Texas businessmen win big in Reno

Hutto n, Bolin win first-ever Cactus #9.5 for $50,000

RENO, Nev. - A pair of Texans with ties to sponsorship at the Reno Rodeo were the high callback team in the finals of a new amateur team roping for ropers with classifications under 5.5. They secured the $50,000 first-place prize in the aggregate standings.

On Wednesday morning, after roping three steers in 30.93 seconds in the event, Bart Hutton and former National Finals Rodeo bull rider Ricky Bolin only needed a 12-second run to win the roping. But when Bolin caught the hind feet and took one dally (twist around the horn), his hand hit the top of his horn and it popped off. The audience took a collective gasp. Bolin was able to redally without losing any legs, and the team squeaked into first place by just three-tenths of a second when they salvaged a 12-flat.

I saw his loop and was already counting the money and didn't see him lose his dally, said Hutton, who is a No. 5 header. As for Bolin, the mishap means he will shorten his rope and start tying on from now on, since he's 60.

I love heeling, said the #4.5 heeler who rode bulls at four NFRS. Although I feel like I head better.

Sonny Cowden, 75, of Atwater, California, left Reno with $19,250 out of the Cactus #9.5 Over 40 after placing second with Les Vogt and fifth with Albert Aguayo. Cowden is the father of NFR team ropers Liddon and Cody Cowden.

This is a super roping, he said. It gives an old man a chance.

The winning team of Hutton and Bolin felt a bit like the home team to viewers of BFI Week because the companies they helm are longtime sponsors of the event.

Hutton is part-owner of both Sonora Insurance and the Boerne, Texas-based Allcat Claims Service, while Bolin is the General Manager of Garland, Texas-based Hatco (the company that includes Resistol, Stetson and Charlie 1 Horse, among other lines). He'll have spent 30 years with the company in August.

This is our world, said Bolin. It's what we do. This whole week consists of one of the best team ropings in the world.

Bolin celebrated the win exactly two years after his open-heart surgery, and he had another minor operation on his heart two weeks prior to Wrangler BFI Week. Despite some side effects of medication, he never missed the horns heading at the World Series jackpots outside town prior to heeling in the Cactus #9.5. His goal had been to win money last year on the anniversary of his life-changing surgery, but he said this victory also worked for that purpose.

Wrangler BFI Week continues through June 27. All events are livestreamed on www.wranglernetwork.com.

Complete Results from the Cactus #9.5 Over 40 on June 26: