The bad boys of bovine athletics were out Saturday night, and the cowboys had the opportunity to choose their favorite. From the first bull to the last, there were no creampuffs on this night, and as suspected, only 10 men covered their bulls.
Young Pete Farley reached in and grabbed the unridden Teague Bucking Bull, Bones. He picked that bull because he is so hard to ride. He only wanted to prove something to himself, that “I could ride the best bull in the world.” Well, he didn’t just ride him, he owned him, with a great score of 93.25! And make no mistake, the bull bucked. He did not have an off day, as he was given a bull score of 45.75. This ride set Farley up for round three. “It gives me a lot of confidence, especially with the draft, because I can pick what I want to pick for tomorrow.”
Not to be completely outshined, J.B. Mauney gave a super ride on his bull, Troubadour, owned by Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls, to tie for second with a big 91.25. He tied with Ryan McConnel, who rode Unabomber, owned by Eno/Kubinchak Bucking Bulls. In case any of you don’t know by now, McConnel was in a serious car accident just prior to these Finals when a drunk driver hit his truck. Ryan suffered a punctured lung and other injuries. He was told not to fly, so he drove to Las Vegas from Oklahoma, and his efforts have not gone unrewarded.
Fourth was Valdiron de Oliveira. He rode the bull owned by Boyd/Floyd Bull Company, Spit Fire, to a 90.5
Kody Lostroh found himself tied for seventh with Austin Meier after Lostroh’s ride on Lone Star. Perhaps this was not the best finish for Kody, but it kept him on top of the BFTS standings for the World Championship after two rounds.
Round three brought us more big scores, and this was the last round until Thursday. Robson Palermo won this round with a score of 92.25. He rode Black Pearl, owned by Ravenscroft/Boyd/Floyd Bull Company. This was a great ride made by Palermo.
In second was Lostroh. He wasn’t about to let the others gain much ground on him, as he scored a 91 on the Lightening C Cattle Company bull Copp Hou.
Mauney made sure that Kody wouldn’t get too far ahead however, as he hit the board in eighth place after his ride on his re-ride bull Black Smoke gave him an 88 score.
Conspicuously absent is last years’ World Champion Guilherme Marchi. Quite uncharacteristically, Marchi has bucked off all three bulls of his bulls so far in the Finals, and dropped behind Mauney in the race for his second consecutive World Title.
So heading into the new week and the last four days of competition, there are two great races being run. The first is for the winner of the World Finals event itself – the event average. In the lead for that average is Mauney. Palermo is second, de Oliveira third, Lostroh fourth, McConnel fifth, Edimundo Gomes in sixth, Shane Proctor is seventh, Elliot Jacoby and Aaron Roy are tied for eighth, and Ross Coleman is in tenth.
As far as the World Championship race is concerned, Lostroh is still in the lead, with Mauney behind him by 429.25. Marchi trails Kody by 983 points, followed by de Oliveira, McConnel, Palermo, Zack Brown, who has dropped a few notches, Renato Nunes, Wiley Petersen, and Sean Willingham. Make no mistake that the outcome is by no means settled, and the race will most likely go undetermined until the final bull is bucked.
Leaving tomorrow, and can hardly wait!
Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media photos
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
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