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Bates wins average at Native Bulldoggers Jackpot
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Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Bulldogger Grant Peterson from Livermore, Calif., takes the steer to the ground on Monday in the Ote Berry Junior Steer Wrestling Jackpot in Mexican Springs, New Mexico. Peterson won the event with a 16.12 effort on three steers.
MEXICAN SPRINGS, N.M.
Michael Bates didn’t net a go-round check on Monday but his consistency yielded a trophy saddle at the Native Bulldoggers Memorial Jackpot.
The event had a purse of $13,030 with Bates winning the three-run average in 19.12 seconds against a field of 38 bulldoggers from six states.
“These steers weren’t easy,” said Bates, who pocketed $1,303 for winning the average. “You had to make sure that you bulldog your steers and I just made sure I got them down because I was looking at the average.”
Bates said he finished third two years ago and last year he took second.
“I pretty much did the same thing the last two years,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to be fast. I just got three steers down within a decent time.”
The event was held in conjunction with the Ote Berry Junior Steer Wrestling Jackpot as that competition crowned its first out-of-state winner with Livermore, California, cowboy Grant Peterson winning the average in 16.12 seconds.
“I think this is a great event,” Peterson said. “It was a little windy but they had a lot of good steers.”
Peterson entered twice in the $7,940 jackpot that had 28 total entries under the age of 19 competing. The California cowboy collected a check in every round, including two in the first go-round, short round and the average for a grand total of $3,705.
In addition to placing first in the average, he also nabbed third in the aggregate with a three-run total of 18.23 seconds on his second set of steers.
“I wasn’t thinking about winning the whole deal or placing third,” Peterson said. “I just wanted to make some good runs. My horse did a good job today and that’s all I could ask for. I went and did my job.”
Peterson said everything worked out great and he credited local cowboy Norman Bates, one of the event sponsors, for doing a nice job in the hazing department.
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