Perfect Jake Gardner Wins 2024 PBR Canada Cup Series Season-Launch Major in Red Deer, Alberta

RED DEER, Alta. – As the 2024 season for PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada’s elite Cup Series got underway Saturday night in Red Deer, Alberta, Jake Garnder (Fort St. John, British Columbia) rode supreme, going a perfect 2-for-2, to win the first Major of the year, victorious at the PBR Red Deer Classic.

Gardner began the event inside Peavey mart Centrium in commanding form, tying for the second-best score of Round 1 as he covered Highway to Heaven (Flying High Rodeo Co.) for 85 points.

The charismatic British Columbia native then clinched the event win in the championship round when he conquered Broken Pearl (Kinky Buckers) for 87 points.

The golden finish earned Gardner a crucial 200 national points. He vaulted from No. 5 to No. 1 in the early race for the 2024 PBR Canada Championship and accompanying $100,000 bonus. He now leads No. 2 Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan) by 15 national points.

Two-time PBR Canada Champion Coverchuk tied for third alongside veteran contender and 2023 PBR Red Deer Classic event winner Jared Parsonage (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan).

After riding Crazy Little Thing (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) for 83 points in Round 1, Coverchuk cemented his podium finish when he covered Langham Kid (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) for an event-best 88 points in the championship round.

Coverchuk left Red Deer having earned 107.5 national points.

For Parsonage, he garnered 98 national points courtesy of his 84-point ride aboard Times A Wasting (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) in Round 1, and 87-point effort atop Grand Funk (Kinky Buckers) in the championship round.

While Parsonage travelled to Red Deer unranked, he is now No. 4 in Canada, 122 points behind No. 1 Gardner.

Returning to the top of the event leaderboard, Chanse Switzer (Hazenmore, Saskatchewan) was second.

As the only other rider to cover both of his bovine athlete opponents, Switzer made the requisite 8 atop Wild Time (Vold Rodeo) for 85 points in Round 1, before conquering Time Marches On (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) for 86.5 points in the championship round.

Collecting 139 national points for the silver showing, Switzer climb from No. 9 to No. 3 in the standings, now within 66 points of No. 1 Coverchuk.

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was 2023 PBR Canada National Finals event winner Tyler Craig (Crossfield, Alberta).

After winning Round 1 when he teamed with Lil’ Hooch (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) for 86.5 points, Craig was narrowly denied the event win when he was tossed by Built Tough (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) in a heartbreaking 7.13 seconds in the final round.

Craig earned 72 national points. Chasing his first PBR Canada Championship at season’s end, Craig rose from unranked to No. 5 in Canada, inching within 148 points of No. 1 Coverchuk.

In the bull pen, Purple People Eater (Flying High Rodeo Co.), Built Tough and Blue Magic (Outlaw Buckers Rodeo Corp.) tied for the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event honor, delivering matching 43.5-point bull scores.

Purple People Eater posted the top score in Round 1, tossing Cole Young (Fairview, Alberta) in 2.07 seconds. Built Tough and Blue Magic were both out in the championship round. Built Tough delivered the score when he bested Craig, while Blue Magic earned the top marks for his 3.23 seconds of work against Garrett Green (Meeting Creek, Alberta).

The 2024 PBR Canada Sup Series will next travel to Lethbridge, Alberta, and ENMAX Centre for the PBR South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2. Action will get underway nightly at 7 p.m. MST.  

Stay tuned in to PBRCanada.com and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Canada), Twitter (@PBRCanada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the latest results, news, stats and more.

PBR Canada Cup Series
PBR Red Deer Classic
Peavey Mart Centrium – Red Deer, Alberta
(Round 1-Round 2-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Jake Gardner, 85-87-172.00-200 Points.
2. Chanse Switzer, 85-86.5-171.50-139 Points.
3. Cody Coverchuk, 83-88-171.00-107.5 Points.
(tie). Jared Parsonage, 84-87-171.00-98 Points.
5. Tyler Craig, 86.5-0-86.50-72 Points.
6. Wyatt Gleeson, 84-0-84.00-45.5 Points.
7. Fabian Dueck, 83.5-0-83.50-34 Points.
8. Marshall Senger, 82.5-0-82.50-22 Points.
9. Eric O'Flynn, 82-0-82.00-20 Points.
10. Garrett Green, 81.5-0-81.50-17 Points.
11. Micheal Ostashek, 80.5-0-80.50-8 Points.
(tie). Jordan Hansen, 80.5-0-80.50-8 Points.
Chad Hartman, 0-0-0.00
Ashton Sahli, 0-0-0.00
Aaron Roy, 0-0-0.00
Keaton Martz, 0-0-0.00
Dakota Buttar, 0-0-0.00
Coy Robbins, 0-0-0.00
Cody Fraser, 0-0-0.00
Weston Davidson, 0-0-0.00
Brock Radford, 0-0-0.00
Cauy Schmidt, 0-0-0.00
William Barrows, 0-0-0.00
Cole Young, 0-0-0.00
Elijah Gordon, 0-0-0.00
Trace Redd, 0-0-0.00

2024 PBR Canada National Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Jake Gardner, 2, 1, 2, 220.00, $12,171.25
2. Cody Coverchuk, 3, 2, 3, 205.00, $13,376.56
3. Chanse Switzer, 2, 0, 2, 154.00, $8,068.13
4. Jared Parsonage, 1, 0, 1, 98.00, $3,975.00
5. Tyler Craig, 2, 0, 1, 72.00, $3,060.00
6. Jake Maher, 2, 0, 1, 52.00, $3,304.38
7. Wyatt Gleeson, 1, 0, 0, 45.50, $1,065.00
8. Marshall Senger, 2, 0, 0, 36.50, $1,126.56
9. Fabian Dueck, 3, 0, 0, 36.00, $630.00
10. Garrett Green, 2, 0, 1, 33.00, $624.75
11. Chad Hartman, 2, 0, 1, 30.00, $1,785.00
12. Micheal Ostashek, 3, 0, 1, 28.50, $1,599.06
13. Eric O'Flynn, 3, 0, 0, 20.00, $0.00
14. Ashton Sahli, 3, 0, 0, 18.50, $1,197.44
15. Auzyn Corr, 1, 0, 1, 18.00, $1,668.13
16. Aaron Roy, 2, 0, 0, 15.00, $818.13
17. Griffin Koester, 1, 0, 1, 13.00, $786.25
18. Stefan Tonita, 1, 0, 0, 10.00, $0.00
19. Keaton Martz, 3, 0, 0, 9.00, $244.38
20. Jordan Hansen, 1, 0, 0, 8.00, $0.00
21. Dakota Buttar, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Coy Robbins, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Cody Fraser, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Weston Davidson, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Brock Radford, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Cauy Schmidt, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. William Barrows, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Cole Young, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Jett Lambert, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Orrin Marshall, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Elijah Gordon, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Clay Gordon, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Zachery King, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Charlie Yahey, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Chad Neufeld, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Tristen Manning, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Nate Carnes, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Dixon Tattrie, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Drake Wasieczko, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Gage Hillis, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Issac Janzen, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
21. Trace Redd, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00