WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The crowd in the Joel Coliseum, in Winston-Salem, got exactly what they wanted in the PBR’s “Copenhagen Bull Riding Invitational” on Saturday, Jan. 31 when one of their own took home the title.
J.B. Mauney of Mooresville, N.C., already the number one man in the points race toward the PBR World Championships next October, widened that gap Saturday night and brought the standing room only crowd in the Joel Coliseum to its feet as he took home the title for this, the 6th stop of the PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series tour.
If you’re going to win it, win it with style.
That’s just what J.B. did, riding the previously un-ridden Deja Blue (Tom Teague) for 91 points in the championship round. Added to his 89.75 second place finish in Friday’s round one, and 86.25 points on Cloud 9 (Frontier Rodeo Co.), he finished the event with 267.0 points and a big paycheck.
Mauney had said all along he would take the un-ridden Bones (Teague Bucking Bulls) in the short-go, if the bull was there. With Bones not bucking in Saturday’s rounds, J.B. instead chose to take on the other un-ridden bull. A “champion” match-up between J.B. and Bones, like the one in Friday night’s round between Bones and Guilherme Marchi, is expected in two weeks when the PBR is in Oklahoma City.
It only seems fitting that J.B., North Carolina’s native son – and part of the PBR’s “Team Copenhagen” - would win the Copenhagen Invitational. Making the tie-in even stronger was that the other “Team Copenhagen” rider, Chris Shivers, tied Mauney in the championship round, earning his own 91-pointer on California Dreaming (Frontier/Teague/McBride & Wegman).
Shivers finished in 2nd place in the event average, at 266.75 points, just a quarter-point behind Mauney. Shivers split the win in round two, earning 88.75 points on Leprechaun (Frontier/Teague), matched by Travis Briscoe, who rode Gold Bell Wine (Chad Berger/Winston Loe). Shivers went into the championship round in third place, and Briscoe in fourth, with 175.75 and 175.5 points respectively.
ROUND TWO
After 24 riders got on the scoreboard Friday night in round one, only 16 made qualified rides in round two. Fourteen of those were second scores, making the short-go all but impossible to get into on one score.
Behind Shivers and Briscoe’s split of first place in the round was reigning world champion Guilherme Marchi. Marchi finished 3rd, earning 88.0 points on Mac-Net’s Hydroblast (Jeff Robinson/Broken N-N/Cathy & Jason McNeely). That sent him into the short-go in fifth place, with a two round score of 174.25.
Fourth in round two was Austin Meier, with 87.5 points on Clam Digger (John & Lacey Berger). That score, combined with his 3rd place finish in round one, left Meier in the number one position heading into the draft for the short-go, with 174.25 points.
Fifth was Josh Koschel, with 87.0 points on Rip & Dip (Chad Berger/Clay Struve). Koschel went into the championship round in 6th place.
Other qualified rides in the round were:
6th, Kasey Hayes, 86.75 points on Wrangler Big Rig (J Robinson/Broken N-N/C&D Bulls/SkyHawk Rugs), who made the short-go in 12th place with 167.5 points;
7th/8th, Ryan Dirteater with 86.5 points on Tuffy (Frontier), his only score of the weekend; and Canadian Aaron Roy, putting up 86.5 points on Yosemite Sam (Diamond S), which sent Roy into the short-go in 10th place with 171.25 points;
9th, J.B. Mauney;
10th /11th, Ross Coleman, who took Lynch Mob for 85.75 points, nodding his head while the bull was still lying down in the chute. Coleman went into the short-go in 9th place, with 172.75 points; and Ryan McConnel, riding Rocket Launcher (Diamond S), a flat but fast spinning bull, for 85.75 points, and went into the championship round in 8th place with 173.25;
12th/13th place, Wiley Petersen on The Breeze (Chad Berger/DennyHawks) and Leonil Santos on Little Boy Blue (Frontier Rodeo Co), for 85 points. It was Santos’ only score of the weekend. Petersen went into the championship round in 7th place with 173.5 points;
14th place, this weekend’s king of the re-ride, Beau Hill scored 84.75 points on Mataska (Teague) in the round, a re-ride bull after Fine Wine (Frontier) left Hill with a 60.5 pointer and a re-ride option. Hill headed into the championship round in 11th place with 168.25 points, having already made five qualified rides in the first two rounds;
15th was Shane Proctor, with an 82-pointer on Out of the Box (Chad Berger/Winston Loe), a son of Pandora’s Box. While Proctor had a clean ride, the get-off was more than messy, when Out of the Box ran along the chute gates, with Proctor upside down between the bull and the gates. Proctor walked away rattled but under his own power and went into the short-go in 13th place with 163.75 points;
The final qualified ride in round two went to veteran Brian Herman, a 72. 5 pointer on Thunder from the Throne (Frontier). Herman was given a re-ride option but declined it, suffering from back pain. Herman qualified in 14th place for the short-go, but was unable to compete because of back pain. He finished the event in 15th place.
