BALTIMORE, Md. – In round one of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Baltimore Invitational on Friday night, it was all about opportunities found and opportunities missed.
Round one of the PBR Baltimore Invitational on Friday, March 1 saw two riders trying to secure their spot on the Built Ford Tough tour step up and make a move. Jason Bennett of Honeygrove, Texas, was the first rider out of the gate and he set the mark with an 89 pointer on High Test (Sonny Williams) that the rest of the riders would be chasing all night long.
By the time the dust settled more than two hours later, only one other, BFTS newcomer and fellow Texan, Pistol Robinson of Burleson, had managed to tie Bennett. Robinson scored 89 on Great White (Anchor Bull Co.) just six rides after Bennett and the two riders split the round win. It was a much needed win for both, as Robinson tries to secure a permanent spot on the PBR’s top tour, while Bennett battles to stay there when the next round of cuts roll through. Each scored 89 points and put $2,340 in his pocket, along with the all-important points.
Points leader Travis Briscoe, who has already won three BFTS events this year, lasted less than two seconds before Double Deuce (Jeff Robinson) sent him airborne. Some of those chasing the seemingly unstoppable Briscoe managed to capitalize on the opportunity to gain some ground in the points standing, while others met the same fate as Briscoe.
Perennial PBR bridesmaid Guilherme Marchi, in the all-too familiar number two spot in the points race, tried to close the gap even more, covering Tropicana (T Bar R Bucking Bulls) for 85.75 points. That score was enough to tie him for 11th through 14th place, sharing the spot with JB Mauney, Robson Palermo and McKennon WImberly.
Mike Lee, who has sported an incredibly high riding percentage of more than 75 percent, saw River City Dreams (McNeill/Weeks/Tater Porter) turn into a nightmare, after the bull pulled Lee down over the front in just 1.8 seconds.
Colorado’s Kody Lostroh, third in the season points battle, had a less than stellar outing on Jim Dandy (Mark Reed/John Bystrom), when the bull took a few flying leaps straight across the front of the chutes but never really committed to a spin. Lostroh took the resulting 79.75 points off the board and headed out for his reride on Dr. Who. Lostroh hit the ground less than a second shy of the buzzer in the final ride of the night.
Rerides turned out better for Matt Bohon, who wound up with an 82-pointer on King Arthur (Silverado Rodeo) after River Rat (McNeill/Weeks) failed to perform. Dustin Elliott couldn’t get out of the chute on a misbehaving Rock Hound (Jeff Robinson), but came back to score 86 points on Baby Doll (Silverado) for a 10th place finish in the round. Steven Shelley got bucked off Southern Gangster (Pete Baker/Homestead Genetics), but couldn’t follow the trend of reride scores, bucking off Political Ambition.
Tyler Pankewitz landed a $5,000 check for the Enterprise “Ride with the Best” on Chiseled in Stone (Hale/Hicks & McCracken) but only scored a 64.75 point ride. Pankewitz handed the check back, in search of more points, and got on Wrangler Magic for his reride. The decision was the right one, as he not only got his $5,000 check back after covering the bull, but also finished the round in 3rd place, scoring 88.75 points.
Splitting 4th and 5th place were Texans Colby Yates of Fort Worth and Mighty Mike White of DeKalb, each with 87.5 points. Yates conquered Mastermind (Martinez Bucking Bulls) while White battled it out with Rooster on a Rope (Jeff Robinson).
Rounding out the top ten in the round were Dustin Hall in 6th place, with 87.25 points on Cold Play (Jeff Robinson); Bryan Richardson with 86.75 points on Dark Side (Martinez) in 7th; a split of 8th and 9th by fan favorites Chris Shivers and Brian Canter. Shivers had no trouble aboard Mo Betta (Silverado), immediately followed in the round by Canter, who had plenty of air time courtesy of Cliffhanger (Hale/Hicks & McCracken), each putting up 86.25 points.
After a week off, 3-time PBR world champ Adriano Moraes returned to competition Friday night. Novacaine (Sonny Williams) gave Moraes a rough time in the chutes, at one point rearing up and turning itself around. Once it was repositioned, Moraes took the bull but bucked off shy of the 8 second mark.
The Brazilians had a strong showing Friday night, although phenom Renato Nunes – who last week scored the first perfect rider score from a judge since Chris Shivers in 2001 – had his ride on Too Sharp (Radke Bucking Bulls) end too soon. Ednei Caminhas, who has been riding the best since his world champion season, posted 81.5 points on Rush (Radke), Valdiron de Oliveira scored 84 points on Ambush (Sonny Williams), a fast little spinner who never quite committed to bucking; and Robson Palermo joined the cluster of riders at the 85.75 point mark on Almost (Jeff Robinson).
Missing from competition was Paulo Crimber, who was knocked out of competition in St. Louis last weekend. Crimber has been diagnosed with a fractured vertebrae (C1) and is expected to be out anywhere from six to 12 weeks.
The event also saw bull rider Chad Denton disqualified after one of the judges said Denton, of Oroville, Calif., took too long in the chute. Denton appeared to be struggling to find a seat on Spittin’ Image (Mark Reed/John Bystrom) before the judge disqualified him.
Round two and the championship round of the Baltimore Invitational are set to kick off in the 1st Mariner Arena at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
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