Bulls outlast cowboys; Rider wins on last try

In the battle of man versus beast Saturday night, beast won 48 of the 51 rides.

Many have tried to conquer the bulls but only three men were able to do so, including Jory Markiss the event winner.

The long go-round proved to be a rough one for the cowboys. Of the 40 tries, cowboys Luis Blanco and Hector Cardona were the only ones who were able to successfully ride out those eight seconds.

Blanco and Cardona earned a bid to the short go-round with scores of 84 and 81.5 respectively.

Names were drawn after the long go-round to completely fill up the 11 slots allocated for the short go-round that determined the winner of the event.  Cody Nance, who was ranked second in the world in the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) and first in the Touring Pro Division (TPD), drew twice in the short go-round while Gonzales native Zachary Miles drew once.

Markiss drew two bulls in the final round after failing to ride two bulls in the long go-round. On his fourth and final ride, Markiss successfully rode the bull and scored an 87 to take the lead.

After nine other failed rides, Blanco hunkered down on the last bull of the night to try to take first place in the event. Due to his first round ride, all Blanco needed to do was last the eight seconds and he would clinch first place in the event. Unfortunately for him, Blanco could not repeat his earlier success as he failed to ride the bull.

Markiss went on to win the event with his score of 87. He started the night ranked 23rd in TPD and 24th in BFTS. Blanco took second place with his score of 84. The Texan was ranked 119th in TPD. Cardona with his score of 81.5 was ranked 82nd in TPD.

Nance had a rough night as he went 0-for-5 including two tries in the short go-round. Miles also battled but failed after his three tries.