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Round one winner, and BFTS newcomer Skeeter Kingsolver, squeezed into the 14th spot in the short-go, based on his 90.5 point round one score. Brian Herman’s being unable to compete in the short-go left the door open for another one-scorer, Matt Bohon, who filled the 15th slot.
As with all BFTS events this year, the riders in the championship round chose their bulls, based on their order of finish (average) in the other rounds.
Following Mauney and Shivers, who split the round with 91.0 points each, Austin Meier, who chose his bull first, rode High Lonesome (Diamond S) for 89.75 points. He finished the round in third, as well as finishing third in the event average.
Fourth and fifth in the short-go round were Wiley Petersen, who rode Scene of the Crash , and Ryan McConnel, who rode Nervous Waters (both bulls from Frontier/Teague/Ron White), each for 89 points. Petersen finished the event in fourth, with 262.5 points, a quarter-point ahead of McConnel, who finished fifth.
Sixth in the short-go was Matt Bohon, with 88.5 points on Fire & Flame (Frontier). Bohon, who definitely appears to have shaken off his lousy 2008 season, finished the event 7th in the average with 176.75 points.
The final qualified ride of the championship round went to Beau Hill, with 86.25 points on Pandora’s Box (Chad Berger/Roger Ward). Hill, who rode all six of his bulls (including re-rides) in the three rounds, finished the event sixth in the average, with 254.5 points. After Hill’s ride in the short-go, one of the judges called for a review, believing that Hill came off the bull short of the 8-second mark. The review showed Hill bucked off at exactly the 8.00 second mark. When he bucked off, he was thrown head first into the chute gates, and after standing, staggered and went down to the arena floor. After a few minutes, he left the arena under his own power.
The other rides in the championship round were:
Travis Briscoe, bucking off Red Bull (Teague Bucking Bulls), a half-brother to Bones, at the 7.1 second mark. Briscoe finished the event in 8th place;
Guilherme Marchi, who slapped Spin Zone (Teague) at the 1.8 second mark. Marchi challenged the call, but lost. He finished the event in 9th place;
Josh Koschel, who made his third attempt to ride Chance (Teague). Chance won the rematch, sending Koschel to the dirt at the 3.4 second mark. Koschel finished the event in 10th place.
Ross Coleman, matched up against the un-ridden SkyHawk Cut-A-Rug (Jeff Robinson/Broken N-N/Kenny Jack). SkyHawk Cut-A-Rug kept his record intact, bucking off Coleman in 3.2 seconds. Ross finished the event in 11th place;
Aaron Roy, taking on Chicken on a Chain (Robinson/Tedesco/Larry the Cable Guy/Broken N-N). Roy bucked off at the 3-second mark, and finished the event in 12th place;
Kasey Hayes, facing off against Voodoo Child (Robinson/Beutler/Broken N-N/Hyland/McNeely/Fletcher), and hitting the dirt at the 3-second mark. Hayes finished the Winston-Salem event in 13th place;
Shane Proctor, who chose I’m a Gangster (Teague) in the draft, was awarded a re-ride when the bull fouled coming out of the chute and had Proctor off at 1.6 seconds. For his re-ride, Proctor had Sir Patrick, and was again bucked off, this time at the 2.3 second mark. He finished the event in 14th place;
Skeeter Kingsolver, who won round one in his first ever BFTS event, faced off against Avalanche (Diamond S/Gary Long). Kingsolver hit the dirt in 4.2 seconds, and finished the event in 16th place.
Injuries
It was not reported by the end of the event if Brian Herman’s back injury would keep him out of competition next weekend, when the PBR rolls into Florida.
Zack Brown, who left the arena secured to a backboard in round one on Friday night, attended Saturday’s round but did not ride. Brown reportedly suffered a concussion from his run-in with Sir Patrick and the hard arena floor on Friday night, but there was no report of any other injuries. In an interview, Brown said he had no recollection of the wreck until he was being carried out of the arena on the backboard. No update on his status for next weekend was given.
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