Tanner Byrne Leads Canadian Contingent at U.S. Border Patrol Invitational

DULUTH, Georgia – With two Canadians in the draw for this weekend’s PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event in Duluth, Georgia, Tanner Byrne (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) led the duo, going 2-for-3 to finish 15^th.

To begin the event, Byrne first made the 8 aboard Slip Out (Torres Brothers Bucking Bulls LLC) for 82.75 points in Round 1. Continuing the momentum on Sunday afternoon, Byrne recorded is second qualified ride of the event when he covered Handsome Jeff (Jo Z Bucking Bulls/K-C) for 84.75 points in Round 2.

Byrne’s chances of becoming the first-ever repeat winner in Duluth, however, came to an end when he was bucked off by Buck Owens (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) in 1.92 seconds in the championship round.

For his efforts, Byrne earned $650 and 20 world points.

Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) finished 25^th after going 1-for-2. His qualified ride came atop Maximum Risk (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls) for 71.5 points in Round 1.

As one of four riders to go a perfect 3-for-3 inside Infinite Energy Arena, Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) dominated the second day of PBR (Unleash The Beast action in Duluth, Georgia, sweeping both Round 2 and the championship round en route to winning the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational.

Entering Round 2, Leme sat eighth overall in the event after recording an 85.25-point ride aboard Slinger (Torres Brothers Bucking Bulls LLC) in the first round.

The Brazilian sensation quickly vaulted to the top of the leaderboard after he successfully made the 8 aboard Texas Comfort Air’s First Blood (Cooper/Scruggs Bucking Bulls) for a round-best 87.75 points.

Earning the first pick in the championship round bull draft, Leme selected Big Black (K-C Bucking Bulls/Joe & Nina Webb) who in his last four outs, has been ridden for more than 90 points. Of those trips, the 90-point ride helped vault three riders, Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Oklahoma), Chase Outlaw (Hamburg, Arkansas) and J.B. Mauney (Statesville, North Carolina), to elite tour event wins.

Determined to join that contingent, Leme brought the electric Peach State crowd to its feet when he made the whistle for a round-best 91.25 points. He now leads the PBR in round wins with five.

The 90-point ride is Leme’s fourth of the season, and he leads the league in most 90-point rides on the elite tour thus far in 2019.

For the 22-year-old, the win, his first of the year on the premier series, earned him a check for $39,050 and 600 world points.

Leme, who began the event No. 5 in the world, more than 900 points behind No. 1 Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana), is now ranked No. 3, just 335.84 points removed from the top spot.

In the bull pen, Bad Touch (Jo Z Bucking Bulls/K-C) inched further to etching his name in the PBR record books, dispatching his championship round rider prior to the 8-second whistle, extending his buckoff streak to 31 outs on the premier series, and 46 across all levels of competition.

Selected by Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona), the Bad Touch made fast work of the Team USA-Wolves rider, bucking him off in 2.66 seconds to earn a 44.5-point bull score.

He is now 4-0 this season, averaging 43.69 points per out.

The all-time record for elite tour buckoffs is held by three-time PBR World Champion Bucking Bull Bushwacker (Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls).

Ezekiel Mitchell (Houston, Texas) delivered the best finish of his career, finishing second to earn $18,050 and 350 world points.

The Texan’s event began with a strong 84.25-point effort aboard Mickey Mouse (Deer Prairie Creek Bucking Bulls) in Round 1, which he followed with an 86.75-point trip on Cut The Cord (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls) in Round 2, propelling him to second in the event.

In yet another milestone moment, Mitchell recorded the high-marked ride of his career in the championship round, riding Stunt Man Ray (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls) for 89.75 points. The qualified ride was also the 22-year-old’s first in a championship round.

In the world standings, Mitchell rose more than 20 positions, now ranked No. 10 after beginning the event No. 31.

Punctuating his performance with his third 90-point ride of the season, Outlaw finished third.

Covering Tractor Tippin (Broken Arrow/Pam Washington) for 84.75 points in Round 1, and Coopers Comet (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls) for 84.25 points in Round 2, the CEO of the Outlaw Nation entered the final round fifth.

With his second event win of the season, and the world No. 1 ranking, within reach, Outlaw drafted a familiar opponent in Cochise (Jane Clark/Gene Owen). When the two athletes last met, Cochise made fast work of the Arkansas cowboy in January, dispatching him in 2.52 seconds during the championship round of the season-launch Unleash The Beast Major event in New York City.

