BANGOR, Maine — Reese Cates has suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs, a punctured and collapsed lung along with a broken leg and reconstructive surgery on his shoulder.
But those bull riding injuries over the years certainly didn’t dampen his desire to climb back on a 2,000-pound bovine and the Arkansas native pocketed $6,700 Saturday night after winning the Pro Bull Riding BlueDEF Tour’s first ever event at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Enthusiastic sold-out crowds in excess of 4,000 filled the arena on Friday and Saturday nights to watch 40 bull riders try to stay on a bucking, gyrating bull for eight seconds.
After a ride on Friday night and another on Saturday, the judges’ scores were tabulated and the 10 riders with the best scores qualified for a third ride later Saturday night to determine the champion.
Cates finished with an aggregate score of 259. Oklahoma native Cody Rodeo Tyler was second with 254 points which enabled him to pocket $4,700 and Brazilian Robson Aragao captured third (253.50 points) and a check for $2,600. Rounding out the top five were Oklahoman Kade Alberty (172.50 points), who had Friday’s best score, and Virginian Michael Lane (171 points). Alberty earned $2,200 and Lane collected $1,640.
The 27-year-old Cates rode his first bull when he was 13. Bull riding is in his blood.
“My dad rode bulls and my grandad rode bulls. My mom’s side of the family has always been involved in equine stuff. I grew up riding horses,” Cates said. “It’s the same as being any type of extreme athlete. You get an adrenaline rush. You get hooked on it. I’m passionate about it.”
Capturing the championship in Bangor was special to Cates.
“To get a win the first time the event was held here is awesome. The fans are unbelievable. We appreciate the fans coming out,” Cates, the 2008 Pro Bull Riding Rookie of the Year, said.
Cates said Maine was the only state in the continental United States in which he hadn’t competed.
“I didn’t expect the people to be so laid back. It’s such a unique town with a lot of history. We got to explore it a little today. It was a fun,” said Cates, who also experienced lobster.
“I’m spoiled now. When I get home, Red Lobster isn’t going to do it for me any more,” Cates said, grinning.
Indiana native Keith Miller said riding bulls was was something “I always wanted to do since I watched it on TV. It’s a lot of fun.”
Cates and Miller said they would like to return next year as would Brazilian rider Luis Blanco.
“The people here are really nice and the it’s beautiful country,” Miller said.
“It was really good,” Blanco said.
Many of the bull riders grew up on ranches and farms, riding horses and then progressing to livestock.
Jason Brumley of Davidson, North Carolina, rode bulls for 15 years before becoming the man on the horse with the lasso to help ensure the bull rider is safe after his ride is over.
“As a kid, you see your buddies doing it so you want to try it,” Brumley said. “Next thing you know, you don’t want to lose. If you get thrown off by a bull, you want to get right back on another one.
“Then when you get to this level, it’s about the money, adrenaline rush and satisfaction,” Brumley added. “You can make a good living. But it’s a tough way to make one. If you get to the next level [Built Ford Tough Tour], that’s where the big money is.”
The BlueDEF tour is the equivalence of AAA baseball, with the Built Ford Tough Tour being the major leagues.
Dave Cordovano, the chief global events officer, said after a block of five events, the top 10 bull-riders in points in the BlueDEF Tour get promoted to the Built Ford Tough Tour and the bottom 10 in that tour drop down to the BlueDEF Tour.
“We also have tours in Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Canada and their goal is to get to the BlueDEF Tour,” Cordovano said, noting that once they get to the BlueDEF Tour, they can set their sights on the Built Ford Tough Series.
He said the top three finishers in the Built Ford Tough Tour earn more than $1 million a year and the best riders in the BlueDEF Tour earn in excess of $100,000.
The event is much more than just bull riding.
Funny man Matt Merritt entertains the fans by strutting and dancing to rock classics on top of the shark tank, which is an enclosed circular mini-stage in the middle of the ring. Groups of fans can sit in the shark tank and watch the action up close and personal.
Merritt unveiled his “How to be a Mainer” kit which was comprised of a flannel shirt, a bag of blueberries, maple syrup, a whoopie pie and a bottle of Moxie, which he chugged.
“I think I gained eight pounds in a day,” Merritt said, chuckling.
He also led impressive singalongs to songs, such as John Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” as the fans gladly obliged him.
The riders walked through a ring of fire on the dirt in pre-event introductions.
Cordovano called the crowds “incredible” and said they want to make it an annual event. And the fans said they will definitely return if it comes back.
“It was better than I expected. It was something totally different,” Jessica Rock of Hermon said.
Bill and Tasha Gardner of Brewer said they had a great time.
“You never know what’s going to happen when they jump on the backs of those animals,” Bill Gardner said. “The unpredictability is the most exciting part.”
“It was tons of fun,” Tasha Gardner said. “The riders are very talented.”
Carol Jankowski of Bangor called it an “energetic” night of entertainment and that it was “pretty cool” to see it up close after watching it on television.
Lew Ireland brought a bunch of Brewer youth football players to the event to reward them for their fundraising efforts and said he will bring them back again next year “because they loved it.”
Kyle Kivler of Hermon enjoyed seeing something “I had never seen before,” and Tom Bradley of Easton said he enjoyed the entire show and “seeing the bulls up close.
“I don’t know how someone doesn’t get killed,” Bradley said.
Quirt Hunt of Nebraska is one of the reasons the riders are protected. He is called a bull fighter and it is his job and his partner’s to distract the bull when the rider falls.
He said he thrives on the challenge of it.
“You have to be able to read the stock [bull] and anticipate the wreck … watching how the cowboys are getting thrown off and then watching the bull and which way he’s coming around,” said Hunt, who has been a bullfighter since 1996. “The basic fundamental is breaking down the circle [of the bull’s path] because the bull has four wheels and you’ve got two. It’s like a motorcycle and a car. We can beat him around. So we just keep it going, keep it tight so he’s chasing us [instead of the riders].”