You don’t get an opportunity to meet many people whose names are like New Mexico cities and towns.

Does anyone know a guy by the name of Grants or Roswell? Maybe a Bernalillo Baca? How about an Alamogordo Smith? (OK, I’ll give you Lincoln as a first name.)

Meet 20-year-old Taos Muncy of Corona, N.M., who’s making quite a name — and quite a living — for himself on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit. A rookie on the PRCA circuit in 2006, when he won $19,034 and finished 49th in the world standings.

In 2007, he won more than $200,000 last year, winning titles (mostly in saddle-bronc riding) in Scottsdale, Oakdale (Calif.), Cheyenne, Wyo.; Deadwood (S.D.) and Dalhart, Texas, and in Las Vegas, Nev. — along with a College National Finals crown for saddle-bronc riding last June in Casper, Wyo.

Then a junior at Panhandle State (Goodwell, Okla.), he became only the third cowboy to win a college championship and a world championship in the same year.

Muncy is the son of former rodeo competitors Blaine, who competed in three rough stock events, and Johnnie, who was a breakaway roper and barrel racer. Taos was born at about the time of the Taos Days Rodeo and because his father liked the name — and knew a bull rider named Taos.

Being a cowboy is all he ever wanted; competing in rodeo was never in question.

Muncy is majoring in agricultural business at Panhandle State, and he envisions owning his own ranch someday. He spends time away from school at his parents’ ranch in Corona, located in almost the exact center of the state, about 33 miles southwest of Vaughn on US 54.

“I know a lot of guys that work out but don’t live on a ranch,” he said. “When I come home and am loading hay and bags of grain, roping — I think that keeps me in shape. I’m always active.”

Muncy played varsity basketball while attending tiny Corona High — Muncy said there were about six graduates when he accepted his diploma — but with his passion and expertise in rodeo, colleges started seeking his talents for their programs.

“Panhandle State came to me. I went to their bronc-riding school,” he said. “Right then, I knew where I wanted to go. A lot of guys have made a living at rodeo. They’re a big help.”

Competing in Rio Rancho this week will be great, Muncy said recently, while competing at an event in Odessa, Texas.

“It’s pretty cool — about an hour and a half from the house,” he said, knowing his parents will be here. “They helped me out all through high school and even before that; they’re there if I need it.”

Although he’s in his fourth year at Panhandle State, graduation isn’t in his immediate future.

“It’s hard to rodeo and (graduate on time),” he said.

He wants to keep riding broncs — similar to bull riding, with riders trying to stay aboard for eight seconds — “another 15 years, if I can stay healthy. I want to get myself a ranch, own some bucking horses and go from there.”

His outlook for good health has improved since he quit riding bulls, not that falling from a jumping horse is any easier.

“I don’t ride bulls anymore. I did that my first semester of college and in high school. The more events you can do in college, the better it is for all-around. I decided I didn’t like it anymore,” he explained.

Muncy said Rio Ranchoans would like what they see at the New Mexico Stampede.

“The contractor has some of the best stock in the word, puts on his rodeos real quick, and they’re real flashy,” he explained. “Sometimes I get caught watching the rodeo, laughing real hard, and forget I have to get on a bronc.”

What did he do with his winnings?

“I’ve got an arena and a barn and I’m thinking about getting a house; save a little bit, invest a little bit,” he said.

“I’m a cowboy every day.”