‘A great birthday gift’: Cody Jesus wins first-ever Wild Thing title

CHURCH ROCK, N.M.

Cody Jesus had the option of mounting up in Saturday night’s performance at this year’s Wild Thing Championship Bull Riding.

The Sawmill, Arizona cowboy choose Friday night instead as this past Saturday served as a special day with Jesus celebrating his 21st birthday.

“I put my family first,” he said. “My family wanted to be with me on my birthday and, you know, with Wild Thing, the bulls are still going to buck on Friday night.”

For his birthday, Jesus had planned on hitting the golf links but before he went on his golf outing the Diné bull rider gave his adoring fans plenty to cheer about.

Jesus rode Chupacabra, a Sammy Andrews bull, for 89 points and that score helped secure his first-ever title at Wild Thing.

“I think that’s a great birthday gift,” Jesus said of his ride. “This is what I wanted to do for my birthday – to be at Wild Thing. I’m glad I picked Friday night and there ain’t no better way to do it tonight.”

As the first-place winner, Jesus collected $10,000.

His winning ride brushed aside some early doubts in his recovery from a nagging groin injury he suffered during a PBR event in Tacoma, Washington in late March.

Jesus saw a local physical therapist in Gallup and as part of his rehabilitation he delved into acupuncture.

“I feel healthy and I’m ready to go,” he said, while adding that to prepare for Wild Thing he got on some practice bulls at home.

“I feel like the old me again,” Jesus said. “When I got off (my bull) tonight I did not limp one bit. Usually it takes me awhile to get up steps but I ran up the stairs today and I was happier than ever to sign autographs.”

Jesus finished one-point ahead of Fort Worth, Texas cowboy Kyle McDaniel as the 18 year-old conquered Sammy Andrews’ Nitro for 88 points on Saturday night.

“I really didn’t know much about him but they told me he was a piece of crap,” McDaniel said. “He actually turned out pretty good. I was happy with what I had.”

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