Gray, Durfey finish strong
LAS VEGAS – Ryan Gray of Cheney and Tyson Durfey of Colbert finished second for the week at the National Finals Rodeo Saturday night.
Bareback rider Gray placed second in the 10th and final round with a score of 89.5 aboard Knight Rocket. His season’s winnings of $179,414.28 placed him fourth in the final world standings.
Durfey placed fifth in tie-down roping with a score of 8.0 and his final winnings left him seventh in the world standings at $156,005.06.
The third area cowboy competing, Zack Oakes of Elk, was one of 13 out of 15 competitors to not post a score in the final round of bull riding. He finished 13th in average for the week and 14th in the world standings at $94,408.64.
Justin McDaniel, Luke Branquinho, Stran Smith and J.W. Harris won world titles and average championships for their events.
In bareback riding, McDaniel, from Porum, Okla., moved up from third to first in the world standings to take the title away from Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore. Mote hurt his chances by scoring a 76 on Street Moves in the 10th round.
McDaniel, sixth with an 85 on Star Burst, earned a bonus of $43,000 for winning the NFR average championship with an aggregate of 859 on 10 rides. He earned $126,292 in the NFR and finished the season with $216,967.
World runner-up Steven Dent of Mullen, Neb., who was fifth with an 85.5 on Good Time Charlie, earned $210,798. Mote was third at $205,592.
Tilden Hooper of Carthage, Texas, won the final round with a 90 on Scarlet’s Web.
In steer wrestling, Branquinho, from Los Alamos, Calif., was second in 3.7 seconds to take the world and average championships. Branquinho earned an event-record $242,018. He had a 10-round total of 41.90 second.
Trevor Knowles of Mount Vernon, Ore., finished first at the NFR for the fourth time in a row with a 10th-round win in 3.4.
In tie-down roping, Smith, from Childress, Texas, placed second in 7.2 and claimed both the world and average championships.
Hunter Herrin of Apache, Okla., who placed third in 7.4, had the world lead over second-place Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, and third-place Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo., entering the final round. But Smith’s finish and his average title bonus lifted him to his first world title. He had an aggregate of 87.10 over 10 rounds.
In bull riding, Harris, of May, Texas, overtook previous standings leader Chance Smart of Philadelphia, Miss., for the world championship by claiming the NFR average title with 507 points on an event-best six rides. Harris ended 2008 with $208,437, compared to $197,224 for Smart.
In team roping, Matt Sherwood of Pima, Ariz., and Randon Adams of Logandale, Nev., who finished fourth in 4.6 in the final round, won the world title. Header Sherwood, who claimed his second gold buckle, and heeler Adams, who won his first title, have earned $189,567 each.
Brazile and Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas, held on to win the team roping average title at 60.10 for 10 rounds. They tied for fifth at 4.7 in the 10th round. Colter Todd of Marana, Ariz., and Cesar de la Cruz of Tucson, Ariz., placed first in 4.0.
In all-around, Brazile pushed his season total to $3,027,539 to become the PRCA’s first $3 million cowboy.
Brazile, who secured his sixth gold buckle during round six, earned $419,868 this season, his third straight season over $300,000.
In saddle bronc riding, Cody Wright of Milford, Utah, claimed the world standings championship and the NFR average lead in round nine, but he couldn’t hold on to the latter during round 10.
Cody Taton of Newell, S.D., won his first average championship in round 10 by scoring 78.5 on Secret Agent, while Wright was bucked off Mullen Hill. Taton led the average standings with 720.5 points on nine rides.
In barrel racing, Jill Moody of Letcher, S.D., won the average championship with an aggregate of 140.11 for 10 rounds.
World standings champion Lindsay Sears of Canada, who clinched her first title during round eight, placed fifth in 13.90 for round 10. She earned an event-high $139,002 at the NFR and a season-record $323,569.