On top of his game

Tuba City bull rider Justin Granger wins MegaBucks

WINDOW ROCK

For the last nine year, the MegaBucks Bullriding has increased its prize pool and this year it attracted a lot of attention for a number of reasons.

The annual event gave away its biggest prize ever as Justin Granger was paid a whopping $15,000 in the winner take all format.

Granger covered one of two bulls during the two-day event and was declared the winner after posting the highest score in the long go round after riding “Ricardo Cartel” for 87 points.

“I’ve been on him once and he bucked me off,” Granger said of the bovine owned by the Ricardo’s Bulls. “I had to get him down and with the amount of money here I knew I had a good draw. He (rode) into my hand so I knew I had to stick him and get a good score and make it back to the short round.”

The Tuba City native said he’s competed in the MegaBucks bull riding since its inception in 2006 and it was the first time he’s won it.

“It’s great to finally win this because I made the short round a couple times,” he said while adding that his younger brother Lane won it in 2010.

Granger was one of four bull riders to make the eight-second ride in the opening round as the rest of the contestants had a tough outing on some of the toughest bulls in the business.

Nonetheless, Granger felt that was another reason why the MegaBucks drew a lot of interest among his peers as he credited the Native stock contractors for giving them a challenge.

“They are buying great bulls from everywhere,” Granger said of the stock contractors. “They pay a lot of money and when they bring them back here we have to get on them and they all buck.”

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