The Anaheim Invitational was held in, you guessed it, Anaheim, California, my neck of the woods. It was great to go to another live PBR event, the tenth stop on the tour. This was a very good event, with bulls and riders working together to put on three really good performances. In the end, it was Colorado’s Kody Lostroh who was the star of the show.
Friday nights’ first round was won by Bryan Richardson. He rode the Jeff Robinson/Broken N-N/C&D Bulls/Skyhawk Rug bull Wrangler Big Rig to a score of 89.75. Second was Lostroh with a score of 87.75 after riding Encore, owned by Jeff Robinson/Anchor Bull Company. Coming in third was Matt Bohon. He rode the Julio Moreno Bucking Bull Water Moccasin to an 87.50. It was great to see Bohon get back on track. Fourth was Valdiron de Oliveira, broken free arm and all, with an 87.25 on Rocket. Rocket is owned by Corey & Horst/The Western Group.
Saturday the men played to a sold-out Honda Center, and a shout out must go to the PBR. I truly don’t believe that would have happened without the decrease in ticket prices that they provided the fans. And what an enthusiastic crowd it was. In exchange, they were treated to a good second round and an extremely exciting Championship Round. I hope the event came off as well on VERSUS as it did live, because it was a super night.
The popular Mike White won the second round. He rode Okie Dokie to an 88.25 score. Corey & Horst Rodeo Company owns that good bull. Three men tied for second, third and fourth with a score of 87.75. One of those was White’s best friend, Chris Shivers. He rode the Chad Berger/Clay Struve bull, Cowboy Cut. Another rider with the same score was Skeeter Kingsolver. He rode Wolf Tickets, owned by Don Kish Bucking Bulls. The last man to tie with that score of 87.75 was Lostroh. He covered Wrangler Big Rig.
Short-go time, and now the men got to pick their own poison. Julio Moreno’s Troubadour was the pick of the litter, and that honor went to Richardson. Lostroh told me later that was his pick as well, but he quickly lost that opportunity.
Regardless, the Championship Round was great watching. The youngster Kingsolver was the winner of this short-go with a big score of 91.75 on All In, owned by Berger/Naccarato/Struve. He really stuck it on this bull and gave a great ride.
Second was J.B. Mauney. He rode Big Tease to a 91.25. Big Tease is owned by Chad Berger/Julie Rosen. Australia’s Brendon Clark was third after riding the Chad Berger/Clay Struve bull Say I Won’t Gunner to a 90.25. Fourth was White. He received a score of 89 on another Chad Berger/Clay Struve bull, Team Equine’s Evil Forces. The eventual event winner, Lostroh, was fifth. He rode Beer Goggles to an 88.75. That bull is owned by Don Kish Bucking Bulls.
So Lostroh was first for the event, with Clark second, Austin Meier third, Aaron Roy fourth, and Kingsolver fifth.
We know that Kody wanted the bull Troubadour, but picked Beer Goggles when his first pick went to Richardson. I wondered if he had been on Beer Goggles before. “No. Mike Lee had ridden the bull that I got on tonight and said he was a good bull and you could score a few points on him, so I just went with his advice.”
With many arguments both for and against the draft, I asked Kody what his feelings were about it. “I’m kind of in the middle,” he told me. “When it first came out I was against it. I thought it just totally took away from the sport. But now, I think it’s OK to do it in the short rounds, but leaving most of the rounds to a random draw is better. But it’s good in the short round. That’s when you really need to get your bull ridden, so if you have the opportunity to pick one you think you have a better chance on, or you can be some points on to make up some ground, it’s a good deal.
“But then again,” he laughed, “I don’t know how many times I’ve picked ones that have bucked me off, so I don’t know…sometimes it’s better just to let someone else pick for you.”
Lostroh is right where he wants to be right now. “I feel great, physically good, mentally, good. I just love doing this and God has put in my heart the drive to do it and the ability to do it.”
I spoke with Lostroh when he first came on the tour, and even then the probability of him becoming a World Champion was obvious. The only thing that has changed now is that he is a lot closer to achieving that goal.
The Salem NationaLease Bull of the Event this week went to Firebird. He earned a bull score of 46.125. Firebird is owned by Big Bend/Flying 5 Rodeo Co.
Ednei Caminhas injured his shoulder when he was bucked off in the second round. While he had not yet had x-rays on the shoulder, when I saw him later and asked him about it, he told me it was broken.
The BFTS World Standings have Mauney still in the lead, although that lead is shrinking. Lostroh is gaining ground in second, with Meier third, Ryan Dirteater fourth, Guilherme Marchi fifth, Zack Brown sixth, Robson Palermo seventh, Wiley Petersen eights, Shane Proctor ninth, and Kasey Hayes in tenth.
Linda Peterson photo
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
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