Cory Rasch rode three bulls for 250 points to claim the event title at BULLNANZA-Guthrie, the eighth stop on the Professional Bull Riders’ 29-city, $9.5 Million Built Ford Tough Series. Saturday’s win was worth $27,490 and launched Rasch to 10th place in the standings.

“This is awesome,” said the 24-year-old Rasch of Clarksville, Tenn. “This is what I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid. It feels amazing to finally come out on top.”

Rasch left for Los Angeles after the BULLNANZA event where he will undergo more X-rays on his neck, which has bothered him since Jan. 11 when a headfirst dismount at Bossier City, La., sent him to the hospital and had doctors concerned that his neck may be broken. X-rays were normal, but Rasch has since been plagued with a sore, stiff neck.

Owen Washburn, who last month enjoyed a $200,000 three-week run before being sidelined with bruised ribs, made an impressive comeback by finishing second to Rasch at Guthrie. The 30-year-old New Mexico bull rider earned $15,302 after sitting out the Tampa Bay Open last weekend. Washburn leads the PBR qualifier standings with $220,601.

Chris Shivers is on top in the Built Ford Tough Points Standings with 3,499.5 points. He claimed titles in Uncasville, Conn., Greensboro, N.C., and Tampa, Fla., this season.

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Cory Melton won the inaugural PRCA Xtreme Bulls competition Sunday in San Antonio, Texas, by riding Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Indian Blanket for 92 points to clinch the event’s top prize of $24,087 at the all-new SBC Center.

“The more guys I asked about this bull, the better he sounded,” Melton said. “When you make the short round of a deal like this, you don’t have to ask a lot of questions.”

Melton, a 20-year-old from Keithville, La., also picked up the Tour stop title and the lead in the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Standings. San Antonio was the first of 10 stops on the Xtreme Bulls tour, created by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo hosted the event, which is under way this week.

Canada’s Robert Bowers finished second in the final round with an 88-point effort, which put him in second place in the average. Bowers collected $11,515 for his two-head total of 173. Two-time and defending world champion Blue Stone of Odgen, Utah, earned $5,288 for his third-place finish.

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Cody Ohl is back. The 2001 world all-around and calf roping champion returned to the winner’s circle Sunday after sitting out all of last season with a serious knee injury.

Ohl of Stephenville, Texas, split the calf roping event title with Stran Smith of Tell, Texas, and Johnny Emmons of Mansfield, Texas, at the Southwestern Livestock Exposition & Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas. The three Texans clocked 28.6 seconds over three rounds.

Ohl won the first round with an 8.1-second run and finished third in the short round with a run of 9.5 seconds. He collected $12,748.

Smith tied for sixth in the second round with a 9.5-second run and won the short round with an 8.6. He earned $9,556.

Emmons placed fourth in the second round with a 9.1 and second in the short round with an 8.8. He pocketed $10,986.

Another Texas cowboy, James Boudreaux of Cuero, captured the bareback riding title with 314 points on four head and took home $9,851.

Other winners in Fort Worth were John Diedrichs of Rapid City, S.D., steer wrestling, 12.0 seconds on three head, $16,892; Scott Miller of Waco, Texas, saddle bronc riding, 310 points on four head, $10,735; and Billy Burt of Missoula, Mont., bull riding, 226 points on three head, $10,578.

Butch Thurman of Pendleton has covered professional rodeo for 23 years. His e-mail address is bthurman@oregontrail.net