(Editor's note: PBR release)
ALBUQUERQUE – Columbia Falls native Matt Triplett and Brady Fielder (Clermont, Australia) split fourth place Sunday at the PBR Ty Murray Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
After an 88.25-point score in Round 1 Triplett, paired with Young Man’s Blues (Paradigm/ Parker McCollum/ Lockwood) in Sunday’s opening round, fired from the chutes on the hunt for his eighth PBR World Finals qualification. Despite his Round 1 success, Triplett was no match for Hang Em High (Bryan T. Smith/ Nathan Doss) in the championship round.
Fielder’s Round 1 score of 88.25 came from his picturesque matchup with Buckin’ for Cash (Paradigm Bull Company). But he also fell short in the championship round, dispatched by First Down (Hart Cattle Co./ Farris) after 5.81 seconds.
Meantime, just one week after dominating in Kansas City to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the world standings, Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga, Brazil) recorded two 90-point scores on Sunday to go back-to-back and collect his third tour win.
The three-day weekend in Albuquerque presented a distinctive format compared to other UTB events. The Top 15 active riders in the world competed in the 15/15 Bucking Battles on Friday and Saturday night and automatically qualified for the regular-formatted event on Sunday afternoon. The Top 20 riders from the two qualifying rounds on Friday and Saturday night advanced to compete on Sunday against the riders who competed in the 15/15 Bucking Battles.
As Sunday began, Vieira, who is feverishly chasing his first word title at 37 years old, was quick to put points on the board, covering Caddyshack (Blake Sharp/ Paige Stout/ Lukas Banning Bucking Bulls) for 90.5 points to top the leaderboard. Despite bucking off both of his 15/15 bulls on Friday and Saturday during PBR’s first event to showcase two of the special rounds in one weekend, it was clear that Vieira set out to win on the final day.
Climbing to the top of the Can-Am cage for the first pick of the championship round, Vieira made his intentions known by selecting 2021 World Champion Bull Woopaa (Barker Bulls/ Hookin’ W Ranch).
Fans inside of The Pit were on their feet and at full volume as Vieira climbed aboard the remarkable animal athlete.
Jump-for-jump, the veteran rider matched the bull who was part of two highest scores in PBR history as the clock ticked down. Fans and fellow riders launched their cowboy hats in the air as the buzzer sounded, and Vieira jumped to the dirt with ease.
Vieira’s signature smile flashed across his face as his 94.25-point score was announced, clinching the event win.
Vieira’s ride was all the more clutch because world No. 2 Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) had ridden I’m Legit Too (Hart Cattle Co/ Hale) for 93 points in the championship round to briefly take the lead. Vieira’s trip on Woopaa vaulted him to an aggregate score of 184.75 points, and he edged Swearingen by 1.5 points. He collected 138 world points and a check for $63,707.41.
Vieira, who came into Albuquerque leading Swearingen by 46.34 points, extended his world lead to now sit 96.34 points ahead of the New York cowboy in the world title race.
Swearingen, who held the event lead down to the final seconds in the championship round, was the only other cowboy to ride both of his bulls in New Mexico for a second-place finish.
Just like Vieira, Swearingen’s start to his weekend didn’t go as planned in both 15/15 Bucking Battles, collecting no score on either night.
Early on Sunday afternoon, Swearingen was paired with Bubba G (Dakota Rodeo/Brian & Ashley Pintar/ Clay Struve/ Chad Berger) in Round 1. His 90.25-point score paved his way to the championship round, where he
rode I’m Legit Too for a huge 93-point score
The runner-up spot for the weekend earned him $30,399.41 and 88 world points, holding tight to No. 2 in the world standings.
Brazilian rider Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil) collected a third-place finish in Albuquerque.
Earlier in the day, the 31-year-old was paired with High Tide Blues (Blake Sharp/ Michael Floyd) in Round 1, collecting an 88.5-point score and greenlighting his ticket into the championship round.
Aparecido then chose U.S. Border Patrol (Hale/ Berryman/ Ogden/ Hart) for the final round but was no match for the muscular bovine, who tossed him to the ground after a mere 2.97 seconds.
Aparecido collected 53 world points and $12,513.91 for his 1-for-2 performance, moving him from No. 14 in the world standings as the weekend began to No. 12 as Sunday rolled to an end.
Pookie Holler (Dakota Rodeo/ Brian & Ashley Pintar/ Clay Struve/ Chad Berger) earned the YETI “Built for The Wild” Bull of the Event title after his matchup with Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona). The magnificent animal athlete was marked 45.75 points after launching Jesus to the dirt in 4.17 seconds.
While 2019 PBR Rookie of the Year Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) did not have the Sunday he planned, bucking off of his Round 1 bull, he dominated both 15/15 Bucking Battles on Friday and Saturday night to move from No. 10 in the world standings to No. 7.
His matchup with Hang Em High on Friday night resulted in a 91.25-point score while his Saturday pairing with WSM’s Nasty Wishes (WSM Auctioneers/ Clay Struve/ Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) landed him an even more impressive 91.5 points.
Kasel entered the PBR record books by winning both special 15/15 rounds in a single weekend.
The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center for the PBR First PREMIER Bank PREMIER Bankcard Last Cowboy Standing, presented by Cooper Tires, on Friday, April 1 at 7:45 p.m. CDT, Saturday, April 2 at 6:45 p.m. CDT and Sunday, April 3 at 1:45 p.m. CDT.
Elsewhere in the PBR, on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour, 28-year-old Taylor Toves (Stephenville, Texas) won the Ticketsmarter Classic on Saturday night in Oakland, California.
Toves was paired with Regulator (Humpz and Hornz/Frances Dandy) in Round 1 of the night, firing out of the chutes for an impressive, round-winning 87 points.
As the exceptional animal athletes of the PBR dominated all but one matchup in the championship round, the Texan cowboy paired with Dagger (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger) as the night ended. Despite Toves’s best efforts, he was no match for the powerful bovine, being flung to the ground after a mere 2.53 seconds.
The veteran rider leaves Oakland with 37 world points and currently sits at No. 65 in the world standings.
PBR Unleash The Beast - PBR Ty Murray Invitational, presented by The Downs Racetrack & Casino
The Pit -Albuquerque, New Mexico
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. João Ricardo Vieira, 90.5-94.25-184.75-138 Points.
2. Daylon Swearingen, 90.25-93-183.25-88 Points.
3. Eduardo Aparecido, 88.5-0-88.50-53 Points.
4. Matt Triplett, 88.25-0-88.25-34.5 Points.
(tie). Brady Fielder, 88.25-0-88.25-34.5 Points.
6. Luciano De Castro, 87.75-0-87.75-26 Points.
7. Jose Vitor Leme, 87-0-87.00-18 Points.
(tie). Cody Jesus, 87-0-87.00-18 Points.
9. Derek Kolbaba, 86.5-0-86.50-15 Points.
10. Eli Vastbinder, 85.75-0-85.75-12 Points.
11. Dener Barbosa, 84.75-0-84.75-10 Points.
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0.00
Kyler Oliver, 0-0-0.00
Dalton Kasel, 0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0.00
Chase Dougherty, 0-0-0.00
Austin Richardson, 0-0-0.00
Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0.00
Marco Eguchi, 0-0-0.00
Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 0-0-0.00
Cody Teel, 0-0-0.00
João Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0.00
Clayton Sellars, 0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0.00
Alex Cardozo, 0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0.00
Sam Woodall, 0-0-0.00
Conner Halverson, 0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0.00
Jesse Petri, 0-0-0.00
Trace Brown, 0-0-0.00