This match-up, however, ended in favor of the cowboy, with Outlaw making the 8 for 90.25 points. The 90-point score is the second consecutive aboard the bovine athlete, with Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil) marked 90.25 points aboard Cochise in his last out to win February’s Iron Cowboy Major in Los Angeles.

For his sixth Top-10 premier series event finish of the year, Outlaw netted $12,000 and 240 world points. Despite slipping to No. 4 in the world, Outlaw tightened the gap on world No. 1 Lockwood, who is currently sidelined by a broken collarbone. Entering the event 620 points back, Outlaw now trails the No. 1 ranking by only 380 points.

Competing at just the sixth Unleash The Beast event of his career, Scottie Knapp (Edgewood, New Mexico) finished fourth as the final rider to go a perfect 3-for-3. The three 8-second efforts were the first qualified rides of Knapp’s career on the elite tour, snapping his nine-out buckoff streak entering the Georgia stop.

To begin Championship Sunday, Knapp continued the momentum he generated in Round 1 from his 82.5-point ride aboard High Hopes (Deer Prairie Creek Bucking Bulls/5S Bucking Bulls), this time making the whistle on Hedoo (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) for 85.75 points in Round 2.

Knapp drafted Dang It (Davis Rodeo Ranch/Fogle) for his first-ever appearance in the championship round, a decision which paid dividends. As the first rider to reach the 8-second mark in the final round, Knapp earned a score of 89 points.

For the Top-5 finish, Knapp earned $6,725 and 155 world points. Competing as a Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Invite, Knapp, who began the event No. 43, is now squarely in the Top 35, ranked No. 25 in the world.

Rounding out the Top 5 was Round 1 winner Taylor Toves (Stephenville, Texas), earning him a paycheck for $7,480 in addition to 110 world points.

After bringing the capacity crowd to its feet on Saturday night for his 88-point trip on Millennium’s Buck (Torres Brothers Bucking Bulls LLC), Toves was unable to convert on the second day of competition, bucked off by Control Freak (Davis Rodeo Inc.) in 0.55 seconds in Round 2, and by Old Fort Days (K-C Bucking Bulls/Spark-lin Acres) in 5.36 seconds in the championship round.

In the world standings, Toves rose four positions. He is now ranked No. 20.

Preachers Kid (RD Cattle/K-C Bucking Bulls) captured his first YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event honor. The bovine athlete was marked 46 points in the championship round for his 2.61-second buckoff of Stormy Wing (Dalhart, Texas).

Fans can relive all the action from the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. ET on RidePass.com or via the RidePass mobile app.

Following a one-week break, the PBR Unleash the Beast will next travel to Kansas City, Missouri, and the Sprint Center for the Caterpillar Classic. The event will be on Saturday, March 23 at 6:45 p.m. CT and Sunday, March 24 at 2:45 p.m. CT. 

Elsewhere in the PBR, Australian Lawson Nobbs (Moura, Queensland, Australia) made a come-from-behind-surge to win his first-ever Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event, victorious at the three-day Bangor Classic in Bangor, Maine.

As the lone rider to go a perfect 4-for-4, Nobbs capped his inspiring performance with the first 90-point ride of his career to surge to the event win.

In Round 1 he recorded a 79-point score aboard Southern Twist (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls) before going 8 on Scream Tested (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls) in Round 2 for 83.5 points. In Round 3, another Broken Arrow bovine athlete was no match for Nobbs as the 21-year-old covered Blue Crush 86.5 points.

Nobbs won the championship round with the only 90-point ride of the three-day event covering Bandit (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 90 points.

For his victory, Nobbs earned $7,950 and 170 world points, now ranked No. 44 in the world. Additionally, as every Velocity Tour victor is given an opportunity to ride at an Unleash The Beast event, Nobbs also earned an invite to ride at the Billings Invitational in Billings, Montana on April 12-14.

While Canadian Shay Marks (Sunny Brook, Alberta) once again traveled stateside to compete at the Velocity Tour event, he was unable to record a qualified ride, going 0-for-3.

Fans will be able to watch all the action from Bangor on RidePass.com or via the RidePass mobile app beginning on Monday at 8:00 a.m.

