Clayton Williams Wins The CBR's Tuff Hedeman Louisiana Shoot Out

Clayton Williams Tops The Field At The Tuff Hedeman Shoot Out In Bossier City, La.

by Sheila Totten

It was a crowd cheering night in Bossier City as the bulls and the riders set off  a fireworks display of bucking and riding.Sparks flew as the top four legged athletes did their stuff; keeping the  capacity crowd on the edge of their seatsl.When it was all said and done it was Clayton Williams of Carthage,Texas who walked away with the CBR's First event title of the new season.He had the crowd roaring as he turned in a picture perfect textbook ride aboard Jesse Hill's Mucked Out for 89.5 in the first round . He entered the short go in third place  and had his work cut out for him as including his great 92.5 ride aboard Harlan Robertson's Texas there were six 90 point or better rides in the round.

It was an action filled night and both riders and bulls were at their best.Seven riders earned eight American War Hero 90 Point Club bonuses of $500.They were Bryan Richardson  and Justin Hermanson who tied for first in the long go with 90 points, and in the short go:Chad Castillo,90;)Justin Hermanson ,91 ; Howdy Cloud, 91; Zack Brown,91.5; Corey Davis, 92; and Clayton Williams, 92.5.

This had to be a special win for Clayton,who grew up idolizing Tuff.In the CBR's press release he was quoted as saying:"Tuff was one of my biggest heroes growing up and to ride and win in front of him is pretty important to me." Clayton is the son of beloved CBR CEO and founder , Terry Williams; and he was lucky enough to grow up around his idol as Terry and Tuff have been close friends for years.I remember events where Terry would beam with pride  telling us about having gone to watch Clayton in high school events .

Clayton had reason to be extra proud of his wonderful poppa  earlier at the CBR Finals  when Terry became the first recipient of the Annual "Terry Williams Award of Excellence" awarded by co-CBR founder Joel Logan of Deer Valley Homes.This award will be given to a person who brings honor to the CBR during the year; and the recipient will receive a $1000 bonus. The board of directors will choose the recipient based on the following criteria:(1) His Strength of Leadership-when he says something others will follow without question (2) His uncompromising stamina and "never quit attitude" and (3) his solid as a rock integrity.
Terry sure does fit that  as does his CBR President Tuff Hedeman. Integrity and true grit  and leadership are definitely qualities both are imbued with.As he presented the award Joel Logan was quoted in the CBR's press release as having said:

"It was with great joy and personal pride that God has given me this opportunity to recognize the person that exemplifies the traits just mentioned." Says Joel Logan, "I can say he has truly meant the world to me. You don't know how many times his positive attitude, funny stories, and driven personality to win challenged me to become a better person." 

And that really describes Terry. We have thought the world of him for years.He  is a great person and we wish him well.As Terry stood there holding his award in the picture  on the CBR site you could see him wiping the tears from his eyes.Terry has won PRCA Stock Contractor of The year many times but I kind of think this award is special to him.Congrats again terry.

Its good to see Zack Brown starting the year off  so well.Zack , a fan favorite who returned to bull riding last season scored 84.5 aboard Robertson's Mercury Rising in the first round of  the long go.  Zack added 91.5 to that in the short go(3rd in the round)  to finish fourth in the event with 176 points.Go Zack.

Danell Tipton rode Scotty Burruss' Georgia Sun for 80.5 while Steve Woolsey rode Robertson's Guitar Man for 82.Tate Stratton followed with a strong 86.5 ride aboard Robertson's Ranger and Justin Hermanson took the lead with a great 90 point ride  and his first $500 bonus aboard Harlan's Montigo Bay.Danny McDowell , Logan Knibbe and Corey Maier were blanked  by Robertson's Little Wicked,Kentucky Rain and Cheetah.

In the second round there were only 9 rides as the bulls had their way.Chad Castillo scored 84.5 aboard  Jesse Hill's Black Ape while Bonner Bolton looked great aboard Hill's Bad Bob.Justin Richard,Kolt Miller,Cody White, Justin Koon and Brian Curtis were all blanked by Hill's bulls but Clayton Williams found his spot aboard  Mucked Out for a great 89.5 ride.

Jarrod Craig rode Robbie Herrington's Buckshot for 89 while Zack Oakes scored 87.5 aboard Herrington's 87.5.McKennon Wimberley scored 87.5 aboard Herrington's Snowflake while Little Darnell blanked Tye Odden.Bryan Richardson made his great 90 point ride aboard Martinez Bulls' Coffee Bean next but Jay  Dunford was blanked by MB's Hawkeye. Howdy Cloud scored 85 aboard Martinez's Cha Ching and Kenny Westrope scored  80 on Black Gold. Martinez's Raptor blanked Corey Davis.Harlan Roberson's Foolish Man beat Cooper Kanngiesser while MB's Lil Wayne got the best of Lee Woolsey.Lufkin Ranch and Rodeo's Crooked Eddie and On The Edge blanked Pistol Robinson and Douglas Duncan. Meanwhile Smoothie's Bull Factory's(yes,that is the name) Smoothie's Wild blanked Tag Elliott.This was followed by Scotty Burruss' Charlie Brown and Border Patrol winning their matches against Lucas Dick and Ronny Kitchens.

