UNCASVILLE, Conn. – If Wiley Petersen fans in the Mohegan Sun Arena Sunday afternoon are the gambling kind, they should have headed directly from the PBR event to the roulette tables and let it ride on number 4.
Four was the magic number for Petersen in Stop 27 of the Professional Bull Riders on the BFTS tour, as he was the only man to cover all four bulls in the three day event.
The jackpot for Petersen’s powerhouse weekend was his first win of the season and $29,880.
Petersen entered the short go Sunday afternoon in third place. A round winning on Bad Medicine (Berger Bucking Bulls) proved to be the cure that sent Petersen to the top of the weekend’s standing, and provided the crowd with a confetti shower and the only 90-point ride of the weekend.
On the way to the championship round, Petersen felt the power of an 83.5 point ride on Everready (Jeff Robinson) in Round three. While it placed him 16th in the round, it made him one of only three riders to enter the championship round with three scores under his belt.
Leading the way into the championship round was Travis Briscoe, with 257.75 points. After making strong showings in Friday and Saturday nights’ rounds, Briscoe kept the momentum going in round three early Sunday afternoon with 86.0 points aboard Spuds McKenzie (Frontier Rodeo Co.) but was unable to overcome the force of Evil Forces in the short-go, hitting the ground at 5.4 seconds. Briscoe finished third in the overall standings for the weekend, and earned $12,967 and 727.75 all important points.
The third man, joining Briscoe and Petersen – heading into the final round with three scores tucked away was Valdiron de Oliveria. Oliveria added to his nest egg of points in round three aboard Rockin Robin, with 86.5 points, after attempts to get out of the chute aboard Angel Eyes (Jeff Robinson) were unsuccessful. In the championship round, the Scene of the Crash was the dirt of the arena, when the bull by the same name (Frontier/Teague/Ron White) brought on Oliveria’s impact with the ground at 4.6 seconds. He finished the weekend fourth in the event average, pocketing $6,775.
Kasey Hayes proved his round winning ride in Saturday night in round two was no accident when he came back and won round three Sunday afternoon. Hayes put up 88.75 points in round three aboard Live Wire (Jeff Robinson). The two scores – a total of 178.5 points – sent him into the championship round in fourth place, but the match up with Cooper (Chad Berger/Ryken/Rosen) went to the bull, in a 4.5 second ride. Hayes ended the weekend in 5th place, $9.810 richer than he was before round one, which should help secure his spot in the World Finals at the end of October.
Brazilian Guilherme Marchi, who entered the event in third place in the points race, gained a little ground on both leader Justin McBride and second place JB Mauney this weekend. All three riders covered two bulls and made it to the championship round, and but only Marchi managed to capitalize on the opportunity in the championship round. Marchi had a wild ride on Wild Thang (Chad Berger/Clay Struve) in the short-go, scoring 86.75 points. While it didn’t give Marchi enough points to catch Petersen, it did leave him in 2nd place in the average this weekend. Along with 790.25 all-important points, Marchi also pocketed $16,770 in the three day event.
World title points leader Justin McBride finished 13th overall, earning 170.5 points. McBride bucked off both his third round bull, Blueberry Buckle (Davis/Wilson) and his short-go bull, Scentloc (David/Wilson/Mayo/Hooker). McBride had successfully ridden Blueberry Buckle before, not in a PBR event, but during the taping of Ty Murray’s CMT reality show, “Celebrity Bull Riding.”
Mauney closed the gap between himself and McBride by one point by finishing the weekend in 11th place, and earning 171.5 points. After getting a score in round one, Mauney put more points up in the 3rd round aboard Cosmo (Sonny Williams) for 83.75 points, but his chance to gain more ground went up in flames on Wildfire (Frontier/Teague/Nixon) in the championship round.
The third qualified ride in the championship round was by Robson Palermo aboard Scaredy Cat (Chad Berger/Ryken/Hawks) for 88 points, taking second place in the round. Palermo got off to a hot start, winning Friday night’s round, but hadn’t made a successful ride for the rest of the weekend, and went into the short-go as the only rider to make it on one score. Palermo finished the weekend in sixth place over all.
A key part of the weekend at Mohegan Sun was Luke Snyder, and his record breaking 198th consecutive PBR event. Snyder rose to the occasion by tying for 6th/7th place overall and earning $7,172. Snyder took 2nd place in Friday’s round one aboard McClintock (Berger Bucking Bulls). He then split 7th place four ways in round three Sunday afternoon, with an impressive 86 point ride on Red Jacket (Berger/Daniels). Snyder couldn’t keep the weekend streak going, unsuccessful in a Big Mack (Chad Berger/Clay Struve) attack that went 2.5 seconds in the championship round.
Following his score on Red Jacket, Snyder was recognized in the arena for his 198 event record, that dates back to his rookie year, when Snyder also won the PBR Finals and the Rookie of the Year award. Joining in the celebration of Snyder’s achievement was “The Ironman” JW Hart, whose longstanding record of 197 straight events – long considered untouchable - was the one shattered.
With the name “The Ironman” forever associated with Hart, arena announcers christened Snyder with the moniker “Titanium Tough,” but while the crowd was rowdy in celebrating Snyder’s achievement, the reception from the crowd for the new nickname was as flat as three day old soda.
Injuries took their toll during the Mohegan Sun event.
The worst felled 12-year veteran Tater Porter, when his forearm was broken Friday night. The compound fracture occurred following being bucked off, when the bull came down on his forearm. Porter had surgery Friday night. On Sunday, he announced his retirement from the PBR. The 36-year old rider has won ten events in his PBR career and was standing in 23rd place in points when injured Friday night.
Clayton Foltyn was sent to an area hospital following his buck off in the third round Sunday, for abdominal bruising. Foltyn was bucked off at the two-second mark by Dirty Dozen (Davis/Wilson/Mayo/Hooker) early in Sunday’s round.
After being slammed to the ground, and then assisted out of the arena on Friday night … and then trounced and assisted out again Saturday night … Rocky McDonald split 7th place in Sunday’s third round, with an 86 pointer on Encore (Tommy Shrader/Anchor Bull Co) and was able to leave the arena under his own power.
(Story and all photos by Mary Rudloff)
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