PBR Canada Names 2018 Stock Contractor, Bull and Event of the Year

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada has announced Nansen Vold’s Vold Rodeo Company, Happy Camper and Ranchman's PBR BullBustin' as the 2018 recipients of the Stock Contractor of the Year, Bull of the Year and Event of the Year honors.

Nansen Vold and Vold Rodeo Company’s win marks the fifth, and third consecutive, season it has earned the honor of Stock Contractor of the Year. The Ponoka, Alberta-based operation previously took the title in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

“It means a great deal and is a definite honor to be voted Stock Contractor of the Year for the third straight year,” Vold said. “It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to do well in the stock contracting business, along with a lot of help from people throughout the year.”

With a deep pen of stellar bovine athletes, Vold’s standouts in 2018 included VJV Whiskey Hand, BAMF, Twisted and Devour.

VJV Whiskey Hand was the high-marked bull of the event at the Monster Energy Tour stop in Kelowna, marked 44 points for his 3.12-second buck off of Cody Floyd (Kipling, Saskatchewan). The bull has been ridden just twice in 16 outs across all levels of competition. He was notably selected to buck in Round 3 of the 2018 PBR World Finals where he dispatched Nathan Burtenshaw (Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia) in 3.47 seconds. BAMF also competed in the third round of most prestigious event in bull riding, sending Fabiano Vieira (Pérola, Brazil) to the dirt in 6.38 seconds at World Finals.

One of three bovine athletes to earn the Monster Energy Tour bull of the event honors twice in 2018, Twisted, who has been ridden just twice in his 12 outs, recorded the top bull score of the season, 46 points, when he bested Brock Radford (De Winton, Alberta) in 2.15 seconds at the international Major in Québec. Devour, who last bucked on the Canadian Monster Energy Tour in Abbotsford, has been ridden just once in nine outs across all levels of competition. The lone rider to cover the bovine athlete was 2018 PBR World Champion Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) at the April PBR Unleash The Beast event in Billings, Montana. 

“We raise a lot of our own stock, but also purchase many bulls from guys raising these great animals,” Vold said. “You guys all know who you are, and we would not be where were are today without you. Thank you to my wife and kids for being there on the long roads and late nights and all the help in between. And a big thank you to all the bull riders for voting for us on this award. We strive to bring the best stock to every event we go to.”

After a stellar season on Canadian soil, Two Bit Bucking Bulls’ Happy Camper was named the 2018 PBR Canada Bull of the Year.

“Getting the call from the PBR Office telling me that 465 Happy Camper was voted 2018 Bull of the Year was such an honor to me and my family,” said Two Bit Bucking Bulls’ Josh Berezay. “This award is voted on by the cowboys and that respect for an animal athlete does not happen too many times in a lifetime.”

In 15 outs at PBR events this season, Happy Camper was ridden just three times. Jared Parsonage (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan) was the first rider to make the 8 seconds aboard the bovine athlete this season, marked 88 points to win the Touring Pro Division (TPD) event in May in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Four months later, Zane Lambert’s (Ponoka) 90.5-point ride aboard Happy Camper propelled him to his second consecutive win at the TPD’s Glen Keeley Memorial Bull Riding in Stavely, Alberta.

The third qualified ride aboard Happy Camper was recorded during his second career appearance at the PBR World Finals. For the second time in as many years, Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil) made the 8 aboard the bull in Round 3 of the event, this season marked 84.75 points.

On the Monster Energy Tour, Happy Camper was the high-marked bull of the event in both Calgary, Alberta, marked 43.5 points, and Ottawa, scored 44.5 points.

For the second time, the three-day Ranchman's PBR BullBustin', part of the Touring Pro Division, was named the Canadian Event of the Year.

On the first two nights of the event, won by Lachlan Richardson (Gresford, New South Wales) and Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan), respectively, private donations, a 50/50 drawing and Calcutta helped raise more than $30,000 for the Society for Treatment for Autism and Canadian Mental Health Calgary.

On the final day of the event, won in dramatic fashion by Parsonage, more than $50,000 was raised for the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre. 

Each winner was selected via rider vote of those competing at this year’s PBR Canada Finals.

The 2018 PBR Monster Energy Canadian Finals, presented by Mac’s/Circle K and Dakota Dunes Casino is the ninth and final event of the 2018 Monster Energy Tour, the nation’s first-ever cross-nation, nationally televised PBR series. The event will feature 21 of the top riders from the national standings, all vying to be the 2018 PBR Canada Champion.

This season, riders have had the opportunity to compete at more than 30 Monster Energy Tour and Touring Pro Division events across Canada to earn points towards the Canadian national standings, all in an effort to be the No.1-ranked athlete at year’s end and crowned the PBR Canada Champion.

This year’s Championship event will decide one of the most fiercely contended national title races in history. With 2,250 points up for grabs at the two-day event, all competing riders have the chance to leave Saskatoon as this year’s Canadian champion.