Odey Tom scores windfall with 91-point ride

CHURCH ROCK, N.M. – The first six months of 2024 hadn’t panned out the way Odey Tom hoped.

The Lupton, Arizona, cowboy was in a slump. He tried to do things differently to get back on track, but to no avail.

Of course, that all changed on Saturday night when Tom was crowned the event winner at this year’s WildThing Championship Bullriding before a capacity crowd at Red Rock Park.

“Honestly, it’s been a little rough,” Tom said of his 2024 season. “I haven’t really won anything, but a win like this changes things. I mean, I feel pretty good about winning again.

“I’m starting to put my marbles together,” he added. “I feel like things will start to pick up for me.”

Among the 91 bull riders entered, Tom was the only contestant to produce a 90-plus ride during the two-day event as he went the distance with the bull they call Rise Up Lights. The pair impressed the judges for a 91-point ride that earned Tom a hefty $10,000 paycheck, which is the biggest payday of his young career.

“I saw him last night and he looked pretty good,” Tom said of his draw. “I knew he was going to be a good bull. I just did whatever I could to get as many points off of him. He did give me a workout, but I managed to make it work.”

After yielding one qualified ride on Friday night, seven cowboys managed to stay glued to their bulls in Saturday’s finale.

“All the ones that got thrown (Friday night), you know, rode some of the rankest bulls in the world,” WildThing promoter Larry Peterson said. “There is nothing shameful about getting thrown off bulls that are ranked.”

Tom, who turned 20 last month, is the first in his family to win WildThing as his father, Kash, competed several times. The patriarch was unable to watch his two sons ride as Odey’s younger brother, Kolt, also competed on Saturday night.

“He’s at home,” Odey said of his dad. “My momma is working late, so he had to go pick her up.

“He never got a chance to win this, so I feel like I have broken the ice,” he added. “It feels pretty good. I still can’t believe that I won it because there’s a lot of good talent here. I’ve watched him compete here ever since I was little, and I want to be a splitting image of him.”

Tom earned his score at the start of the third session. Then he had to wait and see if the remaining 18 riders would top his 91-point ride.

“My stomach was turning because there were other competitors that had to go out there and ride,” Tom said. “They were willing to work as hard as I did. It just worked out in my favor and I’m just glad to be here.”

Of those last 18 riders, Lybrook, N.M., cowboy Xavier “X-man” Antez came close to unseating Tom, as he finished in second-place with an 87-point score on a re-ride bull.

His initial bull fouled him as he was about to nod for his ride.

“He jumped in the chute when I called him,” said Antez, who took home $5,858. “He made one jump, and he stumbled in his back end.”

Antez’s re-ride bull, Downtown South, helped him earn another second-place finish. Last year, Antez was the reserve champion at the iconic event.

“When I found out about my re-ride bull I went to go see him,” the 17 year-old bull rider said. “I knew he was going to be good. When I got on him he felt pretty strong, and I went along for the ride.”

Like Tom, Antez started the 2024 season slowly.

“I actually got my hand injured so I took some time off,” Antez said. “I rode at an event in Artesia and that bull kind of messed up my hand. My spur was hanging from my bull rope, and he dragged me a little bit and the bull came around and stomped on my hand.

“I’m slowly getting back into it,” he added. “Now that I have the wheels turning I just have to keep the fire going for the rest of the year.”

Friday night leader Wyatt Nez of Flagstaff fell down two spots as he finished in a two-way tie for third-place with Colorado cowboy Luke Mackey. The two cowboys walked away with $4,242 each on the 86-point rides they produced.

“I like to thank the people who put on this event,” Nez said. “You know, Larry Peterson is a good guy. He puts on a good event, and I appreciate all the others that help put together this event.”

Nez was the lone rider to complete an eight-second ride on the opening night aboard Kaddies Rank.

“He was kind of tricky when he came out,” Nez said. “He acted as if he was going to go into my hand. He went back the other way, and so I just had to make the right moves.”

In his last outing at WildThing, three years ago, Nez failed to make an eight-second ride.

“I think the last time I was here, I lasted about five, six seconds,” Nez said. “It’s good to get my first bull ridden here. I mean, the bulls from 4B Bucking Bulls are fantastic. I took my bull jump for jump, and it all worked out.”

Mackey hopped on board Holy Smoke, one of Owen Washburn’s younger bulls on Saturday night.

“He really didn’t have a set trip,” Mackey said. “It worked out with what I had and so he was a pretty good little bull.”

According to Mackey, the bull he drew started out by spinning around near the gate.

“He threw a couple of tricks at me,” the 18 year-old cowboy said. “He jumped out of that, and he came back with the spin.”

Texas bull rider Clayton Jolly produced an 82-point ride aboard Preston’s Pistol in his first-ever WildThing.

“This bull riding is badass,” Jolly said. “I thought the fireworks were cool and, you know, the (grandstand) was pretty full.”

During his ride, Jolly had his protective helmet ripped off. Despite that he remained composed to finish out the ride to the tune of $2,222.

“I was surprised a little bit, but things like that happen,” Jolly said. “I just had to stay focused.”

With identical 81-point rides, Dennehotso, Arizona, cowboy Jaiden Harrison split sixth-place with Ayden Dale of Burnet, Texas.

Dale got on Young Buck while Harrison rode Sho Gun as they collected $1,414 apiece.

“I wished he had a little bit more,” Dale said of his bull. “He really didn’t know what to do. I was here last year, and the bull that I had made a couple of jumps and he had some nasty stuff.

“This bull wasn’t as nasty as the last one,” he added.

Trent Harrison rounded out the winners in eighth-place. Harrison scored a 76-point ride aboard Double Down that paid him $808.

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