Denton Parish and Buddy Hawkins won $17,983 apiece across five days in Utah, helping the 18-year-old Parish move into third in the 2026 Resistol Rookie heading race with $46,394 won.
Parish, of Perrin, Texas, and Hawkins, 39, of Stephenville, Texas, won $12,844 each at the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days Rodeo before adding another $5,139 with a go-round win at Ogden Pioneer Days.
“It was pretty good,” Parish said of Spanish Fork. “We drew two good ones, two easy ones. I didn’t think we were going to win the first round or win the average, but it went our way, so that was good.”
Parish and Hawkins kicked off Spanish Fork with a 4.4-second run, tying Tanner Tomlinson and Wesley Thorp for the first-round win and $4,873 a man.
Their steer had already been run at Casper, Wyoming, giving Parish a heads up on how good he was before he nodded his head.
“It was good to feel like we had a good one before we roped,” Parish said. “We didn’t have to wait until after to know he was good.”
The steer caught what Hawkins called a “money stumble” when the barrier slowed him down leaving. That allowed Parish to get to him sooner than he planned, forcing the him to adjust.
“He did a veteran job heading him from a little closer than he was planning on,” Hawkins said. “Then we went far enough down the arena and I was in a pretty good spot.”
With a good first run on the board, Parish and Hawkins chose to stay the average on their second steer rather than try to be fast again. They stopped the clock in 4.8 seconds, earned $151 a man in the round and won the average with a 9.2 on two head for another $7,820 each.
“Better business to go ahead and finish the run,” seven-time NFR heeler Hawkins said. “Honestly, I left the rodeo thinking we were going to win $6,000 or $8,000 total, and we won almost double that.”
At Ogden, a barrier on their first steer took them out of the average conversation. With nothing to lose on their second steer, they went for the round.
“We definitely were not going to win anything in the average with a plus-10 to start,” Parish said. “He was good. He was a little sharper, so it kind of made everything happen.”
Parish and Hawkins answered with a 4.4-second run to win Ogden’s second round for $5,139 each. The check pushed their Utah total to $17,983 apiece and moved Parish firmly into the top three of the rookie standings.
“Last week was a lot more fun,” Parish said. “We actually won something more than $2,000, so that was nice.”
Parish made each of the Utah runs on Leddy, registered SH Oklahoma Feature. The mare has been his A-team throughout his rookie season, and Parish has worked to keep her fresh with several lucrative two-head rodeos still ahead.
“She feels good,” Parish said. “I’ve been able to ride her mostly. We haven’t really just killed our horses, I feel like. It’ll be good to have her for the end of the year, especially with all the money.”
Hawkins rode Colonel Him Bug, better known as Taki. Hawkins acquired him through a trade with in May, and the Utah run marked his first week as Hawkins’ No. 1.
The partnership itself balances Hawkins’ tendency to it break down with Parish’s preference to keep things simple.
“The less I talk about it, the more I don’t think about it,” Parish said. “I think the simpler a guy can make it, that’s when your chances are the best.”
For Hawkins, the goal is not to make major changes to what Parish already does well— it is to help him make small adjustments as he moves through his rookie season.
“He’s the most fundamentally sound teenager, I think, ever,” Hawkins said. “It’s more a spot of, let’s not make any major changes to what we know is sound, and let’s allow that to come back.”
That approach paid nearly $18,000 apiece in Utah and helped turn Parish from a rookie contender into one of the top three headers in the race.
“The writing’s on the wall for the future of Denton, with or without me,” Hawkins said. “I knew this was coming all summer.”