After a grueling major event last weekend in Arlington, Texas the top 35 bull riders in the world converged on the warm temperatures of Phoenix, Arizona for the Ak-Chin Invitational. Last weekend’s Iron Cowboy battered and bruised the bull riders of the Built Ford Tough Series and gave us our first look at who would be dropped from the tour and who would be able to move up to compete here in Arizona this weekend. The action could not be any more important than it would be once the toughest sport on dirt began inside the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
This weekend’s event would give those cowboys on the bubble their last chance to shoot up the world standings ranking to make sure that they can remain on tour for the next seven events. Those that had to perform well did just that as some fan favorites did what they had to do to set themselves up to stay on the elite Built Ford Tough Series tour going forward following this weekend’s festivities. A couple of those lucky bull riders are the one and only “Dancing Australian” and the “Cherokee Kid.”
Ryan Dirteater Makes Qualified Ride In Round One
Photo Credit: PBRLive.com
Tonight’s round one performance proved to be much like each and every performance from the previous few weeks across the great United States. As tonight’s round began it was a dismal number of cowboys that would continue to fall off their mounts early as they hit the arena dirt unceremoniously one by one. The bovine athletes of the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series proved to be much more than the cowboys could handle once again.
Heading into tomorrow night’s second and final evening of the Ak-Chin Invitational the elite bull riders of the BFTS knew what they must do to regain momentum heading into next weekend’s Duluth Invitational in the great state of Georgia. Each and every one of these cowboys know that as the season gets deeper and deeper it will be harder and harder for them to regain their composure as the events will begin to take bigger tolls on their bodies each and every weekend.
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira Wins Round One
Photo Credit: PBRLive.com
The action began hot and heavy down on the arena floor which made everyone think that the tides would change and the cowboys of the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series would finally have the upper hand earlier this evening. After the first two bull riders of the night went for qualified rides back to back things quickly began to cool off and started to look like the events of the recent past but that all changed as the cream of the crop began to regain the momentum once again. Although every one of them wanted to ride for eight it was those in desperate need that stepped up in a big way as round one came to a dramatic close.
Once things were all said and done it was 13 of the top 35 bull riders in the world who would manage to make it all the way to the eight second buzzer that seems to be lost in the twilight zone as of late. One of the very first riders of the night set the bar that no one could beat until one of the very last rides of the night. The “Dancing Australian” Ben Jones set the bar early in round one with a qualified ride aboard /JK/TNT Rodeo Company’s Thunder Bolt for an 86.75 point ride. Coming into tonight’s performance he was on the outside and looking in but shot all the way up into the top 25 in the world to make sure he would remain on tour! It was not until the end of the round that Rookie of the Year contender Wallace Vieira de Oliveira would take the round win with an 87.25 point ride aboard Jared Allen’s Pro Bull Team’s Hy Test.
Complete Round One Winning Ride Recap:
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira (87.25) Ben Jones (86.75) Fabiano Vieira (86.75) Joao Ricardo Vieira (86.25) Robson Palermo (85.75) Cooper Davis (85.50) Ryan Dirteater (85.25) Paulo Ferreira Lima (85.25) Nathan Schaper (84.75) Tanner Bryne (84.50) Rubens Barbosa (84.25) Stormy Wing (82.50) Eduardo Aparecido (80.75)
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