Northwestern Oklahoma State University, following in the footsteps of his older brother. Jess Tierney now lives in Altus, Oklahoma, where he is the rodeo coach at Western Oklahoma State College; this year, he also qualified for the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping for the 11th time in his career.

While Jess Tierney has maintained a strong focus on steer roping, he has an all-around talent, too. In fact, both sons have added their names to one of the most prestigious Western sports programs, the Oklahoma-based Timed Event Championship that takes place at the Lazy E Arena every March – Paul Tierney has won the coveted title four times, while Paul David earned championships in 2014 and 2016; Jess sketched his name in the record books by winning it in 2017.

When it comes to the Prairie Circuit, Paul David Tierney stands supreme. He has earned the all-around title in the region before this year, and he has been strong across the Oklahoma-Kansas-Nebraska region for years.

He proved it again this year with big earnings across the circuit. His biggest run came the opening week of August, when he shared the team roping victory while claiming the all-around title at the Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo in Abilene, Kansas, while also winning the tie-down roping and all-around championships at the Dodge City (Kansas) Roundup Rodeo.

That week alone was worth nearly $16,000 for the Oklahoma City cowboy, the bulk of which came at the Sunflower State’s biggest rodeo in Dodge City.

By qualifying for the Duncan championship in two events, Paul David Tierney is proving his talent as a multi-event cowboy, so it’s befitting that he is the Prairie Circuit’s all-around champion.