Marchi Rides Back into Contention

By Barbara Pinnella
Posted Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Last years’ World Champion Guilherme Marchi was not to be denied for long. After the event last week he was out of the top five in the BFTS World Standings, a position he has not faced in five, that’s right five, years. He changed all that in Kansas City with the event win, which catapulted him into number three in the World Standings. He admitted that he had gotten a bit lazy, and obviously decided to change that.

The round one win was a tie between Brendon Clark and Pete Farley with scores of 87.75. Clark covered the Kooper Branum & Gene Baker bull I’ll Make You Famous and Farley bested Shad Smith’s V1. Third was Marchi. He rode Velvet Elvis to an 87.5. Diamond S Bucking Bulls owns Elvis. Rocky McDonald was fourth. He rode Life Sentence, owned by 5G Farms Bucking Bulls to an 87.25 score.

Round two saw another cowboy climb out of a bit of a slump, as Ryan Dirteater took control of his bull Chester and scored a big 90.5 for his efforts. Mendell/Jaeger own Chester. Marchi moved from third in the first round to second here after riding Stiffler, owned by Boyd/Floyd Bull Company, to an 89.5. J.B. Mauney got back on track with a third place finish after riding Yosemite Sam. He was given a score of 88.25 on this bull, who is owned by Diamond S Bucking Bulls. Fourth went to Sean Willingham. He rode the Hebert Bucking Bulls/Georgia Akers bull The Bug to an 87.75.

Time for the Championship Round, and Marchi wouldn’t stop at second and third. He won the short-go with a score of 90 on Big Iron, owned by Diamond S Bucking Bulls. Behind him were Ross Coleman and Robson Palermo, who tied for second and third with scores of 89.5. Coleman rode the Boyd/Floyd Bucking Bull Pearl Snap, and Palermo covered Hot Stuff, owned by D&H Cattle Company. Fourth was last weeks’ winner, Wiley Petersen. He rode Sure Fire to an 89 point score. Sure Fire is another D&H Cattle Company bull.

So Marchi was on top for the event standings with his consistent performance. Ross Coleman was second, Palermo third, Petersen fourth, and McKennon Wimberly was fifth.

The bull that won the Salem NationaLease Bull of the Event this weekend was Crosswired, with a score of 46.75. This super bull is owned by D&H Cattle Company.

Unfortunately, Kansas City was not kind to the cowboys, and there are many injuries to report this week. Some of those took the men out of competition. Rookie Skeeter Kingsolver strained his shoulder, but is probable for next week in Birmingham. Luke Snyder also has a shoulder strain that he suffered last week in St. Louis. He did not ride in the second round this week, and his record of moving on to riding in 249 consecutive events might be in jeopardy. Of course, it goes without saying that his health is the most important thing.

Mike White, Cody Ford, and Ednei Caminhas all suffered concussions in some way or another. White elected not to ride in round two after his concussion the evening before. He mentioned that now that he has a family he has to make smarter decisions. Good for him!

In a scary wreck, Ford not only had his bell rung, but also received a good-sized gash to the back of his head in the first round. But being young and still somewhat bullet-proof, in his own mind anyway, he ignored the recommendation of Dr. Tandy Freeman and tried to ride in round two. He did not cover his bull, however.

Caminhas’ accident also was frightening to see, particularly when he did not move for a few seconds. He eventually did walk out of the arena, with help from those super PBR medical team members. He will be out of competition from two to four weeks.

Willingham suffered a possible fibula fracture of his left leg when he was stepped on in the Championship Round. X-rays will determine whether or not he will be able to ride in Birmingham.

Kasey Hayes was also missing from round two after spraining his ankle in round one. Wow, if anyone is superstitious they could say that this was because this was stop number 13 on the tour. But being that even this early in the 2009 season there has been injuries each week, I’d say not.

I won’t even guess at who might or might not have to leave the PBR tour in the next cut. Regarding this, I must agree with J.W. Hart. I think you need a program to tell the players, what with all the exemptions and such. I’ll just wait and try to explain them when they occur.

The Built Ford Tough World Standings were shaken up a bit. Even bucking off both of his bulls this past weekend, Kody Lostroh maintains a short lead for first place. Mauney is still chasing him in second. Marchi made a good jump up from sixth into third. Petersen is fourth, Austin Meier fifth, Palermo sixth, Dirteater seventh, Zack Brown in eighth, Coleman ninth, and Ford is in tenth.

And since this is a bit late, I hope you Ty Murray/PBR fans watched him on Dancing With the Stars. His nerves got to him, but I hope he gets to stick around for awhile. I expect him to get a lot better when he can take a deep breath. So, next week, vote for Ty!!

Guilherme Marchi shows why he is the World Champion

Andy Watson/Bull Media Photo

Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.