LOVINGTON, N.M. – Bill Tutor now has 5,000 more reasons to love the Lea County Fair and Rodeo.
On Saturday night, he matched moves with Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Good Time Charlie for 87.5 points to win the bareback riding title at Jake McClure Arena in Lovington. On top of that, he pushed his 2018 earnings to more than $100,000.
“Last year, I was close to making $100,000, so I made it my goal to get there this year,” said Tutor, a 2017 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Huntsville, Texas. “I’m going to rodeo my tail off for the rest of the year. I want to go into the finals in the best position I can.”
He sits No. 3 in the world standings and trails the leaders, Caleb Bennett and Tim O’Connell, by tens of thousands of dollars, but there’s still a month and a half left in the season. Once they all get to Las Vegas, they’ll battle for the highest pay in the game.
A year ago, Tutor earned $70,359 in Las Vegas. He’s taken the lessons learned over those 10 December nights and parlayed them into a fantastic 2018 season.
“I gained so much confidence from the finals, knowing that I can ride at that level and to expect more out of myself,” said Tutor, who finished second at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo in 2014. “I thought it was a fantastic finals.”
He should, but he’s had a pretty strong season this year, too. He’s earned a dozen victories and has big hopes for the final few weeks of the campaign.
“This is a great rodeo, and it’s one of my favorites of the whole year,” he said. “There’s always great horses. It’s a tough rodeo to win, because there are a lot of great competitors as well.”
While Tutor is closing in on his second NFR, Good Time Charlie is a veteran of ProRodeo’s grand championship. In fact, the talented sorrel bucking machine should be in the Nevada desert for the 11th time this coming December.
“I’ve never been on that horse, but I’ve seen him a bunch of times,” said Tutor, 26. “I remember watching him when I first came on the scene, and I’ve always wanted to get on him.”
He proved just why in Lovington.
Lea County Fair and Rodeo
Lovington, N.M.
Aug. 8-11
All-around cowboy: Marcus Theriot, $6,374 in team roping and steer wrestling.
Bareback riding:1. Bill Tutor, 87.5 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Good Time Charlie, $5,337; 2. Steven Dent, 87, $4,092; 3. Casey Colletti, 86.5, $3,024; 4. (tie) Orin Larsen and Tilden Hooper, 86, $1,601 each; 6. Tim O’Connell, 83.5, $890; 7. Luke Creasy, 80.5, $712; 8. Trenton Montero, 80, $534.
Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Tanner Brunner, 3.8 seconds, $1,622; 2. Marcus Theriot, 3.9, $1,410; 3. (tie) Cody Devers and Bridger Anderson, 4.0, $1,093 each; 5. (tie) Rowdy Parrott and Brady Dallin Reneau, 4.1, $670 each; 7. Cody Harmon, 4.2, $353; 8. Wyatt Jurney, 4.4, $141. Second round: 1. (tie) Tyler Waguespack, Cody Devers, Riley Duvall and Jacob Edler, 3.6 seconds, $1,304 each; 5. (tie) Hunter Cure and Bridger Anderson, 3.8, $670 each; 7. Cody Moore, 3.9, $353; 8. Shayde Tree Etherton, 4.0, $141. Average: 1. Cody Devers, 7.6 seconds on two runs, $2,432; 2. Bridger Anderson, 7.8, $2,115; 3. (tie) Blake Knowles, Rowdy Parrott and Hunter Cure, 8.7, $1,481 each; 6. Tyler Waguespack, 9.0, $846; 7. Tanner Brunner, 9.1, $529; 8. Jule Hazen, 9.5, $212.
Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Hudson Wallace, 8.3 seconds, $2,219; 2. (tie) Cooper Martin and Ryan Jarrett, 9.0, $1,785 each; 4. Reese Reimer, 9.1, $1,351; 5. (tie) Dane Kissack and Pryce Harris, 9.3, $917; 7. Cimarron Boardman, 9.4, $482; 8. Cody McCartney, 9.6, $193. Second round: 1. Jesse Clark, 7.4 seconds, $2,219; 2. Caleb Smidt, 7.8, $1,930; 3. Timber Moore, 8.1, $1,640; 4. (tie) Ty Baker, 9.7, $1,351; 5. Kody Mahaffey, 8.4, $1,061; 6. Scott Kormos, 8.6, $772; 7. Ryle Smith, 9.1, $482; 8. Tyler Prcin, 9.2, $193. Average: 1. Hudson Wallace, 17.7 seconds on two runs, $3,329; 2. Reese Riemer, 19.0, $2,895; 3. Kody Mahaffey, 19.1, $2,460; 4. Caleb Smidt, 19.4, $2,026; 5. Ty Harris, 20.1, $1,592; 6. Scott Kormos, 20.3, $1,158; 7. Ty Baker, 20.5, $724; 8. Randall Carlisle, 20.7, $289.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Taos Muncy, 86 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Drama Queen, $4,710; 2. Dean Wadsworth, 84.5, $3,611; 3. (tie) Bradley Harter and Jacobs Crawley, 84, $2,198 each; 5. Tyler Corrington, 83.5, $1,099; 6. (tie) Joey Sonnier III and Blaise Freeman, 81.5, $706; 8. Isaac Diaz, 81, $471.
