Crownpoint bull dogger wins second Ceremonial crown

RED ROCK PARK

With a longer score line, Jared Pino had to make some adjustments on how he was going to bulldog on Sunday.

The Crownpoint cowboy waited patiently in the roping box as he allowed his draw to cross that line before he made his move.

And like clockwork his muscle memory took over as the 24-year old cowboy turned his steer in 7.38 seconds, which catapult him to victory at the 99th Annual Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial at Red Rock Park.

“The set up is a little different,” said Pino, who captured the aggregate race in 14.42 seconds. “And, you know, some of the steers are different. They’re not the same so a guy has to adjust to what steer he has.

“A lot of it is just adjusting, but I was really blessed to where I drew a good steer and things finally went my way.”

The 2021 Ceremonial title was his second one he earned, having won the first one when he was 19 years old in 2016.

He beat out Michael Bates for the title as the Mexican Springs, New Mexico, cowboy posted two runs in 21.62 seconds. Hollis Jodie of Winslow came in close third with an aggregate of 22.31 while David Wilson rounded out the average winners with a 28.63 effort.

Pino said winning the title was bittersweet as he dedicated his win to his late father Alvin Pino, who passed away in 2016, a few days after he won his first one.

“It feels good,” Pino said of winning the title. “My dad’s birthday was this past Friday on the 13th. It means a lot to win this, especially for my dad so this is a big deal.”

In the team roping, Myles John and Seth Hall won the event straight across with a 14.04 aggregate.

They did that in an unlikely fashion since John is better known for his heeling shots. For this rodeo, the Arizona cowboy headed for Hall as the pair won the first round in 5.27 seconds.

On Sunday, they added another first-place run of 8.77 seconds, which included a 20-foot score line.

“Shoot, I always wanted to win a buckle heading,” John said. “I’ve always talked about heading just to mess around with my friends. I actually won a buckle heading so this is pretty cool.”

The pair held off the team of Paul Gutierrez and Wyatt Gibson as latter duo finished with a 15.70 aggregate.

In third place, Clifford Williams and Shane Jodie roped two steers in 16.23 seconds ahead of the team of Bryan Sells/Shawn Murphy Jr. (19.57), Westley Benally/Scooter Garcia (19.58) and Ed Hawley/Myles John (28.71).

In the tie-down event, Dean Holyan emerged as the average winner as his 10.88 run in the short run was enough to edge out six other ropers.

Coupled with his short round, Holyan roped two draws in 22.84 seconds as he finished ahead of Jared Todacheenie (23.80), Dennis Chachere (23.92), Ty Pablo (26.04), Braydon Boyd (27.18) and all-around champ Zane Munoz (27.26).

With Holyan’s win, there was some major shifting in the way the aggregate race played out as the Coyote Canyon, New Mexico, cowboy had the seventh fastest run in the long-go round.

Meanwhile, Boyd, the long-go winner, turned in an 18.13 run during Sunday’s round.

“I didn’t do so good,” Boyd said. “I just had some bad luck in the short round. I ran a green horse in the short round so that kind of cost me.”

In addition to tie-down, Boyd also had a third-place showing in the long go in the steer-wrestling event. On Sunday, he posted a no time.

“I’m kind of worn out,” said Boyd, who dismissed the idea that his traveling schedule played a role in his performance.

“I pulled in at 10 this morning,” he said as the New Mexico cowboy took part of the Jerry Small Timed Events Rodeo in Hardin, Montana, as well as the Fort Hall INFR Tour Rodeo. “I’ve been on the road all weekend and I’m glad to be home.”

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