Ezekiel Mitchell, formerly of Rockdale, won the Ninth Annual Fredericksburg Professional Bull Riding Touring Pro Division event, which brought his national ranking up to 60 from 80th place.
“This was great, but it doesn’t compare to last year,” Mitchell said. “Last year I won in Fredericks-burg and it was my first PBR win ever. It’s something that will never be repeated again.”
He competed against 40 other riders and scored at 81 in the long round to qualify for the short round, where he scored an 86. Along with the improved ranking, he won over $6,000 in prize money with his first and third place finishes on Saturday at the Gillespie Country Fairgrounds. He scored an 84 and was bucked off as a third place contestant.
“Fredericksburg is a cool event,” he said. “I got some good bulls. The kind a rider wants to get to score points and be able to win.”
Mitchell is the son of Danny Mitchell Sr. of Rockdale and Janie Davis of Baytown. He attended Rockdale Junior High School before moving out of town.
Mitchell said it was his father Danny Sr., who introduced him to bull riding.
“Danny, my dad used to be a horse dentist,” he said. “He would take me to the rodeos to build up his client list, and it kind of just played out from that.”
Mitchell trained in Minerva at Mike and Kooter Kirk’s place and Heath Scruggs out in Shiloh, he said. He started professional bull riding when he was
The 21-year-old is a student at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas, where he is studying for an associate’s degree in agriculture business.
Before the Fredericksburg event, he earned over $19,000 and amassed 167.50 points 17 rides this year. He said he hopes to make it to the PBR World Finals.
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