ProRodeo Sports News, June 1, 2018

REDDING RODEO

thought would guarantee me first place and I finished third. Fortunately, this time it held.” For his Redding performance, Gray earned $4,737 and moved up to 49th in the May 29 PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with $11,078. “I’m going to go to the big rodeos like Reno and the rodeos during the Fourth (of July), and hopefully I can keep moving up the standings,” he said. At Redding, Gray was riding Alias, a 9-year-old horse he trained. “I bought him when he was 4 or 5 years old, and he was just a broke saddle horse,” Gray said. “I’m the only one who ever roped off him. My other horse is Tux, and he also is 9 years old. Both of my horses are young. When I had that surgery, I sold my other horses that were older rodeo horses, and since the surgery I have just been rebuilding things. I like the way both my horses are coming around. I’m starting to learn where each one fits better and their strengths and weaknesses. You can practice all you want and ride them at home, but when they turn the lights on and there is a crowd in the stands things are always different.” LOOKINGTOTHE FUTURE Gray acknowledged he’s at the tail end of his rodeo career. “Just a couple more years would be all I would do,” Gray said when asked how long he plans on roping. Gray has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering – something he would like to utilize. “Eventually I would like to be a developer and build homes and use my engineering degree,” Gray said. “I always said I would rodeo until I figured out what I wanted to do. During the downtime after my surgery, I had a lot more time to sit around and think. I was in a walker for more than a month. I was

driving where I live, and there are all these different housing developments going up. I talked to some people about what I wanted to do after rodeo.” Gray and his fiancée, Daisha Smith, are scheduled to be married Oct. 7. Life after rodeo almost began in 2018 for Gray. “I nearly didn’t come back to rodeo,” he said. “I thought about staying away, but I decided I wasn’t quite over it yet. I like to win and there’s nothing that replaces the feeling of winning, and 8-to-5 jobs just really aren’t up my alley. After the surgery, I didn’t know if I would ever be able to rope again. I wanted to prove to myself I could still do it and I’m thankful I’m still able to do something I love. I didn’t want to have to retire because of an injury.” Gray, who finished a career-best seventh in the final 2014 world standings, was born and raised in Seymour, Texas. He moved toWeatherford just over a year ago. In Seymour, 100 miles fromWeatherford, Gray still has a cow-calf operation. “I moved and bought a place and got an arena and barn built, and then I had surgery about two months later,” Gray said. “I got to use my new arena and barn about five times and then I had to have surgery. I’m feeling good now and I’m excited to be out here. There are a lot of rodeos left, and my goal is to make the NFR.” Tie-down roper Sterling Smith, a two-time qualifier for the Wrangler NFR (2013, 2015), isn’t surprised to see his friend Gray overcome adversity. “He’s pretty stubborn, and when he wants to do something, he will do it,” Smith said. “He’s a good roper and his best quality is just his mental preparation. He is always mentally strong, and I think that really helped him coming back from this injury. I believe he can get back to the NFR. You put your mind to it, anything can happen. He’s proven that with where he is now.

Team ropers, heeler Brush Minton, left, and header Dan Williams Jr. make a run during the Redding (Calif.) Rodeo. The duo finished in a three-way tie for the average win with 14.8 seconds on three head. Bob Click photo

Complete results on Page 44

SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Jacobs Crawley ........................ 87 pts. 2. (tie) Layton Green ............................ 84 Wyatt Casper ................................... 84 4. Two tied at ....................................... 82

TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Adam Gray ................. 18.2 sec. on two 2. Jordan Ketscher ........................... 18.3 3. Justin Brinkerhoff ......................... 18.6 4. Matt Shiozawa .............................. 18.7

BARREL RACING 1. Mary Jo Camera ................. 17.36 sec. 2. (tie) Jessie Telford ...................... 17.38 Katie Droshin .............................. 17.38 4. Three tied at ............................... 17.40

BULL RIDING 1. Braden Richardson ................... 89 pts. 2. Tim Bingham ................................ 88.5 3. Dylan Hice Vick ............................. 87.5 4. Two tied at .................................... 86.5

ProRodeo Sports News 6/1/2018

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