(Editor's note: PBR media release)
BILLINGS -- While a powerful pen of PBR (Professional Bull Riders) animal athletes dominated the field on Saturday night in Billings, the world’s top two bull riders showed why they’re the ones to beat in the sport’s 2021 title race, ending the round with two qualified rides that tied for the win.
As the second night of the three-day event rolled to a close and the Brazilian riders dominated – recording five of the round’s six qualified rides – reigning PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) and 2018 PBR World Champion Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) topped Saturday’s leaderboard at the PBR Unleash The Beast -Wrangler Invitational presented by Cooper Tires with matching 89.5-point ride scores.
Both Pacheco and Leme came into Round 2 with something to prove after each was bucked off their Round 1 bull on Friday night. And both brought the heat as the final two cowboys to ride on Saturday night.
Pacheco, current No. 2 in the world standings, was matched against Lonesome Fugitive (Bierema Rodeo Inc.).
With a stoic look on his face, knowing the task ahead of him was to ride a previously unridden bovine, Pacheco fired from the chutes as the Montana crowd went wild.
Current world leader Leme cheered right alongside the fans for his fellow countryman as he prepared in the chutes.
“Always you need to try to make your head clean and make your focus on the bulls to do your job,” said Pacheco. “I’m really happy. Jose made a really good ride.”
In true world champion fashion, Leme then made his matchup against Soup in a Group (Wilks Ranch/ Clay Struve/ Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger) look effortless.
“Riders like Kaique do for sure motivate me a lot to get on my bull,” said Leme. “That’s why it’s the best race in the world — all the guys pushing the other guys to ride their bulls.”
The win in Round 2 earned both cowboys 23 world points. It was the eighth 2021 premier series round win for Leme and sixth for Pacheco.
Leme’s lead on Pacheco in the world standings has dwindled to a mere 27.5 points.
In his premier series debut, Caic Cassio Carvalho (Goias, Brazil) captured third place in the round after an electric ride aboard Gray Smoke (Farris/ Garcia Rodeo Bulls) for 87 points. The 28-year-old Brazilian began the weekend at No. 49 in the world standings but made the jump to No. 41 after collecting 17 world points.
As the Brazilian hot streak played on in Round 2, Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil) delivered a fourth-place finish aboard Slow Hand (Farris/ Garcia Rodeo Bulls). His 86.25-point score on the red Colorado-based bovine earned him 16 world points to jump from No. 43 in the world standings to No. 40.
2012 PRCA World Champion Cody Teel (College Station, Texas) became the No. 1 man in Billings on the event overall leaderboard as he rounded out the Top 5 in Round 2. His matchup against Wooden Nickels (Bierema Rodeo Inc.) had the crowd roaring when his 86-point score was announced.
“I just had to do a little more riding and a little less sitting,” Teel said with a smile on his face.
Teel’s Round 2 ride earned him 15 world points and kept his hold on the No. 18 spot in the world standings.
Teel is the only rider to be a perfect 2-for-2 on the weekend, and he goes into Championship Sunday with 171.5 points, a full bull ahead of the field. Chase Dougherty (Stephenville, Texas) is second with 90.5 points from his ride on Friday.
To Montana fans’ dismay, two-time PBR World Champion Jess Lockwood’s (Volborg, Montana) second night of the three-day Billings event ended abruptly when he was launched from Carlier Cartel (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle) after a short 3.78 seconds.
The PBR Unleash The Beast -Wrangler Invitational presented by Cooper Tires will continue with Round 3 and the Championship Round on Sunday, May 16 at 1:45 p.m. MST.
Fans can relive all the action from Round 2 in Montana starting on Sunday, May 16 at 8 a.m. EST on RidePass.com or via the RidePass mobile app.
PBR Unleash The Beast - Wrangler Invitational presented by Cooper TiresFirst Interstate Arena at MetraPark -Billings, MontanaEvent Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)1. Cody Teel, 85.5-86-0-0-171.50-31 Points.2. Chase Dougherty, 90.5-0-0-0-90.50-29 Points.3. Jose Vitor Leme, 0-89.5-0-0-89.50-23 Points.(tie). Kaique Pacheco, 0-89.5-0-0-89.50-23 Points.5. Silvano Alves, 87.5-0-0-0-87.50-18 Points.6. Caic Cassio Carvalho, 0-87-0-0-87.00-17 Points.7. Luciano De Castro, 0-86.25-0-0-86.25-16 Points.8. João Henrique Lucas, 85.75-0-0-0-85.75-17 Points.9. Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 85-0-0-0-85.00-15 Points.10. J.T. Moore, 84.25-0-0-0-84.25-14 Points.11. Junior Patrik Souza, 0-83-0-0-83.00-14 Points.12. Leonardo Lima, 80.75-0-0-0-80.75-13 Points.13. Dener Barbosa, 76.75-0-0-0-76.75-4 Points.14. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 71.5-0-0-0-71.50-3 Points.15. Alex Cerqueira, 68.75-0-0-0-68.75-2 Points.Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0-0.00Marco Eguchi, 0-0-0-0-0.00Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 0-0-0-0-0.00Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0-0.00Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0-0.00Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0-0.00Cody Nance, 0-0-0-0-0.00Jess Lockwood, 0-0-0-0-0.00Austin Richardson, 0-0-0-0-0.00Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0-0.00Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0-0.00Jesse Petri, 0-0-0-0-0.00Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0-0.00Brennon Eldred, 0-0-0-0-0.00Kyle Jones, 0-0-0-0-0.00Hunter Ball, 0-0-0-0-0.00Rodrigo Melgar, 0-0-0-0-0.00Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0-0.00Dakota Louis, 0-0-0-0-0.00Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-0-0-0-0.00Logan Biever, 0-0-0-0-0.00Hunter Kelly, 0-0-0-0-0.00Cole Skender, 0-0-0-0-0.00Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0-0-0.00
