UNCASVILLE, Conn. – The Professional Bull Riders has a new million dollar man.
With his impressive win of the PBR Mohegan Sun event this weekend, Longmont, Colorado bull rider Kody Lostroh passed the $1 million dollar mark in career winnings.
Lostroh rode all four of his bulls – one of three riders to do so – to win the three day event at Mohegan Sun casino. He went into the short-go with the point lead for the event Sunday afternoon, but the other 14 riders in the championship round didn’t make it easy for Lostroh. Eight riders came into the short go with two qualified rides already in the books and seven had ridden all three of their bulls.
Coming down to the very last ride of the event, Lostroh never bobbled in a round-winning 89.5 point ride aboard Rockin’ Robin (Chad Berger/Clay Struve). With the points lead going into the championship round, Lostroh got to pick first from the 15 bulls on the roster, and didn’t let Rockin Robin’s out on Saturday – when the bull fell over mid-ride, landing on Ednei Caminhas’ leg – change his mind.
“I’m ready for the finals. It’s been good to me there,” Lostroh said after the win. “I’m going to ride eight (bulls) this year.”
The win at Mohegan Sun gives Lostroh a last minute boost in trying to close the points gap between him and number one rider Guilherme Marchi, with the start of the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas less than two weeks away.
Marchi, who has a 4,000-plus point lead in the race for a world championship, qualified for the championship round at Mohegan Sun in 11th place, getting in on two scores, but failed to cover his bull, War Zone (Jeff Robinson), bucking off in 5.5 seconds.
Number two man in the points race, Valdiron de Oliveira, also gained a little ground on Marchi, as he split 2nd and 3rd place in the event. Oliveira rode Tornado (C Berger/C Struve) for 88.25 points in the short-go, his fourth qualified ride of the event. That score tied him in the event average with Kasey Hayes, who rode Rude Awakening (Chad Berger) for 87.5 points in the short-go.
Crowd favorite Wiley Petersen finished the event in fourth – and third in the championship round – with a total of 345.25 points. Petersen rode BowTech’s I-94 (John & Lacey Berger) for 88.5 points in the short-go.
The rest of the top 15 event finishers were:
Pim Rosa, of Brazil, 5th with a total of 261.5 points, riding Lil’ Feller for 7.4 seconds in the short-go;
Kolt Donaldson, 6th with 260.75 points, scoring 88.75 points on Catie Done It (C Berger/Roger Ward) in the short go;
Canadian Aaron Roy, 7th, with a total of 261.5 points, riding Power Stroke (Chad Berger) for 86.25 points in the championship round;
Splitting 8th and 9th in the average with 259.25 points were: Shane Proctor, scoring 87.25 on Because I Say So (Sonny Williams) in the short-go; and Billy Robinson, who was thrown by Aerial Assault (Sonny Williams) in the short-go in 4.2 seconds;
Tenth in the event was Robson Palermo with 255.50 points, who was bucked off of Sir Patrick (Berger/Struve/J Rosen) in the championship round in 3.7 seconds. It was the fourth time Palermo and Sir Patrick have faced off, with the bull winning all four attempts.
Bryan Richardson finished in 11th place, with 173.25 points. He bucked off Hammer Handle in 2.9 seconds in the short-go;
Ednei Caminhas – who has reversed his earlier decision to retire after the world finals - finished 12th with 173.0 points, in what was a brutal event for the Brazilian. Both Friday and Saturday nights saw Caminhas get reride bulls after his first bulls fell down during the ride. After a third round score of 86.25 on Little Warrior (Sonny Williams), Caminhas chose Whiplash (Berger Bucking Bulls) for the short-go. Caminhas went head to head with the bull twice, in a 1.1 second ride. The first collision knocked Caminhas’ helmet off, and the second leaving the rider in the dirt, stunned and bleeding from his nose/mouth area. Caminhas made his way back into the chute, but had to be assisted over the rails and to the sports medicine room. No update on his condition was available by the end of the event. Caminhas is in 11th in the points standing, but was battling to qualify for the PBR World Finals, which is based on money won. He came into the Mohegan Sun event in 46th place, with the top 45 riders going, but his performance this weekend is expected to secure his ticket to Las Vegas.
