Game Notes – Saskatoon

ALL ROADS TO FINALS GO THROUGH SASKATOON – This weekend, for the 16^th time in history, PBR Canada’s elite Cup Series will buck into Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and SaskTel Centre with the PBR Saskatoon Classic, presented by Redhead Equipment and CASE IH. The Saskatoon tour stop will be the tenth and final regular-season Cup Series event before the 2024 Command Tubular PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Edmonton’s Best Hotels, on Nov. 8-9 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The Saskatoon event will begin on Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26 at 7:00 p.m. CST.

RELATED: Click here for the complete Saskatoon Game Notes. 

MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR – During the 2024 season, PBR Canada will host three Majors, offering riders both an increased event purse and Canadian national points. The season-launch event in Red Deer, Alberta marked the first Major, with the tour stop in June in Kingston marking the second. This weekend’s final regular-season Cup Series event of the year in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, will welcome the third and last of the series.  Below is a breakdown of the Canadian national points available this weekend in Kingston:

 

	2024 PBR Canada Major		Ride Score Points
	Rounds	Aggregate	Score	Points
1	30	150	70-79.75	7
2	20	94	80-89.75	8
3	14	67	90-99.75	9
4	12	40
5	11	34
6	9	26
7	8	17
8	6	8
9	5	7
10	3	6

 

THIS WEEKEND’S FORMAT – The PBR Saskatoon Classic will feature three rounds of bull riding and is a Tier 1 Velocity Global event. Each rider will get on one bull in Round 1 on Friday and Round 2 on Saturday. The 10 bull riders with the best combined scores will then advance to the championship round on Saturday, where they will attempt one final bull in an effort to be crowned the event champion. This weekend, one rider will have the chance to earn 240 national points in the main event, in addition to ride score points. Following Friday night’s Round 1, the Top 5 riders from the opening round will attempt five of the event’s top bulls. Featuring both a separate purse, and national points, $2,500 will be available, with the winner set to collect 15 national points.

5/5 BUCKING BATTLE – In 2024, at all two-day PBR Canada Cup Series events, the opening night of competition will feature a 5/5 Bucking Battle. Pitting the Top 5 riders from the event’s opening round against the five best bucking bulls at the event, the special round will feature both a separate purse, and national points. The national points will be awarded as: 1^st – 15; 2^nd – 8; and 3^rd – 7. The money will payout as: 1^st - $1,250; 2^nd - $750; and 3^rd – $500. The bulls slated to buck in the 5/5 Bucking Battle in Saskatoon are:

Ceili’s Pyper (Foley Bucking Bulls)
Edge of Tomorrow (Lazy S Bucking Bulls)
Chasing Shadows (Outlaw Buckers Rodeo Corp.)
Whiskey Moon (Skori Bucking Bulls)
Hanna Motors Broken Halo (Skori Bucking Bulls)

TETZ OVERTAKES THE NO. 1 RANK – Following last weekend’s Cup Series event in Medicine Hat, Alberta, there is a new No. 1-ranked rider in the race for the 2024 PBR Canada Championship – Nick Tetz. Tetz, who had been in Las Vegas just days prior competing with the No. 9 Arizona Ridge Riders during the Ride-In Round for the 2024 PBR Camping World Teams Championship, began the ninth Cup Series event of the season inside Co-op Place trailing then No. 1 Cody Coverchuk by 105 points. However, once back on home soil, Tetz was electric as he swept the competition, going a perfect 2-for-2 and delivering the first 90-point ride of the season, to win the Medicine Hat Classic and overtake the No. 1 rank in the race for the 2024 Canadian Championship and accompanying $100,000 bonus. Tetz got off to a sensational start in Round 1, topping the scoreboard when he teamed with House Fire for an 86-point score. The 2022 PBR Canada Champion then elected to go head-to-head with Langham Kid in the championship round. In a decision which proved dividends, Tetz remained in perfect time with the powerful animal athlete, awarded a monstrous 90 points to clinch the victory. The effort marked the first 90-point ride of the season.

Tetz now leads the PBR Canada ranks in Cup Series wins with three, tonight’s victory marking his record-setting eleventh of the season. In winning both rounds of the event, Tetz has now won four Cup Series rounds, the second most of any rider. Across both the Cup Series and Touring Pro Division, Tetz has won 16 rounds, the most of any rider in PBR Canada. The young Albertan also now boasts a 50.98% riding average in Canada having gone a torrid 26-for-51 to date.

