LAS VEGAS – In front of a capacity crowd of more than 16,000 fans, J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, North Carolina) clinched the 2015 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Championship on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center during Round 4 of the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals.
Even before Mauney climbed aboard Bruiser (D&H Cattle Co./Buck Cattle Co.) for the last ride of the night, the title was his. Neither Joao Ricardo Vieira (Itatinga Brazil) nor Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) had scored enough points on their bulls to be able to overtake Mauney. Mauney’s 92.75-point ride on Bruiser punctuated the round and moved him atop the event aggregate leaderboard.
“Tonight I had to keep my head clear when I got in the bucking chute, I just had to react and go with him jump for jump,†Mauney said. “For me this season, I felt like I kept getting banged up over and over again and that takes a toll, not only physically, but emotionally as well. After my knee injury earlier in the season, I had to really work at riding bulls and I think being injured made me crave it a lot more when I came back. Sometimes injuries are the best thing to happen to you because you need to go home, re-evaluate and work hard to get back to where you want to be. Sometimes you need to be knocked down to make you crave it again.â€
As the aggregate leader, Mauney has a chance to also win the PBR World Finals event title, and repeat his accomplishment in 2013 when he won both the World Championship and the World Finals in the same year. If Mauney is successful, it would mark only the fifth time that a rider has accomplished this feat: Silvano Alves (2014), Mauney (2013), Renato Nunes (2010), and Mike Lee (2004).
Behind Mauney in Round 4, Ben Jones (Goulburn, Australia) covered Handsome Jeff (Ramblin Verl Ranch), for 89.5 points to finish second in the round, earning 120 points toward the PBR world standings.
Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil) was the third-place finisher, earning 100 points toward his world standings total with an 88.5-point ride on Red Moon (Holmes/Jackson/Flying S). Fourth place went to Pacheco, the 2015 PBR Rookie of the Year, who rode Cowboy Phil (Bar 3D) for 87.5 points to earn 80 world standings points. With Pacheco’s finish, the 21-year-old moved into the No. 2 position in the world standings.
Rounding out the Top 5, Fabiano Vieira (Perola, Brazil) earned 60 world standings points with an 87.5-point ride on Fire Bender (Cornwell Bucking Bulls).
Round 4 also served as the final round of the 2015 American Bucking Bull Inc. (ABBI) Classic Finals, a competition for 3- and 4-year old bulls. Mauney’s opponent, Bruiser, bucked away with the highest score of the competition, 181.25 points, to win the ultimate ABBI title and $200,000. Splitting second place, worth $70,000 apiece, were Wicked Stick (Diamond S) and Cracker Jack (Carpenter/ Hudgins) with scores of 175.5 points.Â
Saturday concluded all of the ABBI World Finals activities, which included the ABBI Premier Sale, where $770,000 worth of bucking bulls traded hands.
Round 5 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round of the 22nd PBR World Finals concludes Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. PT, at the Thomas & Mack Center. CBS Sports Network will broadcast the event live starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
For more information on the PBR World Finals, please visit www.pbrworldfinals.com.
2015 Built Ford Tough World Finals
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. J.B. Mauney, 91-0-86.5-92.75-270.25-400 Points.
2. Cooper Davis, 89-88-87.5-0-264.50-300 Points.
3. Silvano Alves, 0-87.25-89-0-176.25-260 Points.
4. Bonner Bolton, 73.25-90.5-86.25-0-250.00-200 Points.
5. Tanner Byrne, 0-88.25-86.75-0-175.00-170 Points.
6. Fabiano Vieira, 86.75-0-84.25-87.5-258.50-160 Points.
7. Matt Triplett, 0-0-88-87.25-175.25-120 Points.
(tie). Ben Jones, 0-0-0-89.5-89.5-120 Points.
9. Gage Gay, 0-88.25-0-0-88.25-110 Points.
10. Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-88.5-88.50-100 Points.
11. Kaique Pacheco, 0-81.75-0-88-169.75-80 Points.
(tie). Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-87.25-0-87.25-80 Points.
(tie). Mason Lowe, 85.5-0-0-0-85.50-80 Points.
14. Cody Nance, 84.75-0-85.5-0-170.25-30 Points.
(tie). Lachlan Richardson, 84.75-0-0-0-84.75-30 Points.
16. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-86-86.25-172.25
17. Chase Outlaw, 84-0-86.25-0-170.25
18. Michael Lane, 0-86.5-0-83-169.50
19. Mike Lee, 0-0-0-87.25-87.25
20. Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-85.75-0-85.75
21. Stormy Wing, 0-85.5-0-0-85.50
22. Ryan Dirteater, 0-0-0-85-85.00
23. Aaron Roy, 0-0-84.5-0-84.50
24. Nathan Schaper, 0-74-0-0-74.00
J.W. Harris, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Valdiron de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Guilherme Marchi, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Reese Cates, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Shane Proctor, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Robson Aragao, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Renato Nunes, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Kasey Hayes, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Sims, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Robson Palermo, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Alexandre Cardozo, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Douglas Duncan, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dave Mason, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Neil Holmes, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Luis Blanco, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Tyler Harr, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Justin Paton, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Jay Miller, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