In round three Burruss' bulls blanked Reese Cates, Layne McCasland,Clint Craig, Ardie Maier, and B J Schumacher. Clint Cassell scored 85 aboard Burruss' Eight Ball. I noticed some favorites have new owners as Cherokee Fiddler who is now with Alan Murphy. He  blanked Shawn Coleman and Murphy's Dire Straits  blanked Jerry Shepherd. The short go was action filled with great rides as  Chad Castillo scored 90 aboard LRR's Spanky.Chad was third up after both Danell Tipton bucked off Herrington's Denny Crane(Hmm,Robbie must be a Boston Legal fan-love that show) and Steve Woolsey  was blanked by Harlan Robertson's Spiderman.Zack"spur 'em in the neck" Brown made a great ride aboard Jesse Hill's Scarface for 91.5 .Watch out guys as Zack is back in form!He was followed by Howdy Cloud's   great 91 point ride  on Hill's Ikon.How thrilling can a round get? The crowd ate the action up.Then Robertson's mean Machine halted the momentum as he blanked Clint Cassell and Cooper blanked Tate Stratton.That was followed by Corey Davis' great ride aboard the Robertson /Wilson CBR/ PRCA World Champion bull  Biloxi Blues.Not many can accomplish this but when they do they can score like Corey. Great bull and he was raised by a great person that Tuff knows real well-his older brother World Champion Bullfighter Roach Hedeman. McKennon Wimberley scored 84 aboard Burruss' Pole Cat while Zack Oakes scored 85.5 aboard Burruss' Del Rio. One of my favorite bulls,LRR's Zorro blanked Bonner Bolton and Robertson's Big City did the same to Jarrod Craig.Then came Clayton Williams' great picture perfect ride aboard  Robertson's Texas .Clayton remained centered with his free arm in front to score the round and event winning rise of 92.5. Murphy' s' Cowboy Cut blanked Bryan Richards and it was down to the last rider as Clayton waited to see if his score would hold .Justin Hermanson had the crowd on the edges of their seats but his score of 90 aboard HR's White Chocolate was not enough to win.

I know that Terry had to be thrilled with the win and I am sure Tuff was also as he has watched Clayton grow up.The event gave the capacity crowd quite a show and I would sure be getting tickets for next year's event early if you want to get a seat. According to Tuff as quoted in the CBR's release:"This was one of the best events we have had in Bossier City.We really appreciate the Eldorado Hotel and Casino and all of our sponsors." Don't forget,this capacity crowd filled the place during adverse weather conditions. Bossier City area was hit hard by ice and sleet in the storms last week;and we actually canceled our plans  to drive there due to the weather.

Here is the way the average ended:

CLAYTON WILLIAMS,Carthage,TX 182 $12,180.00
JUSTIN HERMANSON, Kathryn,ND 180 $8,700.00
COREY DAVIS, New Bloomfield,MO 179 $5,220.00
ZACK BROWN, Santa Fe, TX 176 $3,480.00
HOWDY CLOUD, Kountze, TX 175.5 $2,088.00
CHAD CASTILLO, Lipan, TX 174.5 $1,392.00
ZACK OAKES,Tonasket,WA 173 $1,044.00
MCKENNON WIMBERLY,Cool,TX 171.5 $696.00

The Long Go:

JUSTIN HERMANSON, Kathryn,ND 90 $4,560.00
BRYAN RICHARDSON,Dallas,TX 90 $3,400.00
CLAYTON WILLIAMS,Carthage,TX 89.5 $1,740.00
JARROD CRAIG,Hillisboro,TX 89 $1,160.00
BONNER BOLTON,Gardendale,TX 88.5 $696.00
ZACK OAKES,Tonasket,WA 87.5 $464.00
MCKENNON WIMBERLY,Cool,TX 87.5 $348.00
COREY DAVIS, New Bloomfield,MO 87 $232.00



Round: Short Go
CLAYTON WILLIAMS,Carthage,TX 92.5 $4,676.00
COREY DAVIS, New Bloomfield,MO 92 $3,516.00
ZACK BROWN, Santa Fe, TX 91.5 $2,356.00
HOWDY CLOUD, Kountze, TX 91 $1,776.00
JUSTIN HERMANSON, Kathryn,ND 90 $1,312.00
CHAD CASTILLO, Lipan, TX 90 $964.00Bossier City, Louisiana-Jan.20th, 2007< Back    
Round: 1

Join in the excitement and be sure to watch The Outdoor Channel for the CBR events.And speaking of that Congratulations to the CBR on winning their third in a row Golden Moose Award presented by the Outdoor Channel.You can currently catch the broadcast of the CBR's World Championship Friday night long go on Jan 31st at 10pm ET. The broadcasts will continue on Wednesday nights in February.The CBR's next event is Tuff's Sunland Park West Texas Shootout in El Paso on February 10th followed by the Lufkin Red Neck Bash on February 24th in Lufkin,Texas.