Casey Goff rides a bull Saturday at the Grantsville rodeo grounds. Goff finished first in the event to pocket $600.
In some bouts the riders were victorious and at other times the bulls prevailed. About 15 bull riders entered the rodeo in Grantsville which hadn’t held a top bull riding competition for 10 years.
“For a small town holding an event like that for the first time it was awesome,” said Tooele PRCA bull rider Shawn Proctor, who rode three times Saturday night.
“I had just got back from a rodeo in Rock Springs and hadn’t heard about this (Grantsville rodeo) until my friend called me today,” Proctor said Saturday night. Proctor was able to take the short drive to Grantsville and compete after competing in about 30 rodeos in the last 30 days, he said.
Five top riders advanced to the finals with Casey Goff of Grantsville finishing first and collecting $600, Fred Kenny of Vernon was second and won $300 with Grantsville’s Dillon Rydalch finishing third and taking home $100. Proctor and Casey Sullivan of Erda rounded out the top five.
Cowboys also competed in saddle bronc riding with Wes Clegg placing first and winning $300 and Wes Warr placing second and winning $200.
The crowd was somewhat sparse, but they seemed to enjoy the event and cheered loudly after some of the rides.
“I thought we had a pretty good crowd for such a short notice. They were lively anyway,” said rodeo announcer Mike Quarnberg who kept the crowd entertained throughout the night bantering back-and-fourth with rodeo clown Sheriff Downard.
Some of the Tooele County bull riders are now among the top competitors at local rodeos in the state and a big reason is the help of Clegg.
“Wes does an awesome job helping out local bull riders. If you want to ride you can call him up and get bulls together and he’ll let you ride,” Proctor said.
Clegg is familiar with the top five bull riders from Saturday night and said he lets them ride throughout the winter at the indoor rodeo grounds at Deseret Peak Complex.
Proctor had an easy time his first ride on a younger bull, but the second bull he rode “Push Play” bucked him off at 7.9 seconds.
“I’ve been on him before and he’s not the kind of bull you like to ride. He’s an eliminator,” Proctor said. Proctor’s third bull in the finals was not as lively and Proctor ended up placing fourth.
If Sullivan could have ridden the 1700-pound bull “Sponge Bob” in the finals, he might have won enough points to win the event. But “Sponge Bob” was not in a good mood and bucked off Sullivan in about 6 seconds.
“During the final round there was a younger bull in front of Sponge Bob in the alley leading to the chutes and he got turned around and Sponge Bob didn’t like it. It made him even madder than normal. Sponge Bob knows the routine and about jumped over the younger bull,” Clegg said.
“He (Sponge Bob) used to be a lot meaner, but the more you work with them they settle down a bit. Three or four years ago in Spanish Fork he knocked me over in the arena and kicked my chest, as I was bent over he came back at me and kicked me in the leg,” Clegg said.
“I got him a few years ago from a family in Erda and he was getting so wild they were about ready to shoot him if I didn’t come and take him,” Clegg said.
Greg Lund of Grantsville has organized a committee to help refurbish the Grantsville rodeo grounds and already several improvements have been made including the addition of 400 tons of sand to the arena.
A long-term goal is to put in a big set of bleachers with a lawn and landscaping and a community clubhouse.
Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com
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