BROKEN BOW – Paul Tierney was recognized Saturday with the Distinguished Alumni Award as part of Broken Bow’s All-Alumni Weekend.
Tierney graduated from Broken Bow High School in 1970 before receiving a degree in Agri-Business from the National College of Business in Rapid City, SD. In high school he competed in wrestling, football and track and was the national champion in all-around and calf roping. As a college student he competed in six rodeo events and won ten regional titles.
Tierney began his professional rodeo career in 1977 and broke into the PRCA rankings as a rookie, taking second in the all-around. He won the world championship in tie-down roping in 1979 then in 1980 won the all-around championship while becoming just the second man in the sport to earn more than $100,000 in a single year. He has qualified for the National Final Rodeo in calf roping nine times and in steer wrestling five times.
Tierney has been recognized with induction to the National Rodeo Hall of Fame (1980), South Dakota Hall of Fame (1981), Nebraska High School Hall of Fame (1998), Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame (2008) and South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame (2022). In 2014 he was inducted into the Broken Bow Athletic Hall of Fame.
Since retiring from the sport in the mid-1980s, Tierney has continued to work and serve others involved in horsemanship. He and his wife, Robin, began raising and training American Quarter Horses on their family ranch in South Dakota. They were recognized with the South Dakota Quarter Horse Association Legacy award in 2022.
For more than 35 years Tierney has shared his knowledge through roping clinics, private lessons and mentoring young rodeo competitors.
