Blue Stone wins back-to-back bull riding titles
Rowdy Stone and his famous Dad - Blue Stone will celebrate another bull riding world championship for the holidays. The Stone's will then host friends and family for the Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo in Ogden, Utah on New Year's Eve.
Blue Stone of Ogden, Utah won the bull riding title at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas to become the first cowboy to win back-to-back bull riding titles and the coveted NFR Gold Buckle for bull riding in over 20 years.
The 24-year-old bull rider from Utah was bucked off during the final round at NFR, but already had enough money won in the average to capture his second consecutive world title in the bull riding event. Only two cowboys made the whistle in the final round at NFR and one of those riders was Stone's close friend and college rodeo teammate Cody Hancock who won the world title the year before Stone won his first gold buckle.
Stone set an NFR record last year during NFR as he earned over $112,000 during NFR to move past Ty Murray as the cowboy to win the most money in the bull riding event at the annual classic held in Las Vegas each December.
This year Stone became the first cowboy to win consecutive titles in the bull riding event since bull riding legend Donny Gay won three bull riding titles in 1979, 1980, and 1981. Gay won eight bull riding titles during his pro rodeo career and he now serves as a television commentator for rodeo events.
Stone has set the rodeo world on fire over the past two years, winning the world championship last year and then going on to win a gold medal during the Olympic Rodeo event in front of his home crowd in Utah. Stone also won the Wilderness Circuit title in 2000. Prior to his championship year, Stone's best year was in 2000 when he won over $18,000. He won nearly ten times that amount last year.
The reserved former construction worker was also a state champion for high school rodeo in Utah and was the reserve national champion for college rodeo during his days on the rodeo team at College of Southern Idaho. Stone and Hancock were college teammates at CSI and went on to capture successive world championships in the PRCA in the bull riding event. The pair also stepped up to the winner's stand together during the Olympics (Stone had to be helped to the stand after suffering a broken sternum following the medal winning ride). Stone won gold and Hancock won bronze in Salt Lake.
Stone will return home to Utah and spend time with his wife Misty and son Rowdy over the Christmas Holidays before returning to the rodeo arena at the Golden Spike Arena during the Wilderness Circuit Finals to be held Dec. 28-31. Stone will look to add another bull riding title to his list of championships during the Wilderness Circuit Finals to be held on New Year's Eve. Tickets are available for the Wilderness Circuit Finals by calling the Golden Spike Arena at 1 800 44 ARENA.