Whoa, Nelly! 30-year-old Lane Granger mounts a comeback, wins Cody Jesus Invite

WINDOW ROCK

There was no stumbling out of the gates for Lane Granger.

The Tuba City native let his muscle memory take over as he emerged as champion at the 3rd Annual Cody Jesus Invitational even though bull riding has taken a backseat in his life.

On Monday night, Granger rode 1-of-2 bulls before a capacity crowd at the Dean C. Jackson Memorial Arena in Window Rock to claim this year’s crown.

“Actually, this is my third time riding this year,” said the 30-year-old Granger, who works in the construction industry.

“I took a break from bull riding, but I felt like riding again,” he said. “I got a last minute call (Monday) morning to come here at the Cody Jesus bull riding. He called me up, and it worked out. I got the win.

“It’s all reaction, and it all came back to me,” he added.

Event sponsor Cody Jesus says he’s not surprised to see Granger in the winner’s circle as the PBR Nashville Stampede superstar invited some of the best bull riders from the Navajo Nation and PBR ranks.

“Lane is a great bull rider, and he has been since the time he started riding when he was probably 14 (years old),” Jesus said. “It just takes one to turn it around and he got it done. I hope he goes to win everything he enters from here on out.”

As one of the oldest participants, Granger pleased the devoted fans, who lined up as early as noon on Labor Day, with an 86-point effort aboard Two Dozen, a bull owned by Diné stock contractor Al Clani, in the long go round.

“I hadn’t seen that bull but (Al Clani) sent me a video,” said Granger, who is scheduled to compete at the Navajo Nation Fair. “I was excited for that bull and, oh man, he rode into my hand. All I had to do was keeping moving because the bull helped me, too.

“He was pulling me around the whole time on him,” he added. “He was a good bull to get on.”

Prior to the Cody Jesus Invite, Granger got entered in a bull riding event in Williams, Arizona to no avail.

“I came close to covering my bull two weeks ago, so I came here determined to win,” Granger said. “This is a big bull riding, and it’s so awesome to win this. I’m very blessed to get this win and I want to thank Cody for inviting me.”

Granger edged out Chinle bull rider Robbie Taylor for the title as Taylor produced an 85.5-point ride on a bull named Dressed in Stripes.

“He was good,” Taylor said of his long go round bull. “He kind of stood weird in the chute, so I had to get a re-pull. He came out and he had that one big blow right there. He kind of wanted my feet the whole ride, so I had to use my hips to hustle across and it worked out.”

With an 82.50-point effort, Brazilian bull rider Ramon Fiorini de Souza placed third in the long go while Lucas Costa took fourth with a 77.50 ride. Two other cowboys made the 8-second ride with Wyatt Bowman scoring a 73 while Dawson Gleaves posted a 62.

Those bull riders and a few drawbacks competed in the short round with the bovine athletes dominating the final session.

In the short round, Granger was two seconds away from making a qualified ride as he stayed stuck to Sissy’s Surprise for 6.08 seconds.

“I’m very disappointed about the short round but it happens,” Granger said. “I didn’t finish the ride in the short round.”

Taylor, meanwhile, attempted to ride Snoop Dog, a bull owned by Hawkins Bucking Bulls.

“My buddy, JaCauy (Hale), got on him during the PBR World Finals last year so I knew him pretty good,” Taylor said. “I kind of moved too far ahead and I got stuck in one direction and he blew my hand out. I tried to grit it out, but my hand came out on that second jump.”

This was Taylor’s second time making the short round at the Cody Jesus Invite. In its inaugural year, Taylor placed fourth.

“I moved up this year, and I always have next year,” Taylor said. “It was a free bull riding, and it was close to home, so my family got to watch.”

With a total purse of $20,000, Granger took the lion’s share as he pocketed $8,800 while Taylor took home $6,400. Third-place winner Fiorini de Souza won $3,000 and Martin netted $1,600.

“No matter where I go, I like to brag about this bull riding,” Jesus said. “I think it’s gonna become pretty close to what you see at a PBR event.

“We’re hallway there,” he added. “We just need the winner to win $50,000 somehow. Hopefully, we’ll get to that point.”

Jesus says he’s starting to make plans for next year’s event, and he wants to hold it during the summer. Due to the Oak Ridge Fire, he had to postpone his event to Monday, which coincided with the Navajo Nation Fair.

“I like to make it a weekend thing,” Jesus said. “This year it was kind of a little rough, you know, with a lot of things going on this week. I’m gonna find a weekend where it’s going to be my bull riding event alone.”

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