NEW YORK CITY – Brazilian PBR Bull rider Valiron de Oliveira spent all weekend chasing Chris Shivers in the standings.
Throughout the three rounds of the PBR’s Versus Invitational in Madison Square Garden this weekend, Oliveira found himself directly behind Shivers, in each round and in the cumulative total.
That is until his last chance to shoot past the two-time world champion. It was a combination of Oliveira’s 89.75 point ride on Outsider (Davis/Wilson/Mayo/Hooker) and Shivers’ inability to hold on through a rough ride aboard Bad Medicine (Berger Bucking Bulls) in the championship round that handed the event title – and accompanying $24,500 check and valuable points – to Oliveira.
In a weekend that was all about rides, it was fitting that the title came down to the very last ride … Shivers’.
On Friday night, round one saw 27 qualified rides go up on the score board. In Saturday’s round two, it was 26 more qualified rides. Sunday’s round three saw 24 more scores go into the record book, including ten of the 15 riders that entered the short-go with three scores.
When the dust finally settled in the historic New York City landmark arena, a total of six riders had a perfect riding weekend, covering all four bulls run under them. In addition to Oliveira, JB Mauney, Guilherme Marchi, Mike Lee, Wiley Petersen and Sean Willingham got through the weekend without a buck off.
Round Three
Leading up to the championship round, the third round belonged to Brian Canter, who posted the only 90+ ride of the round. Canter put up 90.25 points on Texas (Berger/Ryken) to win the round. It wasn’t enough, however, to get him into the championship round. In round one, Canter received 73 points and declined his re-ride option because of a stinger injury. In round two on Saturday, he bucked off.
Splitting second place in round three were Austin Meier aboard McClintock (Berger Bucking Bulls) and JB Mauney covering Blue Boy (Chad Berger/Roger Ward), each for 89.0 points. It was enough to secure Mauney’s spot in the short-goo, with three qualified rides to that point, but it was the first bull Meier covered this weekend.
Oliveira secured a spot in the final round with a third round 88.5 score on Cowboy Cut (Berger/Struve), as did Mighty Mike White, with 88.25 points on Live Wire (Berger/Ryken), his second ride of the weekend.
Cord McCoy gave an extra effort in trying to cover Dirty Harry (Berger Bucking Bulls/Shannon Gerhardt) but was bucked off at 2.1 seconds, taking a blow that was hard enough to send his helmet flying from his head, and left McCoy with blood running down his face from an ugly gash on his forehead. Dustin Hall also gave the audience some extra thrills, with a hang up after a qualified ride in round three on Bad Action (Berger/Ryken). He escaped in good enough shape to take his ride in the short-go.
Pick Your Bulls
The championship round was also the first time the riders got to experience a rules change that had them in the center of the arena, hand-picking their short-go bulls (three day events only). The picking order is established by total points put on the board in the first three rounds. Each rider has only 20 seconds to make his choice.
Ending round three with the most points, Chris Shivers was the first to pick from the list of 15 bulls designated for the championship round. In Shivers’ case, however, he could only choose from 14 bulls, as he couldn’t pick Cat Man Do (#10 Bucking Bulls), the bull he won the round with on Saturday. Shivers joked that he wanted Cat Man Do again “because I know I can ride him.”
The following are the riders, in picking order, the bulls they chose, and the results:
1. Chris Shivers, Bad Medicine (Berger), bucked off at 3.2 seconds;
2. Valdiron de Oliveira, Outsider, 89.75 points;
3. J B Mauney, Cat Man Do, 90.25 points;
4. Guilherme Marchi, Mean Machine (C Berger/Ryken/Rosen), 89.0 points;
5. Dustin Hall, Walk the Line (Berger/Ryken), bucked off at 6.6 seconds;
6. Sean Willingham, Wildfire (Frontier/Teague/Nixon), 86.5 points;
7. Wiley Petersen, Frank The Tank (John & Lacey Berger/Struve), 88.25;
8. LJ Jenkins, Big Bucks (Frontier/Teague), no time (judge reviewed);
9. Zack Brown, Nervous Waters (Frontier/Teague/White), bucked off at 4.6 seconds;
10. Mike Lee, Palace Station Deuces Wild (C Berger/Low/Rosen), 88.0 points;
11. Kasey Hayes, Evil Forces (Berger/Struve), 89.5 points;
12. Dustin Elliott, Sir Patrick (Berger/Ryken/Rosen), bucked off at 2.1 seconds;
13. Brendon Clark, California Dreaming (Frontier/Teague), 90.5 points, round winner;
14. Mike White, Scene of the Crash (Frontier/Teague/White), bucked off 4.2 seconds;
15. Greg Potter, Copperhead Slinger (Berger/Ryken), bucked off 6.8 seconds.
Mike Lee remains the only rider currently on tour who has a 100% riding percentage for the season this year. That includes two rides in round three, a 70.25 pointer on Whiskey Nights, and 86.25 on Red Jacket.
The PBR continues next weekend in Worcester, Mass. Because it is a three-day event, the riders will again get to pick their round two bulls, based on their round one scores and buck off times, as well as their short-go bulls.