 

PBR Unleash The Beast
U.S. Border Patrol Invitational
Infinite Energy Arena – Duluth, Georgia
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Jose Vitor Leme, 85.25-87.75-91.25-264.25-600 Points.
2. Ezekiel Mitchell, 84.25-86.75-89.75-260.75-350 Points.
3. Chase Outlaw, 84.75-84.25-90.25-259.25-240 Points.
4. Scottie Knapp, 82.5-85.75-89-257.25-155 Points.
5. Taylor Toves, 88-0-0-88.00-110 Points.
6. João Ricardo Vieira, 87-83.25-0-170.25-95 Points.
7. Eduardo Aparecido, 87.75-0-0-87.75-70 Points.
8. Cody Jesus, 85-85.5-0-170.50-65 Points.
9. Alisson De Souza, 0-86.5-0-86.50-50 Points.
(tie). Cody Nance, 0-86.5-0-86.50-50 Points.
11. Stormy Wing, 86.5-0-0-86.50-45 Points.
12. Ryan Dirteater, 0-86-0-86.00-33.33 Points.
13. J.B. Mauney, 86-0-0-86.00-25.83 Points.
(tie). Cody Teel, 86-0-0-86.00-25.83 Points.
15. Tanner Byrne, 82.75-84.75-0-167.50-20 Points.
16. Cannon Cravens, 81.75-76.5-0-158.25-15 Points.
17. Juan Carlos Contreras, 0-85.75-0-85.75-10 Points.
18. Claudio Montanha Jr., 85.75-0-0-85.75-5 Points.
19. Stetson Lawrence, 0-85.5-0-85.50
20. Dylan Smith, 0-85.25-0-85.25
21. Marco Antônio Eguchi, 0-84.75-0-84.75
22. Lucas Divino, 84.5-0-0-84.50
23. Mason Taylor, 0-84.25-0-84.25
24. Luciano De Castro, 83.5-0-0-83.50
25. Dakota Buttar, 71.5-0-0-71.50
26. Junio Quaresima, 70.75-0-0-70.75
Cooper Davis, 0-0-0-0.00
Colten Jesse, 0-0-0-0.00
Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00
Danilo Carlos Sobrinho, 0-0-0-0.00
Sean Willingham, 0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcus Mast, 0-0-0-0.00
Ruger Piva, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Triplett, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00

PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour
Bangor Classic
Cross Insurance Center – Bangor, Maine
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Lawson Nobbs, 79-83.5-86.5-90-339.00-170 Points.
2. Lucas Fideles Souza, 0-87-88.5-89-264.50-115 Points.
3. Bryan Titman, 85-89-89-0-263.00-155 Points.
4. Cody Rodeo Tyler, 85-86.5-87-0-258.50-23.33 Points.
5. Cristiano Figueredo, 86.5-85-85.5-0-257.00-15 Points.
6. Tye Chandler, 84-82.5-87-0-253.50-13.33 Points.
7. Ouncie Mitchell, 86.5-87.5-78-0-252.00-8.33 Points.
8. Luis Blanco, 82-80.5-86-0-248.50
9. Caic Cassio Carvalho, 79-66.5-84-0-229.50
10. Eduardo de Oliveira, 88.5-86.5-0-0-175.00-50 Points.
11. Rafael Marcelino de Montanha, 0-88-86.5-0-174.50-25 Points.
12. Kache Moosman, 0-87.5-86.5-0-174.00-3.33 Points.
13. Travis Briscoe, 0-84.5-87-0-171.50-3.33 Points.
14. Alan de Souza, 85.5-0-82-0-167.50
15. Cody Casper, 0-87-79.5-0-166.50
16. Ramon de Lima, 82.5-0-82.5-0-165.00
(tie). Alex Jenks, 87-78-0-0-165.00-17.5 Points.
18. Austin Richardson, 0-87.5-0-0-87.50-3.33 Points.
19. Jake Lockwood, 87-0-0-0-87.00-17.5 Points.
20. Brady Sims, 0-86.5-0-0-86.50
(tie). Joao Augusto Cezere, 0-0-86.5-0-86.50
22. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 86-0-0-0-86.00
(tie). Kurt Shephard, 86-0-0-0-86.00
(tie). Coleman Entze, 0-86-0-0-86.00
25. Eli Miller, 0-85-0-0-85.00
26. Chandler Bownds, 84.5-0-0-0-84.50
(tie). Nate Olund, 0-84.5-0-0-84.50
(tie). Jake Gowdy, 84.5-0-0-0-84.50
29. Michael Lane, 0-0-84-0-84.00
30. Leonardo Lima, 76-0-0-0-76.00
Shay Marks, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Lindomar Lino, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Thor Hoefer II, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Eli Byler, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Allen Burkholder, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dirlei Bonani, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Carlos Garcia, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Amadeu Campos Silva, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Will Loomis, 0-0-0-0-0.00

