BILLINGS — Former Montana Western rodeo star Ruger Piva won the bull riding section of the Chase Hawks Roughstock Rodeo Saturday night, scoring 88.5 points aboard Hy Test to claim the win.
Piva, who won a national wrestling title at UM Western before earning a scholarship on the rodeo team, finished 17th in the 2019 year-end PRCA bull riding world standings, missing his first trip to the National Finals Rodeo by about $11,000. Saturday's win is a good start to the 2020 season for the Challis, Idaho native.
Tanner Aus won the bareback event Saturday night, scoring 87.5 points aboard Risky Business. The Granite Falls, Minn. cowboy beat Mason Clements by half a point. Leighton Berry was third at 86.5.
South Dakota's Cole Elshere won the saddle bronc, easily outdistancing the field with 87 points on Satisfaction. Allen Boore was second at 83.5 points, while Isaac Diaz and Tegan Smith tied for third with 83. Deer Lodge's Chase Brooks, the lone Montanan to qualify for this year's NFR and ride Saturday night, earned a re-ride but finished out of the money with 76.5 points.
