<body><div>BILLINGS — Jake Lockwood’s place in Northern International Livestock Exposition history is secure.The 24-year-old Volborg cowboy is now a two-time NILE PRCA bull riding champion, having defended his championship as the annual rodeo concluded on Saturday night at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark.Lockwood, who finished the 2024 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association regular season in 45th place in the bull riding standings with $50,817.90 in winnings, danced with the bull Little Hoot for an 83-point score on Friday night during the first performance of the NILE.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2QMqPV_0w9uTMbI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2QMqPV_0w9uTMbI00" width="1747" height="1186" ><figcaption>Volborg's Jake Lockwood rode Little Hoot for 83 points at the NILE PRCA rodeo at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark on Friday. Lockwood repeated as NILE bull riding champion.&nbsp; AMY LYNN NELSON, Billings Gazette</figcaption></figure>At the conclusion of Day 1, Lockwood led the event and after the second and final performance ended on Saturday night, the 83 held up for a $1,992 payday.<h2>People are also reading…</h2>At the 2023 NILE, Lockwood topped the charts with a score of 74 for $2,435.40.“I mean, pretty excited,” Lockwood answered when asked by The Billings Gazette and 406 MT Sports how winning the historic NILE rodeo, which became sanctioned by the PRCA in 1975, in back-to-back seasons felt. “I went there with the mentality of winning it again and you know I’m just happy that it worked out, for sure.”Lockwood said his winning performance was helped by the quality of bull he drew at the NILE.“I had a good bull drawn of Paul Eiker from Glendive and I’d seen him around,” said Lockwood of Little Hoot. “So, I kind of knew what it was about and was really excited to get on him. And it worked out. He was just a nice little spinner right in the gate and it just happened to work.”At the end of Friday’s performance, Jake’s 83 and his older brother Jess Lockwood’s 78 were the only two bull riding scores recorded.So, Jake had to wait out the results Saturday. Dylan Grant of Laramie, Wyoming, rode to a 79.5-point score for second and Parker Breding of Edgar turned in a 79 for third. Jess Lockwood’s 78 held up for fourth. Chris Staley of Cedar Valley, Utah, had a 74.5 for fifth and Ty Bertrand of Gillette, Wyoming, turned in a 65 for sixth.Jake explained that he traveled back home to the family ranch in Volborg where he has his own house and “helps out with all the ranch work when I’m not off rodeoing” after the Friday performance. He watched Saturday night’s competition on the Cowboy Channel app. There were some anxious moments knowing there were some good bull riders in the lineup on Saturday.“I ended up driving home and watched it at home here and knew Parker Breding and a couple other buddies that were out,” explained Lockwood. “Anytime you have those guys, there it’s no guarantee that it’s in the books by any means.”With bull riding being an extremely difficult sport trying to stay atop the challenging bovine athletes for eight seconds for a score, Lockwood was confident he would place and earn some money at the NILE. Plus, a bull rider is usually pretty happy when they are able to post a qualified ride due to the difficulty of the sport.“Especially in bull riding, anytime you get a score on the board, that’s a win in itself,” Lockwood said. “And at most of these rodeos, you ride one you’re probably going to win some money. So, we knew we had a good shot at pulling a check, if not winning.”Lockwood began competing in the various Professional Bull Riders series events in 2018 and competed at different levels of the PBR through 2022, earning $66,848.19 with 47 rides on 201 attempts for a ride percentage of .234.At the NILE on Friday, Jake’s older brother Jess, 27, was making his PRCA debut after a successful Professional Bull Riders career that included Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 and world titles in 2017 and 2019. While Jess had plenty of success at the PBR level, he had also battled his share of injuries.On Friday, Jake was the bull rider right before Jess. Jake wound up with his 83 and then Jess put up his 78-point score.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1kFSs3_0w9uTMbI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1kFSs3_0w9uTMbI00" width="1744" height="1189" ><figcaption>Volborg's Jake Lockwood smiles and shakes hands with rodeo personnel after an 83-point ride at the NILE PRCA rodeo at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark on Friday. AMY LYNN NELSON, Billings Gazette</figcaption></figure>“I have zero doubts when he’s getting on, I think he’s going to ride every time,” Jake explained of his brother. “And, he dang sure did. And shoot, I thought he was going to beat me for sure, but I guess the judges thought otherwise. So, it worked out for me.”All in all, Friday was a pretty special night for the Lockwood brothers as each recorded a score with a large cheering section of family and friends in attendance in the crowd of 2,194.“It’s been a while since me and him have been able to ride with each other and compete together,” said Jake. “So, it was pretty cool especially having the whole family there.”Jake explained that he plans on traveling with Jess to various rodeos this season as the duo chases the National Finals Rodeo.“That’s the plan,” said Jake. “We plan to go together if we can put up with each other (laughs).”Jake has been a member of the PRCA since 2021 and prior to this season had career earnings of $31,187.As a high schooler, Lockwood attended Powder River County District High School in Broadus. While in high school, he wrestled, played football and basketball and participated in track and field — “I kind of did a little of it all,” he said.In track and field, Lockwood was a sprinter and ran the 100- and 200-meter dashes. As a sophomore, he was fourth at the state meet in 2017 for Broadus in the 200.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2R4PLq_0w9uTMbI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2R4PLq_0w9uTMbI00" width="1282" height="1616" ><figcaption>Broadus' Jake Lockwood wins the 100-meter dash in the Southern C Divisional track meet in Laurel on Thursday, May 18, 2017. Billings Gazette file photo</figcaption></figure>On the football squad, Lockwood explained with a laugh, “we played 8-Man, so I was safety, cornerback, running back, wide out, kickoff, receiving, punt, everything. I mean, you didn’t leave the field.”Jake was also the state high school bull riding champion in 2017.During his junior year, after football season Lockwood decided to take his high school equivalency credential HiSET test.Lockwood explained he was making a 40-minute drive daily to school and the fall snowstorms were starting. Plus, he was excited to get started on his budding bull riding career.“As soon as I turned 18, it was a tough winter, so it would have been tough to go to school anyways,” he said. “But as soon as I turned 18, I got my PBR card and started going to PBRs and bull ridings.“With bull riding, you have a very, very short career. So, you know, as confident as I was at 18, I figured I could make a living bull riding.”The 2024 professional rodeo regular season ended at the close of September. The NILE counts toward the 2025 PRCA season.This year, Lockwood has lofty goals of finishing in the top 15 at the end of the 2025 regular season and qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo. And now that he’s repeated as NILE champion, the quest for the 2025 NFR begins.“Bottom of the line, make the finals for sure. And like I’ve said before, I don’t really want to just make the finals. I want to be competing for a world title,” he said. “I want to be in that running for the best out there.”Email Gazette Sports Editor John Letasky at john.letasky@406mtsports.com or follow him on X/Twitter at @GazSportsJohnL</div></body>

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Volborg's Jake Lockwood secures his place in NILE history, but wants more — including an NFR berth

BILLINGS — Jake Lockwood’s place in Northern International Livestock Exposition history is secure. The 24-year-old Volborg cowboy is now a two-time NILE PRCA bull riding champion, having defended his championship as the annual rodeo concluded on Saturday night at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark. Lockwood, who finished the...