First Half Recap: Mauney Wins Again and Proctor is the Iron Cowboy

PUEBLO, Colo. – Now that summer has arrived and we’re that much close to the start of the second half of the Built Ford Tough Series in Nashville, PBR.com wants to take you back and look at the first half of the season.

Kansas City: Eduardo Aparecido didn’t have a lot of time to compose himself during the Kansas City Built Ford Tough Championship Round, but he knew he wanted a $30,000 payday and the event victory.

Aparecido won his first event of 2016 by riding Texicali for 89 points roughly 5 minutes after earning a re-ride option during his 81.25-point ride on Bootdaddy.com.

The ride capped a 3-for-3 weekend for the fourth-year professional bull rider.

“I needed one more ride because I only scored 80 points,” Aparecido said with the help of Valdiron de Oliveira translating. “I didn’t want to win second. I wanted to win first. I wanted to ride my bull. It is hard to go back-to-back with another bull because the rope is a little dirty and I have to clean it and make it stick again. You have to concentrate a little more to get on another rank bull.”

Kansas City 15/15: J.B. Mauney delivered again when he won his second consecutive 15/15 Bucking Battle after an 89-point trip aboard Wicked. The win in the special round, paired with Mauney’s 85-point ride on Big Country in Round 1 of the Kansas City event, returned Mauney to No.1 in the world standings for the first time since winning the 2015 World Championship.

“I knew that bull and had seen him quite a bit,” Mauney said. “I never had been on him and wasn’t sure what he was going to feel like. I knew he would go either way and bucked. All I did was I just nodded my head and I didn’t turn loose. When he stumbled, it kind of helped me out and put me exactly where I kind of needed to be so when he jumped back up I kind of picked him back up and we went on with it. Once he got to whirling it was fun after that.”

Arlington: At Iron Cowboy, the second PBR Major of the season, Shane Proctor emerged out of 40 riders as the Iron Cowboy. The event at AT&T Stadium (Dallas Cowboys Stadium) went four rounds and came down to Proctor, Fabiano Vieira, Joao Ricardo Vieira and Rubens Barbosa. Proctor (3-for-4) rode DaNutso for 81.5 points, while the others bucked off, securing the win for the Grand Coulee, Washington, bull rider.

The PBR Major victory propelled Proctor into the No. 1 position in the world standings.

“This feels real good,” Proctor said. “It is everything you work hard for. A couple of years ago, people were writing me off because I had two shoulder surgeries in one year and nobody knew how I would come back from it.”

CHECK OUT THE REST OF OUR FIRST HALF RECAPS

–Part 1

–Part 2

–Part 3