Courtesy of the golden finish, Tetz garnered a crucial 137 national points. He leapfrogged Cody Coverchuk for the No. 1 rank in Canada, now leading the standings by 32 points. Coverchuk competed inside Co-op Place but was shutout, bucking off Watermelon Sugar Hi in 4.71 seconds. Both Tetz and Coverchuk will now turn their attention to Saskatoon. They have drawn Red Rust and Lil Nasty, respectively.

ROBBINS, BUTTAR MAKE MOVES IN THE HAT – Both Coy Robbins and Dakota Buttar made the most of the recent Cup Series event in Medicine Hat, Alberta, parlaying Top 5 finishes into notable gains in the 2024 PBR Canada Championship race. While Robbins is on the hunt for his first title, Buttar is looking to further etch his name in the record books. Should the Eatonia, Saskatchewan resident win the 2024 title he would not only tie Aaron Roy for most Championships won by one rider with three, but he would become the first to win the coveted honor in back-to-back seasons as the reigning Canadian Champion.

For Robbins, he finished second, garnering 83 national points. After topping Finger Roll for 84 points in Round 1, the 2017 PBR Canada Rookie of the Year went the distance on Dialed In for 87.5 points in the final round. Chasing his first Canadian Championship, Robbins rose from No. 6 to No. 4 in Canada. He is now 600 points behind No. 1 Tetz. Robbins also now holds a 50% riding average this season in Canada, having gone 22-for-44 to date. The Camrose native has drawn Pay Day in Round 1 of the PBR Saskatoon Classic.

On the spurs of a third-place result in Grande Prairie, Alberta, just two weeks prior, Buttar also delivered a bronze showing in Medicine Hat. Buttar collected 69.5 national points for his matching 85-point rides on High Voltage and Run It Up. The reserved Saskatchewan man climbed from No. 4 to No. 3 in the national standings, propelled within 580.5 points of No. 1 Tetz. Buttar will first attempt Hamme Time in the opening round of his home province event.

M … V … P – A year after winning his debut event on Canadian soil in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, John Crimber will return to Canada this weekend having established himself as a preeminent bull riding talent on the world stage. In his rookie season on the Unleash The Beast, Crimber qualified for the World Finals with ease, ranked No. 2, with his regular-season efforts headlined by his career-first event win on the premier series in Jacksonville. Riding to second-place finishes at both the World Finals – Eliminations and World Finals – Championship, Crimber was narrowly beaten by Cassio Dias for the World Championship, finishing runner-up by a mere 238.5 points. During the event, Crimber posted a mammoth, career-best 95-point ride on Big Bank, winning the coveted Lane Frost/Brent Thurman Award. Crimber’s dominance led him to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 PBR Teams New Rider Draft by none other than the Florida Freedom, the very team coached by his father Paulo Crimber. His momentum continued to flow during the PBR Teams season as Crimber was crowned the 2024 PBR Teams MVP, beating No. 2 Brady Fielder from the Texas Rattlers by 147.25 points. Crimber’s on-the-dirt efforts helped the Florida Freedom finish the regular-season No. 3 in the standings, earning the team a direct berth to the 2024 PBR Camping World Teams Championship in Las Vegas. Inside T-Mobile Arena, Crimber championed two walk-off wins for his team, leading them to victory against the No. 10 New York Mavericks in Round 1 and No. 4 Texas Rattlers in Round 2. While Florida was beaten by the No. 2 Carolina Cowboys in the Semifinals and No. 1 Kansas City Outlaws in the Third-Place game, concluding the tournament fourth, Crimber posted rides in both games, winning the 2024 PBR Teams Championship MVP title. Crimber now has his sights set on Canada and making a late season push to the country’s National Finals on Nov. 8-9 in Edmonton, Alberta. Crimber will begin his event title defense in Round 1 of this season’s Saskatoon Classic with a showdown against Smooth Sailor.

SAY HELLO TO SWEARINGEN, HEVALOW, FRITZLAN AND REDD – The draw for the PBR Saskatoon Classic will be headlined by several American bull riding superstars making their way to Canada in the break between the 2024 PBR Teams season and the launch of the 2025 Unleash The Beast campaign. Joining 2024 PBR Teams MVP John Crimber is 2022 PBR World Champion Daylon Swearingen, member of the 2024 PBR Teams Regular Season Champion Kansas City Outlaws Koltin Hevalow, National Finals Rodeo Qualifier and Arizona Ridge Rider Colten Fritzlan and member of the 2023 PBR Teams World Champion Texas Rattlers Trace Redd.  

