LARAMIE – Jordan Spears is used to having good – if not really good – rodeo seasons to hang his hat on.

The bull rider from Redding, California, took a big leap to kick-starting the bulk of his summer schedule Wednesday when he was crowned the 78th annual Laramie Jubilee Days Mr. T Xtreme Bull Riding champion.

"My job is to come here, stay on my bull and let everything settle where it settles," Spears said. "That's why I travel up and down the road – to perform my best every time and I'm happy I performed my best."

The Mr. T Xtreme Bull Riding matches some of the best bull riders in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association against one of the best pens of bulls in the business from Centennial's Summit Pro Rodeo.

Spears got on a bull named Reaper that was subcontracted to Summit by JK Rodeo of Carlsbad, New Mexico, and took him the distance in a muddy Albany County Fairgrounds arena for a score of 86.5 points and the win.

"I didn't know anything about that bull, but JK has a good set of bulls a lot of people like to get on," Spears said. "I knew he was going to buck either way, so I just had an open mind and luckily it all worked out – a really nice bull and a really nice draw."

Spears won the Xtreme Bull Tour Finale in 2017 and was seventh at the PRCA National Finals Rodeo to finish seventh in the PRCA world standings last year. He has qualified three times for the NFR in 2014 and 2016-17.

This season, Spears has gotten off to a slow start.

He was a co-champion at the Sisters (Oregon) Xtreme Bulls and won the Bell County PRCA rodeo in Belton, Texas. He currently sits 30th in the PRCA standings and 19th in the PRCA Xtreme standings.

Winning in Laramie will lift him in the right direction.

"It's been a little slow this spring, but there's a lot of the year left and rodeo is just now starting with (July 4th) happening," Spears said. "There's a lot more rodeos to go to now."

Spears narrowly beat two-time NFR qualifier Ardie Maier of Timber Lake, South Dakota, who rode G Easy to 85.5 points.

"I've been home all winter after having my shoulder fixed," Maier said. "I've only been going for about a month now and been having a hard time getting to the pay window.

"You know it when you make a good ride regardless of the score. That bull bucked and rode well, so hopefully the 85 will be good enough to place well if not win."

Other qualified rides were from Lon Danley of Tularosa, New Mexico, with an 82.5 on Road Trip; Cory Price of Calhan, Colorado, with an 81 on Sting; Trey Kimzey (the younger brother of Sage Kimzey, who is currently the No. 1-ranked bull rider in the PRCA) of Strong City, Oklahoma, with a 78 on All Better; Wyatt Covington of Omak, Washington, with a 78 on Zoolander; and Parker McCown of Montgomery, Texas, with a 72 on Body N Soul.

The paycheck helped Danley, currently ranked 20th in the PRCA standings and 13th in the Xtreme Bulls standings.

Wyoming's own Clayton Savage of Casper – who won the Laramie Xtreme bull riding in 2015 and is a three-time NFR qualifier (2009, 2011-12) – had a rough night.

He didn't even make it out into the arena when his bull – Macho Man – roughed him up in the chute. Savage laid on the ground behind the chutes for quite some time being attended to by first responders. He later was sitting up and walking, but his night was done before it began.

Other notable cowboys who left with only mud on their vests and chaps were Clayton Sellers of Fruitland Park, Florida, (ranked fourth in the PRCA); Boudreaux Campbell of Crocket, Texas, (ranked eighth); Cole Melancon of Batson, Texas, (ranked 13th); and Chase Dougherty of Canby, Oregon, (ranked 14th).

The PRCA Xtreme Bulls tour has a limited number of stops throughout the country.

Money earned by the contestants on the Xtreme tour goes toward its own standings as well as the PRCA bull riding world standings for qualification to the NFR. But the money is not counted toward the PRCA all-around standings.