Guilherme Marchi, with his solid lead on the world champion points standings, was bucked off of War Zone in the short-go, and finished in 13th place for the weekend, with 172.5 points. Marchi won the round on Saturday night.
In 14th place in the average was Dustin Elliott, with 171.5 points. Elliott bucked off Punchline (Shane Gunderson) in the short-go in 6.4 seconds.
Rounding out the top 15 finishers for the event was 2004 world champ Mike Lee, with 171.25 points. In the short-go Lee had The Senator (John & Lacey Berger), but the bull fell down 4.6 seconds into the ride – onto Lee’s leg - and Lee was awarded a reride. He was given a reride aboard Little Wicked (C Berger/C Struve), but lost that battle at 3.6 seconds.
Round three
Before there was a championship round, 44 riders of the original 47 had to face off against bulls in an early Sunday round three.
Colby Yates, Jordan Hauff and Edimundo Gomes did not compete in Sunday’s third round due to injuries suffered earlier in the weekend.
A total of 21 riders posted qualified rides in the third round, with J.B. Mauney taking the round with 89.75 points on The Godfather (C Berger/Low/Rosen). Combined with his earlier score of 79.5 points, it wasn’t enough to get Mauney back to the short go, but did earn him valuable points.
Pim Rosa made his third ride of the weekend, finishing second in the round with 88.75 points on Big Coyote (Berger Bucking), followed by event winner Kody Lostroh, who won the event without winning a single round. Lostroh scored 87 points on Eviction(Robinson/Tedesco), splitting 3rd and 4th in the round with Billy Robinson, who covered Wild Thang (C Berger/C Struve). Rounding out the top five in the round was Nick Landreneau, with 86.75 points on Dip Dog (J Robinson/Anchor Bucking Bulls).
Other qualified rides in round three were:
6th/7th: Sean Willingham aboard Indisputable (Sonny Williams) and Aaron Roy on Slim Biscuits (Berger/Struve), for 86.5 points;
8th/9th: Ednei Caminhas riding Little Warrior (Sonny Williams) and Dustin Elliott on Thunderjam (Mark Ward), for 86.25 points each;
10th through 12th: Mike Lee riding The Breeze (C Berger/Denny Hawks), Wiley Petersen on McLovin (Berger/Struve) and Kolt Donaldson scoring on God’s Gift (Berger/Struve), each scoring 86.0 points;
13th through 15th: Cody Campbell putting up his first qualified ride of the weekend on Never Enough (Chad Berger), Luke Snyder getting his first score at Mohegan on Almost Famous (Berger/Struve), and Kasey Hayes on Shaggy (Hyland Cattle), at 85.25 points;
16th, Shane Proctor scoring 84.75 points Cool Cat (John & Lacey Berger);
17th/18th, Rocky McDonald putting up his first score on Wolverine (Mark Reed) and Valdiron de Oliveira on Superman (Williams/Rothe/Lang) for 84 points;
19th, 83.75 points for Robson Palermo on Jamin Jimmie (Chad Berger);
20th, 81.25 points for two-event winner Zack Brown on Oh Henry (Berger/Struve);
21st, Clayton Foltyn put up his first score, a 65.25 pointer, after a qualified ride hanging off the side of Snot Rocket.
A NEW SUPER DUTY
Power house bull Super Duty made his last appearance in Saturday night’s round, ridden by Zack Brown.
With the bull’s retirement, a new “Super Duty” was named Sunday. With fans voting on the internet between bulls Jacob’s Pet, Holy Smoke and Hustler, it is Hustler that will become the new Super Duty.
