ProRodeo Sports News - Nov.20, 2020

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS

Permit holder beats star-studded field to win Xtreme Bulls event Unlikely Champ BY TRACY RENCK O ther than immediate family and close friends, no one would have thought Fletcher Jowers would win the inaugural Rodeo Austin Xtreme Bulls at the Dell Diamond. Jowers, however, never got that memo. Instead, the 19-year-old PRCA permit holder stunned a field that included nine bull riders headed to the 2020Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with the improbable win. Jowers captured the victory with a 92-point ride on Andrews Rodeo’s Desperate Man. “I had seen the bull before, but I had never been on him,” said Jowers, 19. “I really just had to keep hustling, keep trying and not quit. He had some hop, skip right there to him and some whip, and it felt good to get that one under my belt.” Jowers made his ride on Nov. 13 and then had to wait until the event in Round Rock, Texas, concluded Nov. 14 to be crowned the champion. “He bucked harder than I thought he would,” Jowers said. “I didn’t think I was going to be 92, but that’s how it worked out.” Jowers earned $10,716 for his performance.

He edged out Shane Proctor, the 2011 PRCA world champion, who had a 90.5-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Smoke Stack. “I’ve never won that much money at a rodeo before,” Jowers said. “That’s cool. I bought my PRCA cardMonday morning (Nov. 16). That ride was memorable. Being around all those great riders makes you want to try even harder. That ride was quite the confidence booster. The place they had it (Dell Diamond) was awesome. It’s not like you get to go ride in the infield of a baseball stadium every weekend.” Dell Diamond is the home stadium of the

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Round Rock Express, the Triple-AMinor League Baseball affiliate of the Houston Astros. Jowers, a freshman on the Southwest Texas Junior College team, celebrated his stellar ride by getting up the morning of Nov. 14 and driving three hours to compete in a college rodeo that night at SamHouston State in Huntsville, Texas. He ended up getting bucked off at the college rodeo in 7.99 seconds, but that no-score was quickly forgotten when he watched the events unfold from Round Rock that evening. “I watched (the Nov. 14) riders onThe Cowboy Channel,” Jowers said. “I wasn’t really nervous watching. I wasn’t sure how it was going to end up, but I was happy it ended the way it did. I’m going to college rodeo this school year, and then I will see if I college rodeo my sophomore year or just rodeo in the PRCA. Winning this Xtreme Bulls event makes me want to go all year and try and make the NFR. I’ve watched my ride a few times on other people’s phones and there’s no way to describe it. It was such an awesome feeling.” Jowers, a native of Waxahachie, Texas, 30 minutes south of Dallas, always wanted to be a PRCA bull rider. “I love riding bulls because it is the most fun thing to do, and you don’t have to haul a trailer around everywhere and feed yourself and your horses,” said Jowers, who started riding bulls when he turned 10. “I love the rush you get from riding bulls and the feeling you have when you have a 92-point ride. That’s why we all do this.”

Kay Miller photo

ProRodeo Sports News 11/20/2020

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