2019 PBR World Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Jess Lockwood, 11, 2, 6, 2,097.50, $201,564.42
2. João Ricardo Vieira, 14, 3, 3, 1,995.00, $271,818.61
3. Jose Vitor Leme, 14, 3, 8, 1,761.66, $156,817.50
4. Chase Outlaw, 15, 2, 4, 1,717.50, $115,461.48
5. Luciano De Castro, 11, 0, 4, 1,227.50, $62,536.67
6. Ryan Dirteater, 9, 1, 3, 868.33, $65,410.24
7. Cody Jesus, 12, 1, 3, 843.33, $71,585.24
8. Cooper Davis, 10, 1, 3, 702.50, $80,300.83
9. J.B. Mauney, 8, 1, 1, 649.16, $47,170.11
10. Ezekiel Mitchell, 14, 1, 3, 641.66, $29,390.00
11. Alisson De Souza, 12, 1, 3, 627.50, $30,745.50
12. Claudio Montanha Jr., 13, 0, 2, 575.00, $72,606.94
12. Aaron Kleier, 12, 2, 6, 575.00, $30,839.95
14. Colten Jesse, 11, 0, 1, 566.66, $45,728.79
15. Cannon Cravens, 11, 0, 2, 560.00, $54,228.57
16. Rubens Barbosa, 17, 0, 5, 542.50, $40,634.14
17. Silvano Alves, 14, 0, 2, 495.00, $29,174.44
18. Lucas Divino, 16, 1, 3, 480.00, $29,755.99
19. Cody Nance, 14, 1, 3, 475.00, $53,569.75
20. Taylor Toves, 13, 1, 3, 442.50, $21,710.00
21. Danilo Carlos Sobrinho, 11, 1, 3, 432.50, $27,753.35
22. Daniel Tinsman, 9, 2, 2, 385.00, $16,350.00
23. Brennon Eldred, 15, 0, 4, 380.00, $47,355.07
23. Junio Quaresima, 15, 1, 4, 380.00, $23,386.25
25. Scottie Knapp, 11, 1, 5, 375.00, $20,352.99
26. Eduardo Aparecido, 11, 0, 3, 367.50, $62,232.50
27. Cody Heffernan, 9, 2, 3, 365.00, $15,297.02
28. Cody Teel, 12, 0, 2, 350.83, $45,661.00
29. Dakota Buttar, 12, 0, 3, 340.00, $28,170.16
30. Dylan Smith, 9, 1, 2, 325.00, $11,100.00
31. Stormy Wing, 12, 1, 2, 320.00, $12,380.16
32. Cliff Richardson, 8, 1, 2, 300.00, $17,551.33
33. Mason Taylor, 9, 0, 3, 294.16, $14,780.00
34. Sean Willingham, 11, 0, 2, 293.33, $15,925.00
35. Derek Kolbaba, 14, 1, 1, 290.00, $87,415.19
36. Marcus Mast, 9, 1, 3, 280.00, $12,422.72
37. Stetson Lawrence, 13, 0, 0, 273.33, $28,513.57
38. Ruger Piva, 10, 2, 2, 257.50, $17,231.41
39. Tanner Byrne, 9, 0, 2, 255.00, $18,568.61
40. Ouncie Mitchell, 13, 0, 3, 253.33, $13,106.02
41. Lachlan Richardson, 10, 0, 4, 240.00, $22,015.40
42. Alan de Souza, 10, 1, 1, 237.50, $11,125.00
43. Jason Mara, 4, 1, 2, 235.00, $16,308.33
44. Lawson Nobbs, 5, 2, 2, 232.50, $12,381.61
45. Emilio Resende, 8, 0, 0, 227.50, $14,400.00