BILLINGS, Mont. – It was injuries in Billings in 2005 that had PBR bull rider Zack Brown questioning his career choice. That trip to Billings, and the injuries he sustained there, played a key role in Brown’s decision to hang up his spurs and call it quits that year.
So it is only logical that Billings might not have been the Santa Fe, Texas cowboy’s first choice of places he wanted to compete in.
That is, until this weekend.
The PBR fans embraced Brown as one of their own this weekend, and he repaid their kindness by giving them four awesome bull rides, including one that is sure to make the highlight reel for the year, and a nail-biter ending of the championship round that, finally, saw Brown win the Nile Invitational title and more than $40,000.
Maybe Billings isn’t so bad after all.
A good sized and enthusiastic crowd made their way to the arena at Metrapark, in Billings for “Championship Sunday,” despite fast falling snow that left cars and bulls covered with several inches of snow by the end of the event.
Sunday’s round three saw long gaps between qualified rides, seasoned veterans ending the weekend without a single qualified ride. It was hard to tell if it was the fault of the weather, or if that just provided another excuse … and a whole new set of weapons … for the insanity that kept the crowd laughing for three hours. Because of the design of the arena, there aren’t enough pens inside the building to house all the bulls, so some of them were penned in the falling snow and the livestock door for the arena remained open, which made the arena frigid for riders and anyone else at arena floor level.
How cold was it? Some of the riders kept their winter coats on during the opening introductions and some of the staff, even in the arena, had their jackets and even gloves on throughout the event. For those standing nearby, the heat coming off the fire-breathing bulls in the show’s opening brought welcome warmth.
And, not to miss an opportunity, entertainer and home-state favorite Flint Rasmussen started a snowball fight in the arena, lobbing a few snowballs at PBR Stock Director Cody Lambert between rides. Not to be outdone, Lambert and bull fighters Frank Newsom, Darryl Diefenbach and Shane Simpson retaliated, targeting Rasmussen several times later in the round. It was so cold on the arena floor that the snowballs that were thrown didn’t melt, not even under the hot houselights.
Despite the cold temperatures, several bull riders continued the hot riding streak they were on this weekend, with a 90-plus point ride finally coming in round three, and five riders heading into the championship round with three qualified rides under their belts.
Leading the way was Zack Brown, with an 88.0 on Flashover (Ty Rinaldo TZ Bucking Bulls) in round three. While it didn’t repeat his round win from Friday night, it did send Brown into the championship round in the lead, with 264.75 points.
Winning round three was Dallas, Texas rider Bryan Richardson, who was a spurring machine aboard Frank the Tank (John & Lacey Berger/Clay Struve). Richardson earned the only 90-pointer in any of the regular rounds, with a 90.5 score. That score secured Richardson a spot in the short-go, in 7th place in the average.
Behind Richardson in round three was Mike Lee, who took 2nd with an 88.5 pointer on Tighty Whitey (Hofer & Dennis Bucking Bulls), securing Lee’s spot in the short-go. Third was Wiley Petersen, with 88.25 points on Okie Dokie (Corey & Horst), uncharacteristically Petersen’s only qualified ride of the weekend. Fourth was Brown’s 88, followed by a 5th and 6th place split between Sean Willingham on Deputy Sheriff (Beutler & Son Rodeo Co.) and Ednei Caminhas, on his reride bull, Rockin Robin (Chad Berger/Clay Struve), each with 87.25 points. Caminhas originally scored 55 points on Mufasa (Shane Gunderson), but his reride sent him into the championship round in second place, with a three-bull total of 260.0 points. Willingham was 6th going into the short-go, with a total of 176.75 points.
The rest of round three’s top ten scores were:
7th, Josh Koschel on Liquid Kitty (C Berger/Struve) for 86.5 points;
8th/9th , Luke Snyder on Catie Done It (C Berger/Roger Ward) and Pistol Robinson on Whiz Kid (Talbert Land & Cattle), for 86.25 points;
10th, Dusty LaBeth on Scaredy Cat (C Berger/Denny Hawks) for 86.0 points.
The 15 riders qualifying for the short-go get to pick their bulls, in order of finish, for the championship round in the middle of the arena in front of the fans in three day events such as in Billings. Leading the average heading into the short go, Zack Brown took SouJa Boy (Priest Creek Ranch), followed by Caminhas’ choice of Walk the Line (C Berger/Struve).
They were followed by (in order):
Josh Koschel, Say I Won’t Gunner (C Berger/Struve);
Valdiron de Oliveira on North Star (Corey & Horst/The Western Group);
Helton Barbosa on Spitfire (C & G Rodeo Livestock);
Sean Willingham on Fire Bird (Big Bend/Flying 5 Rodeo Co.);
Bryan Richardson on Voodoo Child (Beutler & Son Rodeo Co.);
Aaron Roy on War Zone (Corey & Horst);
McKennon Wimberly on Far North (Corey & Horst);
Brian Herman on Team Equine’s Evil Forces (C Berger/Struve);
Mike Lee on White Magic (Diamond G Rodeo Co.);
Reese Cates on Holy Moly (Page & Teague);
Dustin Hall on Sir Patrick (C Berger/Ryken/Rosen);
JB Mauney on Northern Chill (Corey & Horst);
Luke Snyder on Avalanche (Diamond S/ExclusiveGenetics.com).
Snyder was first to ride in the short-go, after Avalanche gave him a tough time in the chutes, but bucked off in 3.2 seconds. He finished the event in 15th place, with a total of 172.75.
JB Mauney was next, on Northern Chill, but stayed on the bull only 4.7 seconds. He finished in 14th place, with a total of 173.5 points.
