Benton and Boquet Top Tuff Hedeman’s Fort Worth Challenge Invitation Bull Riding Roster
Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour announced today the roster of bull riders and future bull riders selected to compete at the 26th Tuff Hedeman Fort Worth Challenge Bull Riding and Junior Championships being held Saturday night at 8 pm at the Stockyards Coliseum.
Leading the pack of invitees is Trey Benton III, from Rock Island, Texas who is the only bull rider on the roster that returns to Cowtown in an effort to win Hedeman’s coveted bull riding title for the second time. Benton, the 2014 Tuff Hedeman Fort Worth champion is the only bull rider who reached his dreams of being professional after competing at this event after competing in the youth portion of the event when he was 14 years old. The Cripple Creek Junior Championships is held annually at intermission during the event.
2018 Junior Hedeman invitees include Jadon Hayes, Cisco, TX -Youth Bull Riders World Finals; Mecate Trammell, Millsap TX - Texas Youth Bull Riders; Dusty Rhodes Sanger TX Texas Youth Bull Riders, Kaiden Loud Kaufman TX , Texas Youth Bull Riders; Carter High, Weatherford TX - Texas Youth Bull Riders; Jett Harkins, Stephenville TX, Youth Bull Riders World Finals.
Joining Benton on the hallowed ground of the Fort Worth Stockyards Coliseum are two Cajun cowboys including Dustin Boquet, who broke the top 5 of the PRCA World Standings with an Extreme Bulls win in Lawton, Oklahoma last week. Boquet, a Louisiana cowboy from the Deep South city of Montagut is currently sharing the spotlight with Koby Radley as one of the two latest bull riding sensations to come out of the Bayou state. Radley, also ranked in the upper portion of the PRCA is scheduled to compete at Hedeman’s 26-year-old classic that cowboys say is on their bucket list of “must win” buckles.
Benton, the 2012 PRCA Rookie of the year is a decorated bull rider with earnings in excess of a million dollars from riding bulls. Benton has qualified for the National Finals Rodeo four times (2012-14, 2017) finishing second last year while amassing 2017 PRCA earnings of $322,208 – half of that earned at the NFR with a valiant attempt at unseating 7 time World Champion Sage Steele Kimzey.
Benton started riding calves and sheep at five years old, then graduated to bareback horses and breakaway roping when he was nine. He can rope both ends in the team competition, but he let bulls guide even his young career including a second place finish at the Junior High School National Finals.
Twenty five year old TB3 was born with undeniable gifts, a jumble of DNA that bestowed on him a boyish charm, a scanning intelligence which earned him a degree from Sam Houston State University in Communications, and a strong arm built from roping calves and hundreds of hours in the gym.
He’s the kind of guy that you don’t mind waiting on for an interview as he is pulling trinkets out of his rigging bags for young fans while signing autographs.
Nonetheless, of all the traits Benton was born with, the one that has served him best, during months of multiple injury recoveries followed by insanely competitive comebacks, isn’t his analytical mind or his physical strength, but his painstaking temperament.
“Just goes to show you every moment of every second counts,” Benton once told me after bucking off at the whistle to lose a $50,000 purse.
Benton has suffered injuries in the previous years including a broken femur in his leg that would have persuaded most bull riders into selecting a new career, but refusing to show any signs of personal doubts, Benton carried on keeping the injuries in perspective.
“A chance to compete is all I wanted.”
He holds a place in history with Lane Frost as one of two bull riders to win back to back George Paul Memorial Bull Ridings, in fact Benton has won three GPMBR titles in Del Rio where Bad Company Rodeo’s Mack Alitizer was the first to put him on bucking stock as a kid.
Trey Benton, III is no stranger to competition and has learned thru injury to focus on quality not quantity and carefully selects where he enters to preserve his strength, maximize earnings and success and limit risk of injury.
Benton, a four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo bull riding qualifier is currently ranked second in the PRCA World Standings as of April 4 and will compete in Fort Worth on Saturday night against a field of 26 bull riders including 7 ranked among the top 20 PRCA riders and two World Champions.
Tickets on Sale now ranging from $35 to $100. Fans are encouraged to get their tickets now as the show has sold-out in past years and is expected to do so this year,
Tickets: Box office at 121 E Exchange Ave, Fort Worth, 76164. Online at Stockyardsrodeo.com or tuffhedemanbullriding.com. Stick bull riding entries email - stickbullrider@aol.com.
Event Location: Cowtown Coliseum, 121 E Exchange Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76164