Veterans split round three of the PBR World Finals

By Mary Rudloff
Posted Sunday, November 2, 2008

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The 2008 PBR World Finals may be full of young guns and rookies, but round three on Sunday night went to veterans who have played the Vegas game a few times before.

Best buddies Ross Coleman and Brendon Clark split round three, each putting up 90.75 points. Clark’s ride, his second score of the 2008 PBR Finals, came aboard Pearl Snap (Boyd/Floyd Bull Co.), while Coleman earned his points on Outsider (Mayo/Hooker), also his second qualified ride. Each walked out of round three with $21,500 in round money in his pocket.

“It doesn’t get much better than sharing the round with your best mate,” Clark said following the win.

Coleman noted this was the first round win of any PBR Finals in his career, which has included ten trips to the big show.

“This is my first round win at the Finals. I’ve had good luck and I’ve had bad luck here before,” Coleman said. “You can check the stats, but I don’t have a buckle for it at home, so I know it’s my first win.”

Both riders explained why they chose the bulls they chose in the draft, held Saturday night.

“Jake Hooker is a good friend of mine,” Coleman said. “He’s had that bull a while, but I never had the opportunity to get on it. It worked out good for me.”

Clark said he knew nothing about his bull when he chose it.

“I had no idea who the bull was. I knew nothing about him,” Clark explained. “I wanted the bull Chris Shivers took right before me (Flash from Frontier Rodeo Co).”

Clark credits countryman Jared Farley with Clark’s choice of Pearl Snap. “Jared Farley said this bull I had tonight was better, so I took him.”

Although they finished the round tied, Coleman will get first pick in the draft for round four, because of a higher back-judge score.

“This whole draft deal is sweet. We won the round, so we can pick first and second for the next round,” Coleman said. “I feel confident, and I’m just going to take it one at a time and go for the go-round. Brendon and I don’t have a shot at the world title, but we can go for as much money as we can win here in Vegas.”

The pair celebrated seeing both of their names at the top of the round’s leader board. Just below them, splitting 3rd and 4th, was another veteran and buddy of theirs, Justin McBride. McBride scored 90.5 on Gonzales Black (James DeBord), matched by Rookie of the Year contender Reese Cates, who rode Firewater (Big Bend/Flying 5 Rodeo Co.).

After the round, Clark joked about the results, “I don’t know which is better, winning the round with Ross, or beating Justin.”

After a record 33 qualified rides in round one, and 14 in round two on Saturday, 18 riders put scores on the board in Sunday afternoon’s round three. That group includes five riders who now have ridden their bulls in every round.

Guilherme Marchi sits at the top of the race for the 2008 World Champion title, and his round three ride on Flashover (Ty Rinaldo TZ Bucking Bulls) for 88.0 points gave him 11th place in the round. He now sits second in the Finals average, with 270.5 points.

Chasing Marchi in the championship race, but leading the way in the World Finals average is North Carolina’s JB Mauney. Mauney, who won the first two rounds, finished 12th in Sunday’s round three, with 87.75 points on Boogie Board (Diamond S Bucking Bulls). He leads the way in the average, heading into the three-day break, at 273.5 points.

Two time world champion Chris Shivers is another rider turned hot in the finals. Although out of the points race for another world champion title, after much of the season was missed due to injury, Shivers rode all three bulls run under him so far. In round three, he took 5th place with 89.75 points on Flash (Frontier Rodeo Co.), along with his third paycheck in as many nights. Shivers now sits third in the Finals average, right on Marchi’s tail, with 270.25 points.

Sixth and 7th place in Sunday’s round was shared by Valdiron de Oliveira and Harve Stewart. Oliveira rode Red Light (Frontier/Teague) while Stewart rode Southern Gangster (BRH Ranch/Pete Baker/Homestead Genetics), each for 89.5 points. It was Stewart’s first qualified ride of the finals, and Oliveira’s second.

Oliveira’s score, putting him higher in the round than Marchi, inched him the slightest bit closer to Marchi in the world champion points race. The same can be said for Kody Lostroh who, with 89.25 points, finished 8th in round three, riding Red Onion (Andrews Rodeo Co. Inc.).

Ninth in the round, and possibly surprising the crowd sitting fourth in the world finals average, is Canada’s Aaron Roy. Roy rode Wrangler Big Rig (Jeff Robinson/Broken N-N), scoring 88.75 points in the round, and has yet to buck off a bull at the finals, with 263 points.

Rounding out the top ten in Sunday’s round was 10th place finisher Sean Willingham, with 88.5 points on Mean Machine (C Berger/Clay Struve/Julie Rosen). It was Willingham’s first score of the finals.

Other qualified rides in the round were:

13th, Rocky McDonald, with 86.25 points on Mataska (Frontier/Teague). It was his first score of the finals;

14th, Mike White, scoring 86 points on Fast Cash (D&H Cattle Co.), his second qualified ride;

15th, Robson Palermo on Lost in Paradise (Boyd/Floyd Bull Co.) for 85.75 points, his second score of the finals.

16th, Ryan Dirteater, scoring 84.25 points on Rush (Radke Bucking Bulls), his first score of the finals;

17th place in the round went to Shane Proctor, riding Whiplash (Berger Bucking Bulls) for 83.75 points. Proctor is rounds out the five riders who have put up scores in every round. None of Proctor’s scores have been near the top of any round, but going three-for-three puts him in an elite group, and still in the running for the World Finals average. With 250.25 points, he sits 23.5 points behind Mauney, the average leader.

In 18th places, at 83.25 points, was 2004 world champion Mike Lee, who rode Man Law (Jeff Robinson). It was Lee’s second qualified ride of the finals.

World Finals averages

As the first weekend of the 2008 PBR World Finals draws to a close, a surprising note is some of the riders who haven’t put a score in the books yet. Nine riders closed out the weekend scoreless: Dustin Elliott, who still sits 10th in the year’s points standings; 2002 world champ Ednei Caminhas, sitting 11th in the world championship race; Nick Landreneau, Clayton Williams, Bryan Richardson, Clayton Foltyn and veteran Brian Herman. Canadian Scott Schiffner and Brazilian Edimundo Gomes got into the 2008 World Finals by virtue of being the PBR national champions in their home countries. Because they end the first weekend scoreless, they will not compete in next weekend’s rounds 4 through eight. Rocky McDonald, competing as Mexico’s national champion, put his first score, an 86.25 point ride in the books, but it is not expected to be enough to keep him in the competition on the second weekend. The same can be said for Australia’s national champ, Ben Seeds, who scored 84.5 points in round one, but has been scoreless since.

In addition to the five riders with three qualified scores, 15 bull riders have scores in two of the three rounds:

Renato Nunes, 184 points

Brendon Clark, 181.5 points

Ross Coleman, 179.75 points

Reese Cates, 179.75 points

Kody Lostroh, 179.5 points

Justin McBride, 178.5 points

Valdiron de Oliveira, 178.5 points

Dustin Hall, 178 points

Zack Brown, 177.25 points

Adriano Moraes, 177 points

Mike White, 175.75 points

Austin Meier, 175.75 points

Jared Farley, 175.25 points

Robson Palermo, 172.75 points

Mike Lee, 171 points.

Another 20 riders have one qualified ride each in the first three rounds. Action resumes Thursday night, when round four takes place in the Thomas & Mack Center.