Swearingen returns to the Great White North no stranger to Canadian competition, having won the PBR Canada Championship in 2019, and the PBR Canada National Finals in both 2019 and 2021. The 25-year-old will make his 2024 Canadian debut in Saskatoon fresh off a stellar season for the Carolina Cowboys. Carolina made history during the 2024 season posting the top scoring game in league history and becoming the first-ever team to register two perfect games. The Carolina Cowboys also began the season with a record-setting 11 game unbeaten streak. The team, led by Head Coach Jerome Davis, held the No. 1 rank in the league for the majority of the season, before they were beaten by the Kansas City Outlaws on the final day of the season, surpassed for the regular season title. After having a bye on the opening night of the 2024 PBR Camping World Teams Championship as one of the Top 2 teams from the league’s regular season, Carolina took on the No. 5 Austin Gamblers in Round 2. During the game, Swearingen was bucked off by Barbarosa in a close 7.66 seconds as Carolina lost to Austin 349.75-166. The Cowboys, however, rebounded in the Last Chance Game, advancing to the Semifinals and eliminating the No. 4 Texas Rattlers and No. 6 Missouri Thunder via early scores from Cooper Davis and Derek Kolbaba. In the Semifinals, Swearingen contributed an 89.75-point ride on Ugly This to help catapult Carolina to the Championship Game for the first time as the Cowboys beat the No. 3 Florida Freedom 178.25-90.75. Carolina then squared off against Austin for the second time in the progressive elimination tournament in the Championship Game. Despite early momentum, Carolina bucked off in their last two outs, one of which was Swearingen being tossed by Norse God in 4.64 seconds, to fall to Austin 357.5-252.5, concluding the tournament second. Returning to Canada, Swearingen will look to regain his winning form when he first attempts Whiskey Clouds in Round 1.

Hevalow will make his Canadian debut when he climbs aboard Kracken in Round 1 of the PBR Saskatoon Classic, Hevalow had a breakout season in 2024. After finishing a career-best No. 10 in the World Championship race after having won his first Unleash The Beast event earlier in the regular-season in Salt Lake City, Utah, Hevalow was a key member of the 2024 regular season PBR Teams Champion Kansas City Outlaws. In Las Vegas for the 2024 PBR Teams Championship, Hevalow went a perfect 3-for-3 as the Outlaws finished third at the progressive elimination tournament.

Fritzlan will also make his PBR Canada debut at this weekend’s Cup Series event in Saskatoon. Fritzlan spent most of the 2024 campaign sidelined as he continued to recover from a broken femur sustained during the 2023 PBR Teams season. He returned to action in late September for the Arizona Ridge Riders going 3-for-4 during the regular season. During the Ride-In Round, Fritzlan was unable to post a score for Arizona, bucked off by Whiplash in 7.85 seconds, as the Ridge Riders were eliminated alongside the No. 8 Oklahoma Wildcatters. As competition gets underway inside SaskTel Centre, Fritzlan has drawn Boogey in the opening round.

After competing for the Texas Rattlers during their 2023 title campaign, Redd rode for the Missouri Thunder in 2024. Prior to the teams season commencing, Redd’s individual efforts were led by an event win on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour in mid-March in Palm Springs, California. Redd travelled to Canada for the February Cup Series event in Red Deer, Alberta, but was shutout, going 0-for-1. Ready to rebound in Saskatoon, Redd has drawn Short Order in Round 1.

PAST SASKATOON EVENT WINNERS – When the Cup Series last travelled to Saskatoon in October 2023, John Crimber iced the competition, delivering a flawless 3-for-3 performance in his Canadian debut, including a monstrous 90-point ride, to win the PBR Saskatoon Classic and crack the Top 25 in the Canadian standings. Crimber travelled to Canada amid an electric streak, having won nine events since making his PBR debut in mid-August. Bringing his talents to the Great White North, Crimber quickly put points on the board in Round 1 when he rode Desperado for 83.5 points. Tied for sixth, the teenage phenom used his early pick in the Round 2 bull draft to select Uncle Rico. In a decision which proved dividends, Crimber teamed with the powerful animal athlete for a round-best 87 points, surging to the top of the event leaderboard. For his championship round opponent, Crimber chose to go head-to-head with Bull of the Year contender Langham Kid. Nodding with confidence, Crimber burst from the chutes, matching the bovine athlete jump-for-jump en route to the requisite 8 as the crowd erupted in boisterous cheer. As Crimber celebrated in arena, he was awarded a mammoth 91.5 points, tied for the second highest score this season on Canadian soil, cementing his tenth career victory. Compliments of the golden finish, Crimber netted 144.5 national points. He vaulted from unranked to No. 22 in the Canadian standings. Crimber will return to SaskTel Centre this weekend to defend his event title, drawing Smooth Sailor as his animal athlete opponent in Round 1.

