The action here in New York City over the last two nights have given the dedicated and loyal fans of the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series all that they have asked for. Tonight will draw to a close the 2017 edition of the Monster Energy Buck Off At The Garden event inside of the iconic Madison Square Gardens Arena. If the first two rounds are any indication as to how today’s final two rounds will be, the fans in attendance and watching at home are in for a treat later this afternoon.
Rounds one and two have featured some new stars on both sides of the arena as some up and coming bull riding superstars take center stage and some new bovine athletes are getting their chance to show off a little too! Although there have been a few re-rides awarded here and there over the first two rounds we were able to see what kind of animal athletes will be making their way on tour as the 2017 season travels across the country. It will be interesting to see who will step up and who will fall by the wayside.
Marco Eguchi Takes The Top Spot In Round Three
Photo Credit: Andy Watson / Bull Stock Media
Round three, once again, featured the top 35 bull riders in the world each vying for a spot in the elusive championship round where the top 15 from the combined first three rounds are invited to compete for the event championship title. These cowboys will pair up with bucking bulls that were featured in the first two rounds and invited back to round three by the PBR Director of Livestock, Cody Lambert. Many of these bulls had their first out earlier in the weekend so these guys had a little information to go off of here in round three this afternoon.
Round three brought the last chance for these bull riders to earn a spot in the championship round and by the looks of how much effort these guys were putting out each and every one of them wanted one of those spots badly. This afternoon’s round continued the path that we have seen over the previous two with 12 of the top 35 bull riders making a qualified ride. That being said Marco Eguchi gained the top score with an 88 point ride aboard Rocking I Rodeo Company’s Machinery Auctioneer’s Little Joe for the round three win heading into the championship round riding a wave of momentum!
Complete List Of Qualified Round Three Rides Posted Below:
Marco Eguchi (88.00) J.B. Mauney (87.50)
Matt Triplett (86.75) Joao Ricardo Vieira (86.25)
J.W. Harris (85.50) Eduardo Aparecido (85.75)
Ryan Dirteater (85.75) Kaique Pachec0 (85.50)
Nathan Schaper (85.00) Fabiano Vieira (83.50)
Paulo Lima (83.25) Jess Lockwood (82.25)
Ryan Dirteater Wins The Championship Round Here In NYC
Photo Credit: Andy Watson / Bull Stock Media
Once the three qualifying rounds were completed and the field was set for the championship round of the Monster Energy Buck Off At The Garden major event the focus turned back to the arena floor once again. The top fifteen bull riders from the combined three rounds prior went head to head on top of some of the toughest bulls in the business today. Each would be doing what they could to bring home the first event title of the young 2017 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series season.
These guys had their hands full as many of the world champion bucking bull contenders from the 2016 season were in the house to wreak havoc among their counterparts climbing aboard them here this fateful Sunday afternoon. Once all was said and done there would be a total of 3 of the fifteen competing that would be able to garner a qualified ride. That being said, only one of those men, Ryan Dirteater, was able come out on top with a 90.5 point ride aboard K-C / Josie McElroy Bucking Bulls / Spark-lin Acres’ Handsome Jeff to claim the championship round victory.
Jess Lockwood Earns The First Event Win Of The 2017 Season
Photo Credit: Andy Watson / Bull Stock Media
Once the conclusion of the first event of the season came about it was time to crown the first event champion of the 2017 PBR Built Ford Tough Series season. Along with that, the Monster Energy Buck Off At The Garden event was also the first PBR Major of the season where only four were announced for the entire 2017 season. These four events offer the champion inflated world title points as well as huge paydays that send them catapulting to the top of the world standings leaderboard. Usually speaking, from past history, whoever wins this event makes a huge run at a world championship title in November at the PBR World Finals.
This weekend that one man standing alone atop the shark cage would be non-other than the young gun Jess Lockwood. After a dominating 4-for-4 performance here in New York City he is riding on top of the world and with the confidence that he needs to continue his streak throughout the year as long as he can stay healthy. Winning the first event of the year, a major event at that, has given this elite bull rider a whole new outlook at what he can do in the 2017 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series season as he heads into Chicago in the number one spot in the world standings!
To say that the 2017 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series season has kicked off in grand style would be a complete understatement. As we all saw here this weekend in New York City, there are still many “veteran” bull riders on tour but the up and coming young guns are definitely making their names known while making sure the guys that have been on tour for years are looking over their shoulders in fear. Next weekend’s event in Chicago should be another fantastic and exciting event for the PBR and the loyal fans of professional bull riding!
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