Grand Coulee’s Proctor wins world bull-riding title

LAS VEGAS – The best night for Shane Proctor wasn’t his greatest night, but it was still a championship night.

The Grand Coulee, Wash., cowboy was bucked off and stepped on by Black Attack on Saturday night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, suffering a broken left arm which was going to require surgery, according to a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association press release.

Proctor, however, had already clinched the bull-riding championship when three-time defending champion J.W. Harris, his nearest competitor, bucked off earlier.

He is the third area cowboy to win a world championship.

Jeff Copenhaver won a calf roping championship in 1975 when he was calling Spokane home. His dad Deb, who lives in Creston, was calling Post Falls home when he won a pair of saddle bronc riding titles in the 1950s.

Proctor, at his first NFR in the Thomas and Mack Center, was fourth in the average with 399.5 points on five rides. Harris had four rides. Only two cowboys made six.

Every time he made the 8-second whistle, Proctor earned a check for placing in the top six. He was second in the opening go-around on Dec. 1 and again in the seventh round.

Proctor’s season winnings are $238,248.85, a little less than $30,000 ahead of Harris, who is from Mullin, Texas.

The two Spokane county cowboys picked up checks on the final night.

Cheney bareback rider Ryan Gray marked an 85 on Goodtime Charlie to place fifth in the final go-round, good for $4,615.

That left him ninth in the average, just one spot out of the money. Gray placed in five rounds, including winning the fifth round, the third time he won a go-round in his seven years at the NFR.

Gray finished sixth in the final standings with $132,641.

Colbert calf roper Tyson Durfey tied for fourth, good for $6,057.69, with a run of 8.70 seconds. Durfey slipped from second to fourth in the average.

Durfey, in his fifth straight WNFR, finished the season in fifth with $139,852.

The Minor brothers, Riley and Brady, struggled in team roping, only catching one steer and picking up one check. The Ellensburg cowboys finished 15th in the average.