PHILLIPSBURG — A new face will make an appearance at Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo this August.
Bullfighter Weston Rutkowski will join Dusty Tuckness in the arena north of Phillipsburg.
Rutkowski grew up in Haskell, Texas, an hour north of Abilene, to a rodeo family. His mom, Glenda Gayle Chapman Rutkowski, was the 1976 Miss Rodeo Texas, and his uncles, Terry Chapman and Keith Chapman, both rode saddle broncs. Terry qualified for the 1979 National Finals Rodeo and Keith was a three-time Senior Pro Rodeo saddle bronc riding champion.
“I didn’t have a chance,” he jokes. “I’ve been a rodeo kid my whole life. I’ve been to rodeos since I could walk.”
Weston rode calves, steers, and junior bulls, but when he got to high school, his mom wouldn’t let him ride bulls because of high school sports. He went to college to play football, but when he realized he didn’t have much chance of playing, he began riding bulls again.
As happens with a lot of bullfighters, Weston’s career began in a practice pen. He was helping out a buddy who was riding bulls, and the friend asked him to step in as bullfighter. “I knew right then and there that it was what I wanted to do,” he said.
It was the adrenaline rush that did it. “There was a gap for me to step in,” during that first time in the practice pen, “to save my buddy. I stepped in there, grabbed that bull, threw him a fake out of pure reaction, not knowing what to do. That pure adrenaline rush was awesome. I didn’t get that riding bulls.”
That was in 2011, and two years later, Weston got his PRCA membership.
For a while, he worked a full time oilfield job. But after he added more rodeos, he was able to rodeo full-time.
He’s happy with the rodeos he’s been hired to work: Austin, San Angelo, Denton, Athens, Belton, and Helotes, Texas, Estes Park, Colo., West Jordan, Utah, and this year, Burwell the week before Phillipsburg, and then Phillipsburg. “I’ve been fortunate,” he says, of his schedule, “for only fighting bulls for five years. It is something I love doing, I have enjoyed it and work hard at it.” Phillipsburg will be his first rodeo to work in Kansas.
Weston loves to stay busy. “I’m so ADD, it’s not funny,” he said. “I can’t sit around.” He golfs, works out at the gym, whatever “your average, typical young man traveling the world,” would do, he said. “I sure enough have a great time, wherever I’m at. Whatever I can do to enjoy wherever I’m at. I take advantage of getting to travel.”
Weston likes the bulls Bennie and Rhett Beutler have. “Bennie is known as an old-school stock contractor. His bulls buck, and they have that old school rodeo flair. Not only will they buck but they’ll hook you, too.” The potential to be hooked keeps things exciting. “Sometimes you work (for a stock contractor) and his bulls don’t hook and you don’t feel like you’ve done anything.” That’s not the case with Beutler bulls. At a Beutler rodeo, Weston says, “You’re sure enough doing something, and you need to be there.”
Weston, like any other bullfighter, has seen a few injuries, but in typical bullfighter fashion, he considers them “bumps and bruises”: a broken nose, dislocated right hip. A Beutler bull in Austin a year ago destroyed his right ankle. “I was trying to jump one of Bennie’s fighting bulls, and dislocated my right ankle and tore all the ligaments.” He had full reconstructive surgery and is back to normal.
But injuries are part of the game. “For being in this line (of work), nobody’s making you do it. So you can’t do much complaining. Because if you do complain, you shouldn’t be fighting bulls.”
Rutkowski replaces Aaron Ferguson, who worked as bullfighter in Phillipsburg for the last four years. Ferguson, who started the Bullfighters Only organization, won’t work Phillipsburg due to scheduling conflicts with Bullfighters Only.
The Phillipsburg rodeo is August 4-5-6 at 8 pm each night at the arena one mile north of town. Tickets went on sale July 1 at Heritage Insurance and are available by purchasing them in person or with a credit card, over the phone (785-543-2448). For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at KansasBiggestRodeo.com or follow the rodeo on its Facebook page (ksbiggestrodeo) or Twitter.