LAS VEGAS, Nevada – If baseball has its Mr. October, bull riding now has Mr. November.
Since making his PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals debut in 2017, Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) has been flawless inside T-Mobile Arena, extending his consecutive-ride streak during Round 3 of the 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast World Finals, tying for fourth.
Leme is now a perfect 9-for-9 at the most prestigious event in bull riding. His latest ride came aboard a familiar foe, Bottoms Up (TNT Bucking Bulls/Hart Cattle Co.), for 89.75 points. Leme is now 3-for-3 against the bovine athlete having ridden him twice earlier in the season, first at the WCRA Rodeo Showdown in Las Vegas and again at the PBR Elite tour event in Tulsa, both 90-point efforts.
Leme earned $8,000 and 85 world points. He is second in the overall World Finals event standings.
Set to attempt South Texas Gangster (Dakota Rodeo/Julie Rosen/Clay Struve/Chad Berger) in the fourth round, Leme will look to become just the second rider in league history, joining Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Brazil), to capture the World Finals event win in back-to-back seasons.
In the world title race, Leme gained ground on current No. 1 Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil), who after electing to take a re-ride with a seriously injured knee despite making the 8 aboard Humdinger (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Heald Pro Bulls), was bucked off in 5.6 seconds on Cut The Cord (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls). Leme now trails the world No. 1 by 1,262.5 points.
For the second consecutive night, Marco Eguchi (Poá, Brazil) used a spectacular 90-point ride to win the round, splitting the top spot with Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington) after both riders recorded 91-point scores.
Eguchi, competing at the sixth World Finals of his career, is now also 3-for-3 in Las Vegas. He surged to the top of the event leaderboard in scoring his second consecutive 90-point ride of the World Finals, making the 8 aboard Stuntman Ray (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls). Last night, in Round 2, the 29-year-old recorded the high-marked ride of his career, and the 2018 season, when he covered Spotted Demon (Julio Moreno/Dallas Schott) for 94 points.
“I feel great now,” Eguchi said. “It’s hard when you get knocked out like that and have to compete. I knew it’s a pretty good bull and could win the round. It’s the finals. You have to do your best.”
Matching Eguchi’s score, Kolbaba’s 91-point effort came atop Biker Bob (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/H&C Bucking Bulls). The qualified ride, just the third in 23 attempts across all levels of competition, snapped the bovine athlete’s 15-out buckoff streak.
“Tonight was one of the best rounds of bull riding you’ll ever see,” Kolbaba said. “It gets us all fired up in the locker room to perform. Just being a fan on the side, it was fun to watch. I didn’t want to miss a ride.”
For sharing the round win, each rider netted $27,500 and 240 world points. In the standings, Eguchi rose from No. 17 to No. 15. Kolbaba gained one position, now No. 13 after beginning the round No. 14.
On the heels of being announced to Team USA-Eagles for the 2019 WinStar World Casino & Resort Global Cup USA, the first-ever edition of the event to be held on American soil, slated for Feb. 9-10, 2019, Cody Teel (Kountze, Texas) rode Braham Boots Chrome (Outlaw Buckers Rodeo Corp.) for 90 points to finish third in the round.
The ride, his first of the 2018 PBR World Finals, earned Teel $15,000 and 125 world points. The top ranked American rider in the world rankings, Teel remains No. 5 but closed the gap on No. 4 Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil). Beginning Round 3 175.84 points behind De Castro, Teel enters Saturday’s round just 50.84 points back.
Tied with Leme for fourth on Friday was 2016 PBR World Champion Cooper Davis (Buna, Texas). Davis’ 89.75-point score, his first qualified ride of the event, came after he reached 8 seconds on High Razor (Humpz and Hornz/Sis ‘N’ Stan Bucking Bulls).
He leaves T-Mobile Arena following the third night of action with $8,000 and 85 points. Davis will begin Round 4 the No. 7 ranked bull rider in the world after leapfrogging Cody Nance (Paris, Tennessee) in the rankings.