Steer roping: First round: 1. Landon McClaugherty, 10.8 seconds, $1,648; 2. Vin Fisher Jr., 11.3, $1,433; 3. John E. Bland, 11.6, $1,218; 4. Tuf Cooper, 11.9, $1,003; 5. Marty Jones, 13.2, $788; 6. (tie) Tony Reina and Will Gasperson, 13.7, $466 each; 8. Scott Snedecor, 14.4, $143. Second round: 1. Trevor Brazile, 8.3 seconds, $1,648; 2. Scott Snedecor, 10.9, $1,433; 3. Bryce Davis, 11.4, $1,218; 4. (tie) Darin Suit and Kim Ziegelgruber, 11.7, $896 each; 6. (tie) Jim Locke and Jarrett Blessing, 12.1, $466 each; 8. J. Tom Fisher, 12.6, $143. Third round: 1. J.P. Wickett, 10.0 seconds, $1,648; 2. Billy Good, 12.0, $1,433; 3. Jason Evans, 12.2, $1,218; 4. Bryce Davis, 12.4, $1,003; 5. Shay Good, 12.7, $788; 6. Roger Branch, 13.2, $573; 7. Van Hale, 14.1, $358; 8. Trey Wallace, 15.4, $143. Average: 1. Bryce Davis, 44.4 seconds on three runs, $2,472; 2. Will Gasperson, 45.2, $2,150; 3. Trey Wallace, 46.6, $1,827; 4. Chance Gasperson, 48.8, $1,505; 5. Roger Branch, 50.4, $1,182; 6. Dane Noyce, 52.1, $860; 7. Corey Ross, 56.3, $537; 8. Scott Snedecor, 25.3 seconds on two runs, $215.
Team roping: First round: 1. Tanner Green/Forrest Fisher, 4.8 seconds, $1,872; 2. Marcus Theriot/Cody Doescher, 5.2, $1,628; 3. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 5.4, $1,383; 4. Kellan Johnson/Brady Norman, 5.5, $1,139; 5. Josh Siggins/Victor Aros, 5.6, $895; 6. Chad Masters/Joseph Harrison, 5.7, $651; 7. Kelsey Parchman/Dustin Davis, 5.8, $407; 8. (tie) Jeff Flenniken,/Jake Minor and Joshua Torres/Jonathan Torres, 5.9, $81 each. Second round: 1. Cory Kidd V/Caleb Anderson, 3.9 seconds, $1,872; 2. (tie) Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira and Tanner Baldwin/Seth Hall, 4.6, $1,506 each; 4. Bubba Buckaloo/Tyler Worley, 4.7, $1,139; 5. Lee Kiehne/Tyler Getzwiller, 5.2, $895; 6. (tie) Erich Rogers/Clint Summers and Marcus Theriot/Cody Doescher, 5.3, $529 each; 8. Kellan Johnson/Brady Norman, 5.4, $163. Average: 1. Marcus Theriot/Cody Doescher, 10.5 seconds on two runs, $2,808; 2. Kellan Johnson/Brady Norman, 10.9, $2,441; 3. (tie) Erich Rogers/Clint Summers and Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 11.3, $1,892; 5. Josh Siggins/Victor Aros, 14.0, $1,343; 6. Tanner Green/Forrest Fisher, 14.9, $977; 7. Clay Tryan/Gravis Graves, 15.9, $610; 8. Joshua Torres/Jonathan Torres, 16.4, $244.
Barrel racing: 1. Andrea Busby, 17.61 seconds, $3,934; 2. Nicole DeMers, 17.69, $3,147; 3. Leia Pluemer, 17.92, $2,557; 4. Kaylin Beeman, 17.94, $1,967; 5. Ilyssa Glass, 18.01, $1,574; 6. (tie) Meghan Johnson and Cindy Smith, 18.13, $1,082 each; 8. Jessica Frost, 18.17, $885; 9. Katelyn Scott, 18.35, $787; 10. Billie Ann Harmon, 18.37, $688; 11. Raylene Cox, 18.55, $590; 12. Tyra Kane, 18.64, $491; 13. Brandy Sanchez, 18.65, $393; 14. Lisa Ogden, 18.66, $295; 15. Jymmy Kay Cox, 18.72, $197.
Bull riding: 1. J.W. Harris, 88 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Cat Scat, $5,161; 2. Elliot Jacoby, 87, $3,957; 3. Jesse Petri, 86, $2,924; 4. Jeston Mead, 83.5, $1,892; 5. (tie) Parker Breding and Kenan Isbell, 82.5, $1,032 each; 7. Braden Richardson, 82, $688; 8. Reid Barker, 81, $516.