Prior to the 2021 Cup Series event, Saskatoon had been home to the PBR Canada National Finals. Of the 15 prior PBR Canada events held in Saskatoon, 10 have marked the year-end PBR Canada National Finals. 

2023 John Crimber
2022 Lonnie West
2021 Jordan Hansen
2019 Daylon Swearingen*
2018 Cody Coverchuk*
2017 Zane Lambert / Edgar Durazo*
2016 Zane Lambert*
2015 Brady Oleson*
2014 Aaron Roy*
2014 Rosendo Ramirez
2013 Scott Schiffner*
2012 Ty Pozzobon*
2011 Dusty Ephrom/Harve Stewart*
2010 Mike Lee*
2009 Aaron Roy

*Denotes an iteration of the event that was the PBR Canada National Finals.

FAMILIAR WATERS – Round 1 of the PBR Saskatoon Classic will feature four rematches. Those riders facing familiar opponents are:

• Chanse Switzer will face a rubber match with Wild Time. After the powerful animal athlete bested the Saskatchewan rider in 6.97 seconds in their first meeting at the September 2022 Touring Pro Division event in Armstrong, British Columbia, Switzer bested Wild Time for 85 points in their most recent meeting at the February 2024 Cup Series event in Red Deer, Alberta.
• Weston Davidson will look to remain perfect against Stand By You. Davidson rode the bull for 86 points during the July 2024 Touring Pro Division event in Calgary, Alberta.
• Chad Hartman will climb aboard Wolf Bait for the third time in his career. The bull first bucked him off in 2.81 seconds during the October 2023 Touring Pro Division event in Calgary, Alberta, only to best him in 2.97 second when they next met in February 2024 at the Cup Series event in Red Deer, Alberta.
• Wyatt Gleeson will look to even the record against Hanna Motors Sure Shot. First dancing this past July at the Touring Pro Division event in Calgary, Alberta, Gleeson was upended after just 2.87 seconds.

NEXT UP – Following a two-week break, the 2024 PBR Canada season will conclude in Edmonton, Alberta for the Command Tubular PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Edmonton’s Best Hotels, when the 2024 PBR Canada Champion will be crowned, earning the accompanying $100,000 bonus. Action for the year-end event inside Rogers Place will get underway at 7:00 p.m. MT on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9. 

PROVIDING PROTECTION – The bullfighters on hand for this weekend’s event in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, are Tanner Byrne, Brett Monea and Ty Prescott.

2024 5/5 BUCKING BATTLE SCHEDULE AND RESULTS - Each 5/5 Bucking Battle features the Top 5 riders from the event following Round 1, competing against the five highest-ranked bulls at the event for extra bonus points and an additional purse. Here are the winners of the special rounds thus far in 2024:

March 1 in Lethbridge, Alberta | Cody Coverchuk, 86 points on Wild Time
June 4 in Kingston, Ontario | Nick Tetz, 85.5 points on Allemand Left & Coy Robbins, 85.5 points on Wicked Water
September 27 in Grande Prairie, Alberta | Tyler Craig, 86 points on Hou’s Sippin

SASKATOON COMPETITORS BY COUNTRY

Australia (1) – Cody Fraser

Brazil (1) – Gilmar Santana

Canada (21) – William Barrows, Dakota Buttar, Cody Coverchuk, Tyler Craig, Weston Davidson, Tanner Eno, Wyatt Gleeson, Garrett Green, Jordan Hansen, Chad Hartman, Griffin Koester, Coy Robbins, Aaron Roy, Cauy Schmidt, Dawson Shannon, Brayden Shore, Chanse Switzer, Dixon Tattrie, Nick Tetz, Stefan Tonita, Cole Young

United States (5) – John Crimber, Colten Fritzlan, Koltin Hevalow, Trace Redd, Daylon Swearingen

BREAKDOWN BY PROVINCE –

Alberta – William Barrows, Tyler Craig, Tanner Eno, Wyatt Gleeson, Garrett Green, Jordan Hansen, Griffin Koester, Coy Robbins, Cauy Schmidt, Dawson Shannon, Dixon Tattrie, Nick Tetz, Cole Young; Saskatchewan – Dakota Buttar, Cody Coverchuk, Weston Davidson, Chad Hartman, Aaron Roy, Brayden Shore, Chanse Switzer, Stefan Tonita.