Joining Leme and Eguchi, Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelândia, Brazil), Chase Outlaw (Hamburg, Arkansas) and Guilherme Marchi (Três Lagoas, Brazil) also improved to 3-for-3 on Friday night.
Aparecido tied for eighth in the round, earning 17.5 points, compliments of his 87-point trip on Peep Show (Cornwell Bucking Bulls), while Outlaw tied for twelfth after riding No Prisoners (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Heald Pro Bulls) for 86 points. Marchi’s 83.5-point trip, the seventeenth best score of the 21 qualified rides seen during the round, was scored on re-ride bull J.T. (Curtis Mendell).
For Marchi, the ride is his 635th on the premier series, the most of any rider in PBR history.
In the Rookie of the Year race, Colten Jesse (Konawa, Oklahoma), the No. 2 contender for the title, gained ground on No. 1 first-year rider Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Springs, Utah). Riding Jungle Can Do (Owens/Wyatt/Smith) for 87 points, Jesse collected 17.5 world points, shrinking Whitehorse’s lead to 18.33 points.
The 2018 PBR World Finals will continue with Round 4 tomorrow with action beginning at 8:40 p.m. MT.
The fourth round will feature 22 ABBI Classic Bulls competing for the titles of ABBI Classic Champion and ABBI World Finals Classic Event Champion with more than $500,000 set to be awarded, including two $100,000 bonuses.
The ABBI Classic Champion bull will be determined from his Top 6 scores headed into the finals, in addition to his two performances at the PBR World Finals. The ABBI World Finals Classic Event Champion will earn the title from his two performances at the PBR World Finals.
CBS Sports Network will televise the action LIVE beginning at 8:30 p.m. MT, accompanied by RidePass’ listen LIVE stream starting at 9:10 p.m. MT.
25th PBR: Unleash The Beast World Finals
T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Round 5-Round 6-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Marco Antonio Eguchi, 85.5-94-91-0-0-0-270.50-540
2. Jose Vitor Leme, 88.75-91-89.75-0-0-0-269.50-390
3. Matt Triplett, 89.25-0-86-0-0-0-175.25-300
4. Eduardo Aparecido, 89-87-87-0-0-0-263.00-247.5
5. Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-91-0-0-0-91.00-240
6. Cody Teel, 0-0-90-0-0-0-90.00-125
(tie). J.B. Mauney, 0-90.5-0-0-0-0-90.50-125
8. Kaique Pacheco, 87.25-88.75-0-0-0-0-176.00-117.5
9. Chase Outlaw, 88-85-86-0-0-0-259.00-100
10. Cody Nance, 88.5-0-0-0-0-0-88.50-95
(tie). Paulo Ferreira Lima, 0-89.5-0-0-0-0-89.50-95
12. Cooper Davis, 0-0-89.75-0-0-0-89.75-85
13. Guilherme Marchi, 86.5-86.75-83.5-0-0-0-256.75-60
14. Juan Carlos Contreras, 0-0-89-0-0-0-89.00-50
15. Lachlan Richardson, 87.25-0-0-0-0-0-87.25-42.5
16. Cody Jesus, 0-0-87.5-0-0-0-87.50-35
17. Colten Jesse, 0-0-87-0-0-0-87.00-17.5
18. Tanner Byrne, 86.25-0-86.75-0-0-0-173.00-10
19. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 86.25-0-81.75-0-0-0-168.00-7.5
20. Jess Lockwood, 84.75-0-86.75-0-0-0-171.50-2.5
21. Ramon de Lima, 0-0-85.75-0-0-0-85.75-0
(tie). Luis Blanco, 0-0-85.75-0-0-0-85.75-0
23. Dener Barbosa, 0-0-84.75-0-0-0-84.75-0
24. Silvano Alves, 84.5-0-0-0-0-0-84.50-0
25. Dakota Buttar, 0-0-82.75-0-0-0-82.75-0
26. Ryan Dirteater, 0-0-81.75-0-0-0-81.75-0
(tie). Alex Marcilio, 0-0-81.75-0-0-0-81.75-0
Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Fabiano Vieira, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Valdiron de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Nathan Burtenshaw, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Brennon Eldred, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Koal Livingston, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Sean Willingham, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Alisson De Souza, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Gage Gay, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Lonnie West, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Brock Radford, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
Francisco Garcia Torres, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0.00-0
2018 PBR World Finals Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Kaique Pacheco, 47, 10, 18, 5,444.16, $516,094.62
2. Jose Vitor Leme, 40, 5, 15, 4,181.66, $284,175.66
3. Claudio Montanha Jr., 48, 2, 13, 3,313.33, $260,405.51
4. Luciano De Castro, 38, 3, 11, 3,122.50, $248,730.17
5. Cody Teel, 42, 2, 13, 3,071.66, $290,008.78
6. Ramon de Lima, 45, 3, 9, 2,887.50, $305,365.74
7. Cooper Davis, 37, 1, 11, 2,687.50, $245,525.17
8. Cody Nance, 42, 3, 7, 2,633.33, $218,317.66
9. Eduardo Aparecido, 40, 2, 9, 2,519.99, $185,555.89
10. Fabiano Vieira, 43, 2, 9, 2,100.83, $158,561.00
11. Jess Lockwood, 33, 4, 9, 1,970.00, $224,301.75
12. Dener Barbosa, 41, 1, 14, 1,931.66, $153,030.11
13. Derek Kolbaba, 46, 2, 13, 1,920.00, $231,177.39
14. Matt Triplett, 31, 1, 15, 1,780.00, $114,131.32
15. Marco Antonio Eguchi, 42, 2, 5, 1,720.00, $73,504.50
16. Dakota Buttar, 41, 1, 6, 1,592.50, $106,353.78
17. Ryan Dirteater, 32, 3, 4, 1,552.50, $109,995.00
18. Valdiron de Oliveira, 39, 0, 6, 1,285.82, $64,520.66
19. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 42, 3, 10, 1,224.16, $97,660.06
20. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 43, 2, 7, 1,198.33, $83,523.15
21. Colten Jesse, 41, 4, 8, 1,180.00, $104,377.87
22. Chase Outlaw, 22, 3, 9, 1,167.50, $83,874.19
23. Guilherme Marchi, 23, 1, 2, 1,070.83, $77,833.98
24. Alex Marcilio, 29, 1, 4, 1,030.00, $97,474.61
25. Stetson Lawrence, 44, 1, 7, 977.50, $72,825.92
26. Nathan Burtenshaw, 40, 2, 7, 972.50, $63,628.98
27. Lachlan Richardson, 68, 3, 23, 970.00, $90,024.88
28. J.B. Mauney, 27, 1, 5, 959.16, $48,920.69
29. Brennon Eldred, 37, 0, 5, 957.50, $114,961.31
30. Koal Livingston, 30, 1, 12, 947.50, $88,635.26
31. Tanner Byrne, 37, 2, 4, 937.50, $71,956.60
32. Silvano Alves, 38, 2, 5, 893.32, $82,595.24
33. Sean Willingham, 41, 2, 9, 891.66, $70,036.17
34. Alisson De Souza, 43, 2, 10, 790.00, $150,113.90
35. Gage Gay, 20, 1, 2, 772.50, $116,868.13
36. Lonnie West, 47, 4, 10, 752.50, $84,056.29
37. Cody Jesus, 12, 1, 4, 745.00, $48,144.72
38. Marcos Gloria, 26, 2, 5, 700.00, $116,698.43
39. Brock Radford, 52, 3, 14, 695.00, $81,255.06
40. Cannon Cravens, 20, 1, 6, 680.00, $42,624.51
41. Rubens Barbosa, 53, 3, 12, 604.16, $68,362.33
42. Emilio Resende, 15, 0, 2, 600.00, $37,827.86
43. Cody Heffernan, 26, 3, 9, 585.00, $29,208.25
44. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 31, 2, 8, 548.33, $46,925.87
45. Juan Carlos Contreras, 49, 2, 7, 517.50, $45,855.43
