Crowd favorite, cowboy draw Wild Thing set for big show

WINDOW ROCK

Five former champions will headline this year’s Wild Thing Championship Bull Riding this weekend.

The iconic event starts Friday and ends on Saturday night with the gates opening at 6 p.m. at Red Rock Park.

Wild Thing promoter Larry Peterson said past winners Tustin Daye, Ryan McConnel, Lane Nobles, Rozen Nobles and Travis Briscoe will take their plunge along with 85 other bull riders during the two-day event.

“We have them coming out from 10 different states,” Peterson said. “I think there’s even a guy from Indiana.”

Eight of the bull riders scheduled to ride are international cowboys with two coming from Mexico and six from Brazil.

In the past, Peterson said he’s had a few Brazilians entered in his event and on Friday night they’ll be nodding their heads to open the chute.
“A couple of them have some well-known names,” he said.

Peterson said they also have some of the top Navajo Nation bull riders entered as half of the 90 bull riders will ride on Friday night while the other half will compete on Saturday night.

“We got quite a mix coming at us,” he said.

Entering its 26th season, Peterson said his event has been successful over the years because of two reasons.

“We take really good care of our cowboys and we really take care of our crowds,” he said.

From the start of the show to the very end, paying customers will be entertained with music, bull riding, Cowboy Poker and big pyrotechnic show that Peterson says will be bigger than ever.

“We really try to bring them an electric fun-filled show that everybody’s going to enjoy whether you’re 84 or 4 years old,” he said. “Every year we strive to bring in all that energy for everyone to enjoy. Everything we do is top-notch.”

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