Mauney draws first blood at the PBR World Finals

By Barbara Pinnella
Posted Sunday, November 1, 2009

J.B. Mauney was the first to strike in these PBR World Finals, as he was victorious in round one. He covered the Mendell/Jaeger bull Chester to a score of 89.75 to nail that victory. Although this first round was not a draft situation, it was the consensus of opinion that this was the pick of the litter, and Mauney made the most of it.

While in the Winner’s Circle, Mauney said, “I just treat it as another bull riding event, I don’t let the World Finals environment get to me. There’s pressure, but this is so much fun!”

Not far behind J.B., with a score of 89.25, was Josh Koschel. He was able to ride Bad Moon, owned by Duncan & Evans Bucking Bulls. Third in this first round was Travis Briscoe with 88.75. He rode a Don Kish Bucking Bull, Little Juicy.

Brian Canter was fourth after covering the Box K Cattle bull Rio Grande for a score of 88.5. This was a good ride regardless, but considering that it was a surprise that Canter even rode at all and that is more impressive. He suffered a torn ACL sustained in a dirt bike accident approximately two weeks ago and was questionable for these Finals. But he came and conquered, and should be feeling good about himself right now.

Fifth in this first round went to the popular Ross Coleman. He was given an 88.25 after riding Cat Man Do, owned by #10 Bucking Bulls.

So, you might ask, where were our leader Kody Lostroh and the second place man Guilherme Marchi? Well, Lostroh did ride his bull Red Kat, owned by GL Bucking Bulls/Page/Buck, but the bull really weakened the last few seconds of the ride. The possibility of a re-ride seemed likely, but no. He did score an 84, but that was only enough for 17th place.

Marchi, on the other hand, bucked off the Frontier Rodeo Company bull Monkey Blood, thus being unable to take advantage of his opportunity to close in on Lostroh.

There was one quite humorous moment (only because he wasn’t hurt) when Mike Lee rode the Priest Creek Ranch bull SoulJa Boy to an 88 score and did his little victory summersault. Unfortunately for Lee, the bull was not yet out of the arena, and had his sights set on Mike. Just as Lee stood up the bull ran him down. Can you spell e-m-b-a-r-r-a-s-s-e-d? He was good-natured about it, smiling and shaking his head, and it’s a good thing. It will be a while before he will be able to forget that one, as everyone will have a lot of fun with it.

After the end of round one the standings for the BFTS Champion have not changed, but things have certainly tightened up. Lostroh is still in the lead, but by a mere 378.75 points. But that isn’t the only race. The two men chasing his tail, Mauney and Marchi, are only ½ point from each other – Marchi with those 378.75 to make up on Kody, and Mauney behind Guilherme by 379.25! What a race!

Tonight will be a hot one, as we have many of the heavy hitters of the bull world showing up for round two. This round is a draft format, so the men get to pick their own poison. Some of the match-ups are Lostroh and Lone Star, Marchi and Charmed I’m Sure, Mauney and Troubadour, Chris Shivers and Major Payne, Canter on Chicken on a Chain, Lee on Ricky Bobby, Pete Farley on Bones, Coleman on The Game, Koschel and Say I Won’t Gunner, and L.J. Jenkins on White Magic. What a night it should be!! One thing should be certain – we won’t see 19 ridden tonight!

J.B. Mauney on Chester
Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media photo

Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.