This year’s defender of the Cinch Timed Event Championship presented by Smarty Rodeo crown Paul David Tierney took his third CTEC title in 2024, and has over the years racked up $388,500 in CTEC earnings alone at this elite Ironman cowboy contest.
“The chance to win money like this sure makes life easier,” said the 35-year-old South Dakota native, who now calls Oklahoma City home. “It just helps, and we don’t have many places where this kind of money is possible. As just one example, I bought a brown head horse (Andale) with Timed Event money. I was able to win a lot on him, and when you have a family there are always bills to pay.”
Tierney’s first CTEC title in 2014 was worth a whopping $50,000 plus round money. His champ’s check doubled to $100,000 in both 2016 and 2024. Paul David has also finished second in this one-of-a-kind 25-head average three times.
Tierney has for 2025 enlisted the same human helpers he had in place when he won it all last year. NFR header Logan Olson will head in the heeling, 2015 World Champion Heeler Kollin VonAhn will heel in the heading and Kody Woodward will haze in the steer wrestling. Paul David plans to ride his calf horse Macaroni, one of his own head horses, four-time Timed Event titlist dad Paul’s heel horse Hiho; Woodward’s bulldogging horse Blackjack; and Jate Saults’s steer horse Rocket.
“I ride horses that are easy and don’t take anything away from you at this event,” Paul David said. “You won’t see me riding a head horse that I’ll lose my rope on. Been there, done that. Won’t do it again.”
It’s easy to understand why Tierney considers his Timed Event record the highlight of his cowboy career.
“We (big brother Jess won the 2017 CTEC) grew up making sure we were ready for this,” said Paul David, who plans to head for Casey McCluskey at the rodeos this year. “More than anything, Dad knew we were going to want to do it growing up, so the foundation was set early. We bulldogged, roped calves and team roped in high school and college. I won my first steer roping jackpot when I was a junior in high school. So when it came time to enter the Timed Event, none of this was new to us.
“When I was a kid, I missed a lot of the Timed Events earlier in my dad’s career, because I wrestled since I was six years old and the state wrestling tournament was on top of it. I think seventh or eighth grade is when I first started thinking about entering the Timed Event myself. This event was made for how we grew up doing it all.”
It’s no surprise that Paul David was a scrappy wrestler, and a two-time South Dakota state champ. That same inner scrap comes out loud and clear every year when it’s steer wrestling time and he cowboys up beyond what the scale should allow at the CTEC.
“The Timed Event is the only time I bulldog now,” he said. “It’s fun for me to steer rope at the Timed Event, too, because the big arena at the Lazy E gives me a chance to be competitive. I always look forward to the Timed Event. The name of the game is never get in a hurry, and have smooth times. It’s a true cowboy contest, and you can’t luck out and win a 25-header.”
