PUEBLO, Colo. – Ezekiel Mitchell had been anxiously awaiting a return to competition during the PBR’s 41-day hiatus, and he did not waste the opportunity to get back to riding on Saturday night.
He also has been ever so hungry to win the first premier series event of his career ever since he debuted at the PBR’s highest level – the Unleash The Beast – last year in New York City.
Mitchell, who posted two second-place finishes last season, may just get that first event win he desires so badly Sunday afternoon live on CBS Sports Network and RidePass at noon ET.
The 23-year-old rode Soup in a Group for 89 points during Round 1 of the PBR Las Vegas Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage, to finish the first day of competition at Oklahoma’s Lazy E Arena in second place.
“This right here is a big ride,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said on CBS Sports Network. “Soup in a Group has a really good day. Check out the leaderboard. Eighty-nine points, worth every point of it. Could’ve been 90. The bull just got a little bit hung up when he transitioned from going one direction back the other way. But I thought Zeke made an outstanding ride on a really, really good Soup in a Group.
“When you see a guy ride a really good bull into his hand is one thing. But when you see him make the adjustments from into his hand going back away from his hand like Zeke was just able to do, that’s impressive stuff.”
The ride is a season-high for Mitchell, as well as the third-best of his career, and he will head into Championship Sunday sitting in second place (10 world points) in the event standings.
Mitchell is 20th in the world standings, and will take on Lester Gillis (49-9, UTB) in Round 2**.** Mitchell rode Lester Gillis last year at the World Finals for 89.5 points.
Taylor Toves won Round 1 with a career-best 89.5 points on Biker Bob, and he too will be looking for his first career victory.
Toves has drawn Hard & Fast (9-2, UTB) for Sunday.
The PBR Las Vegas Invitational is being held at the Lazy E Arena in Oklahoma in an event closed to fans and observing strict health protocols amidst the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.
Mitchell nearly won his first event this past January in Sacramento went he entered the championship round second overall in the three-day event. However, Mitchell failed to ride Chiseled and he was bucked off in 4.63 seconds as Chiseled erupted for a 46.5-point bull score.
Chiseled – the No. 1 bull in the world – is set to compete Sunday at Lazy E Arena in the championship round.
The 2020 YETI World Champion Bull race will also be on full display with Chiseled, No. 2 and 2019 World Champion Smooth Operator, No. 4 Hocus Pocus and No. 6 Canadian Mist all set to buck in the championship round on Saturday.
Meanwhile, three-time World Champion SweetPro’s Bruiser will also be making his PBR season debut in the championship round.
Maybe we will see a rematch between the Chiseled and Mitchell in the championship round.
Alternatively, maybe Mitchell will look for revenge against Bruiser after the three-time champ downed him in 6.43 seconds last year in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko