FORT WORTH, Texas - For 25-year-old EmilioResende, Sunday afternoon was only the beginning of therealization of a lifelong dream.
Completely surrounded by a horde of PBR fans seeking to havetheir picture taken with him and holding out everything from daysheets and programs to Brazilian flags and cowboy hats for theRookie of the Year to sign, Resende soaked up as much of the momentas he could.
"I can't even explain how happy I am," he said after climbingback atop the shark cage.
He rode four of six bulls at the World Finals to finish secondin the average behind Robson Palermo. The $181,833Resende won in Las Vegas gave him $271,470 for the season and wasmore than enough for him to be named this year's Rookie of theYear.
Resende rode in only 13 of 28 Built Ford Tough Series events,but still arrived in Vegas with a chance to come from behind andsurpass both Chase Outlaw and ChadBesplug.
Outlaw had a fantastic start to the season, winning severalTouring Pro Division events; his success continued with his firstBFTS event win in Houston at Reliant Stadium. He also won two ofthree events in Australia over the summer months, while Besplugasserted himself in the race by virtue of his win at the CalgaryStampede.
Only Resende, however carried his late-season momentum with himto the Thomas & Mack Center.
He had finished second in the average at two of the past fiveregular-season events and was poised to make a name for himself atthe World Finals.
He scored 87 points on Lightmaker.com's Rango -one of seven contenders for World Champion Bull - to split thirdand fourth with Valdiron de Oliveira to open theevent, and would have had a chance to move to the top of theaverage early on had he not bucked off Carney Manat 7.5 seconds in Round 2.
Resende responded in Round 3 by covering Joe's Boot ShopBad Blake for 87.5 points.
He bucked off Wipeout in the fourth round andneeded a strong finish to move back up in the average if he wantedany chance of winning the rookie title.
On Sunday, he rode Tapout for another 87.5points and was eighth in the average going into the championshipround, where he drew David's Dream - another ofthe World Champion Bull contenders. Resende rode him for around-winning 89.75 points, hitting the dirt so close to thewhistle that his score required a replay review.
One of the first riders to congratulate him as made his way outof the arena was Outlaw, who had gone 0-5 in his first Finalsappearance.
"I'm sure it'll help with my confidence at a lot," Resende said."I'm really happy with the result. Next year I'm going to dedicatemyself even more."
It's the third year in a row - following SilvanoAlves (2010) and Rubens Barbosa (2011) -in which a Brazilian rider has been named Rookie of the Year.
Like many of his fellow countrymen, he returned to Brazil thisweek.
He plans to compete in one last PBR regular-season event inBrazil before taking part in the FinalBrahma Super Bull PBR, which will take place from Nov. 21 throughNov. 25 in Americana, Brazil.
"I think I can be in a better place by the end ofthe year and do better in the standings," said Emilio Resende.
In 2013, he said he intends to focus on the BFTS.
His goal, like everyone else's, is to win a world title.However, knowing how good the competition is and how difficult itis to win a gold buckle, he stopped short of predicting theoutcome.
"I think I can be in a better place by the end of the year anddo better in the standings," said Resende, who trains regularly andstays in shape by running daily.
"All year every arena is the same, the bulls are the same andthe idea is to be looking at the goal."
Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.