Dustin Hall faced Sir Patrick for the fourth time in his riding career, having successfully ridden him once. He couldn’t make the 8-second buzzer a second time in Billings, bucking off in 4.4 seconds and he finished in 13th place with 174.5 points.
Reese Cates scored 90.75 big points on Holy Moly, which moved him to fourth in the event average with 265.25 points.
Mike Lee faced what Stock Director Cody Lambert said was likely the most difficult and least wanted bull of the short-go, White Magic, and brought the crowd to its feet when he rode the bull for 88.75 points. Lee was ecstatic following the ride, the first time White Magic had been covered since Robson Palermo rode him in Nampa, Idaho in 2006. The ride moved Lee to 6th in the overall average, with 263.25 points.
Veteran Brian Herman – “The Hermanator” as he was dubbed by arena announcer Brandon Bates – came heartbreakingly close to covering Team Equine’s Evil Forces, bucking off at 7.1 seconds. The 37-year old Herman, who has been riding more than 50 percent of his bulls since earning his way back on the Built Ford Tough Series tour earlier this year, finished the event in 12th place, with 174.75 points, and was clearly one of the fan favorites in Billings.
McKennon Wimberly successfully covered Far North for 89.75 big points. That catapulted Wimberly to 5th place in the event average, with 264.5 points.
Aaron Roy, who burst onto the PBR scene while competing for Team Canada in last year’s world competition, faced off against War Zone. Roy was awarded a reride, however, after War Zone fell down at the 3.9 second mark. Roy’s reride was Rez Boy (Corey & Horst Rodeo Co.), which bucked him off at 2.3 seconds.
Bryan Richardson bucked off Voodoo Child in 4.5 seconds. He finished the event in 10th place, with 175.5 points.
Sean Willingham had a rough ride on Fire Bird, and appeared to make the 8-second buzzer, but just barely hanging on. A judge called for a review of the ride, and the replay showed Willingham lost his rope before the 8-second mark. The official time on the ride was 7.9 seconds, and Willingham finished the event in 9th place, with 176.75 points.
Helton Barbosa made it to Billings as an alternate, and made the most of his opportunity. He rode Spit Fire, spurring like crazy for a blazing 91.5 point score, the highest in the round. The score jumped Barbosa to third place in the event average, with 339.5 points.
Fellow Brazilian Valdiron de Oliveira, one of three of the top ten riders in the points standings to make the short-go, couldn’t hang on to North Star for the required 8 seconds, hitting the dirt at 5.6 seconds. Oliveira finished the event in 8th place, with 259 points.
Young gun Josh Koschel made short work of Barbosa’s position as the event leader, when he rode Say I Won’t Gunner for 91.25 points. Koschel finished the event in second place, with 350.75 points.
Ednei Caminhas, who has announced his intent to retire at the end of the 2008 PBR season, showed he can still ride with the best of them. He couldn’t cover Walk the Line in the short go, however, and ended the event in 7th place, with 260 points.
That left Zack Brown, as the points leader going into the short-go, as the last rider to take a shot at the event win.
Brown gave the crowd a thrilling ride that had the entire arena on their feet screaming and cheering, as he fought every second of the way on SouJa Boy. SouJa Boy repeatedly tried to jerk Brown down over the bull’s head but, despite repeatedly slamming his chest into the bull’s back, Brown wouldn’t let go, wouldn’t buck off and made every possible move to keep his free hand from hitting the bull during the wild ride.
When the 8-second buzzer sounded, the crowd erupted in cheers, only to have them cut off when the time clock showed one of the judges had stopped it at the 7.5 second mark.
After the hard fought battle he just faced against SouJa Boy, Brown refused to surrender to the judges’ ruling. He quickly hit the challenge button and, along with the crowd, had to wait through repeated replays by the judges before hearing his fate.
It took the arena announcers longer to catch up with the ruling than it did Brown, who saw his score on the screen and heard the cheers erupt from the crowd when the judges ruled Brown had more than reached the 8-second mark. His score of 89.25 points left him tied for 4th in the round, but more importantly gave him the win with an event total of 354.0 points.
The 29-year old Brown, 2004 PBR Rookie of the Year and 2000 PRCA Rookie of the Year, earned $24,500 for his event win, $5,000 for the Moment of Truth bonus, for winning the event after being in first place heading into the short go, along with round money for splitting the win in round one and his placing in the other three rounds.
On the injury front, Brian Canter of Randleman, N.C. had to be carried out of the arena in round three after Sand Trap (Beutler & Son Rodeo) ran him into the chute gate as Canter bucked off at the 6.5 second mark. Uncharacteristically, Canter had no qualified rides this weekend.
Brendon Clark, who split the round one win with Brown, earned a reride after a less than stellar performance by Trump Tower (Shane Gunderson) and a score of 54.75 points in round three. In visible pain as he limped out of the arena, Clark turned down his reride.
As the PBR BFTS tour heads into Chicago next weekend, many of the tour’s top riders will be looking for a way to turn around their game after a disappointing weekend in Billings. Of the top five in the season points standing, only JB Mauney made the short-go this weekend. Guilherme Marchi had two qualified rides, including an 84.5 on Whammo in round three, but it wasn’t enough to get him into the short-go. Number 2 man, Kody Lostroh didn’t gain any ground on Marchi, as he only covered one bull in this weekend’s three rounds. Third place LJ Jenkins also covered only one bull and the hot-riding Travis Briscoe hit a cold front in Montana, covering none of his bulls.
Briscoe wasn’t the only rider high in the season standings to end the weekend scoreless. A total of eight riders were scoreless, including two time world champ Chris Shivers, Matt Bohon who is struggling to stay on the top tour, and young guns Kasey Hayes and Colby Yates.
The Built Ford Tough Series will continue in hopefully warmer climes in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27 at the Cooper Tires Invitational.
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