As the 2016 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series continues to wind down the top 35 bull riders in the world made their way to the Pacific Northwest once again. This weekend’s event, the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic, brought the exciting bull riding action to Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. After two prior performances that each of the contestants wanted to wipe from their memory it was time to refocus on the action at hand as the world title race surge began to make its last push to Las Vegas.
Tonight the sold out crowd in attendance would not only witness the first round of competition but would also be treated to an extra round as the second to last 15/15 Bucking Battle took place later in the evening. In this special performance everyone watching got to see some exciting action as well as some huge and historic rides down on the arena floor. Once things began the excitement could be felt everywhere as the PBR made their way back to the Eugene, Oregon area!
Matt Triplett Claims The Round One Win With An 86.75 Point Ride
Photo Credit: Andy Watson / Bull Stock Media
When the doors opened and the fans started to make their way inside of the Matthew Knight Arena there was a sense of urgency from the locker room that transported throughout the many seats that would be filled. The news that everyone was following throughout the week was that Cooper Davis would be making his return to the arena along with fan favorites Matt Triplett and Ben Jones. One man that would still be missing would be the reigning and defending PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney due to injury for the second straight event and the third over the last four. Everyone knew that this information would make for a very exciting round of action once things kicked off earlier tonight.
The world title race was at the forefront of everyone’s minds as the entire field that were in any part of contention were all competing against each other for the first time since the summer break. That being said the hype did in fact live up to its expectations as everyone of the cowboys here tonight fought tooth and nail for qualified rides and the round one win. After it was all said and done there would be 12 riders that would managed to make it to the buzzer and earn some event points heading into tomorrow afternoon’s final rounds. Event though 11 others would put their best foot forward no one could be the will and try of returning superstar Matt Triplett as he claimed the round one win with an 86.75 point ride aboard Howell Rodeo Company Inc.’s Gatlin Gun!
Complete List Of Round One Qualified Rides:
Matt Triplett (86.75) Gage Gay (86.50)
Rubens Barbosa (86.00) Aaron Roy (85.75)
Fraser Babbington (85.50) Fabiano Vieira (85.25)
Silvano Alves (84.25) Jess Lockwood (83.75)
Mason Lowe (83.25) Kaique Pacheco (80.75)
Valdiron de Oliveira (72.00) Ryan Dirteater (65.25)
After the first round on the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic concluded all attention was focused back to the arena floor for a special CBS Sports Network taping of the second to last 15/15 Bucking Battle of the 2016 season. The format for his additional event are quite simple; the top 15 cowboys in the world standings match up to some of the top 15 bucking bulls from the season thus far. That being said, tonight was truly a night that you wanted to be watching the action live from the Matthew Knight Arena!
Kaique Pacheco Reigns Supreme At Tonight’s 15/15 Bucking Battle
Photo Credit: Andy Watson / Bull Stock Media
Everyone knew what was on the line tonight at the 15/15 Bucking Battle round began earlier tonight. From the sold out crowd witnessing the action live down to the locker rooms where the cowboys gather their thoughts were full of anticipation and excitement as the live television cameras started rolling and the music was cranked up a few levels. Tonight’s round was one that brought back all those in contention for the world championship back together again after many taking time off to nurse injuries and recover from needed surgeries.
Once the action began it as quickly realized that the quality match-ups that this unique round brought to the table would make for an epic hour long performance. Tonight the best bull riders in the world came together to give the fans 15 fantastic opportunities to watch some amazing action. Although these rounds are expected to produce very few qualified rides the ones that are made produce big numbers. Earlier tonight it would only be a total of 2 riders that would fair better than the bovine athletes on display but Eduardo Aparecido could not beat the 89 point ride Kaique Pacheco put up aboard Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve’s Dead Calm to take home the win and the 150 championship points that came along with it increasing his world standings lead.
After an exciting first night of action things will pick up once again right where they left off tomorrow afternoon as Championship Sunday’s two rounds will eventually crown an event champion with three events remaining in the 2016 season. The main focus after tomorrow afternoon’s festivities are concluded will be how things stack up in the world title race and figure out if Cooper Davis can get back on track or see if they came back too early to make a run at the championship title!
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