Cody Coverchuk Ties for Round 1 Victory and Wins 5/5 Bucking Battle at PBR Canada Cup Series Event in Lethbridge to Overtake No. 1 Rank in the National Standings

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – In front of a raucous Friday night crowd in Lethbridge, Alberta, two-time PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada Champion Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan) showed up and showed out, tying for the Round 1 victory in the main event, and winning the accompanying 5/5 Bucking Battle at the PBR South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com, to vault to No. 1 in the race for the 2024 Championship and accompanying $100,000 bonus.

In Round 1, Coverchuk was tasked with Smoke Bomb (Vold Rodeo/Brady Walker). In what proved to be a perfect pairing, Coverchuk covered the powerful animal athlete for 86 points to tie for the round win.

Along with propelling him to the top of the event leaderboard, Coverchuk also earned a spot in the accompanying 5/5 Bucking Battle. Again lighting up the scoreboard, Coverchuk dominated Wild Time (Vold Rodeo) for 86 points to cement the victory in the special round.

Coverchuk collected a combined 46 national points, overtaking Jake Gardner (Fort St. John, British Columbia) for the No. 1 rank in Canada. Coverchuk now leads No. 2 Gardner, who is not competing in Lethbridge, but 31 points.

Ashton Sahli (Red Deer, Alberta) tied for the Round 1 win alongside Coverchuk compliments of his matching 86-point effort aboard Bow Before Me (Vold Rodeo/Prescott).

The young Albertan’s success continued in the 5/5 Bucking Battle where he was second via his 85.5-point ride on Airplane Mode (Outlaw Buckers Rodeo Corp.).

Garnering 39 national points, Sahli climbed from No. 14 to No. 6 in Canada. He is now within 193.5 points of No. 1 Coverchuk.

Two-time and reigning PBR Canada Champion Dakota Buttar (Eatonia, Saskatchewan) tied for third in Round 1, and finished a matching third in the 5/5 Bucking Battle to collect 31.5 national points.

Buttar first topped Hanna Motors Sure Shot (Skori Bucking Bulls) for 85 points in Round 1, and then became the third and final rider to convert in the 5/5 Bucking Battle when he bested Disco Daze (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock) for 84 points.

Attempting to become the first back-to-back PBR Canada Champion in history, Buttar rose from unranked to No. 12 in Canada. He is now 219.5 points back of No. 1 Coverchuk.

Tanner Eno (Coronation, Alberta) tied for third alongside Buttar in Round 1 to garner 8.5 national points.

He made the requisite 8 on Black Mamba (Lazy P Rodeo) for a matching 85 points.

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was young gun William Barrows (Foremost, Alberta).

Barrows’ 82-point ride on Patriot (Lazy P Rodeo) earned him 15 national points.

Action for the PBR South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com, will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Saturday, March 2. Action gets underway 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 South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com
ENMAX Centre – Lethbridge, Alberta
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Cody Coverchuk, 86-0-0-86.00-23 Points.
(tie). Ashton Sahli, 86-0-0-86.00-23 Points.
3. Dakota Buttar, 85-0-0-85.00-16.5 Points.
(tie). Tanner Eno, 85-0-0-85.00-8.5 Points.
5. William Barrows, 82-0-0-82.00-15 Points.
6. Tyler Craig, 81-0-0-81.00-14 Points.
7. Nick Tetz, 79-0-0-79.00-5 Points.
8. Brock Radford, 70-0-0-70.00-4 Points.
Chanse Switzer, 0-0-0-0.00
Jared Parsonage, 0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Gleeson, 0-0-0-0.00
Marshall Senger, 0-0-0-0.00
Fabian Dueck, 0-0-0-0.00
Garrett Green, 0-0-0-0.00
Chad Hartman, 0-0-0-0.00
Micheal Ostashek, 0-0-0-0.00
Eric O'Flynn, 0-0-0-0.00
Aaron Roy, 0-0-0-0.00
Stefan Tonita, 0-0-0-0.00
Keaton Martz, 0-0-0-0.00
Jordan Hansen, 0-0-0-0.00
Coy Robbins, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Fraser, 0-0-0-0.00
Weston Davidson, 0-0-0-0.00
Orrin Marshall, 0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Louis, 0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Laughlin, 0-0-0-0.00
Elijah Gordon, 0-0-0-0.00

PBR Canada Cup Series
PBR South Country Co-op Showdown, presented by VisitLethbridge.com – 5/5 Bucking Battle
ENMAX Centre – Lethbridge, Alberta
Event Leaders (Round 1- Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Cody Coverchuk, 86-86.00-23 Points.
2. Ashton Sahli, 85.5-85.50-16 Points.
3. Dakota Buttar, 84-84.00-15 Points.
Tyler Craig, 0-0.00
William Barrows, 0-0.00