PUEBLO, Colo. – The Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic in Sacramento, California, this weekend will be a unique format, with the three-day event also involving a 15/15 Bucking Battle.
The draw in Sacramento will feature 65 riders competing in Round 1, which will involve riders split into two groups for the first two nights of competition at the Golden 1 Center.
The Top 15 riders in the world who are riding in the 15/15 Bucking Battle on Saturday night will compete in the long round on Friday with 25 additional riders. This group will not compete in the long round on Saturday.
Saturday night’s long round will be the conclusion of Round 1 with the 25 riders remaining in the event who did not compete on Friday night.
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As part of the 2021 Sacramento UTB event structure, any alternate rider who is not seeded based on Unleash The Beast tour event standards (Top 30 available plus any Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour invites or injury exempt riders) will need to earn a qualified ride Round 1 to compete in to advance to Championship Sunday.
In regards to world points and the race to qualify for the 2021 PBR World Finals (Nov. 3-7 in Las Vegas), Sacramento will be treated as a two-day event for the average payout and points structure.
Therefore, one rider can earn a maximum of 167 points toward the world standings (140 event points + 27 ride score bonus points). There is an additional 50 points up for grabs for the winner of the 15/15 Bucking Battle (50 points to the winner).
Round 1 airs live on CBS Sports Network beginning at 11 p.m. ET on Friday night. Fans can tune in an hour earlier at 10 p.m. ET to re-watch the Tulsa, Oklahoma, 15/15 Bucking Battle and see Jose Vitor Leme’s historic 97.75-point ride aboard Woopaa.
TOP 30 RIDERS OUT OF COMPETITION BECAUSE OF INJURY/OTHER
No. 5 Joao Ricardo Vieira (In Brazil for a personal matter)
No. 12 Colten Fritzlan (left shoulder)
No. 14 Rafael Henrique dos Santos (ribs)
No. 19 Joao Henrique Lucas (ribs)
No. 20 Cody Jesus (family emergency)
No. 24 Taylor Toves (wrist/hand)
No. 30 Kyler Oliver (left shoulder surgery)
ALTERNATES WHO MUST RIDE TO ADVANCE (Asterisk = UTB debut rider)
No. 41 Dakota Louis
No. 45 Conner Halverson
No. 55 Lucas Fideles Souza
No. 59 Cole Skender
No. 60 Ramon de Lima
No. 61 Lane Nobles
No. 70 Dalton Krantz
No. 75 Dalton Rudman*
No. 75 Hunter Kelly
No. 77 Bob Mitchell*
No. 80 Eli Byler
No. 81 Rubens Barbosa
No. 82 Casey Coulter*
No. 82 D.J. Parker*
No. 85 Aaron Pass
No. 91 Adriano Salgado*
No. 93 Venn Johns
No. 95 River Stephenson*
No. 95 Davi Henrique dos Santos
No. 95 Tyler Congleton*
No. 95 Nate Hoey*
No. 101 Thor Hoefer
No. 108 Gage Gay
No. 115 Ross Freeman*
No. 120 Justin Houston*
No. 126 Mason Ward*
No. 130 Flavio Vinicius da Silva*
No. 141 Laramie Craigen*
No. 143 Andy Guzman*
No. 179 Riley Gagnon*
No. 184 Alex Santana
No. 184 Junio Quaresima
No. 184 Santiago Castellanos*
No. 184 Alex Guzman*
No. 184 Marco Juarez*
Aaron Williams*
As of Thursday, Sacramento will see 19 riders making their premier series debut as a result of the expanded field of competition.
LEME’S PURSUIT OF 90-POINT RIDE RECORD
World No. 1 Leme is tied with Cody Hart for the most 90-point rides in a single season after Hart posted 16 during his 1999 World Championship season.
Leme will attempt to break the record Friday night in Round 1 against 4B Special (1-1, UTB). Dener Barbosa rode 4B Special for 84.25 points in Las Vegas this past June.
Leme has a 410.5-point lead on No. 2 Kaique Pacheco heading into Sacramento.
LAST COWBOY STANDING SHOW CONTESTANTS LOOK TO IMPRESS
Last weekend, Thiago Salgado made a big splash on the Unleash The Beast with a second-place finish. Now there will be three additional riders who were competitors alongside Salgado during the filming of the upcoming Last Cowboy Standing docuseries making their premier series debuts: Riley Gagnon, Andy Guzman and Marco Juarez.
Guzman and Juarez were the two youngest competitors selected to be a part of the series, and both won state titles during the show.
In June, Guzman capped off his senior year of high school by winning the California High School Rodeo Association’s bull riding state title by going 2-for-3 in the finals. He would win Round 1 of the National High School Finals Rodeo and finish 10th overall in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Guzman is 2-for-16 at non-premier series PBR events since debuting in March. He has drawn WSM’s Foghorn Leghorn (12-7, UTB) for Round 1 in Sacramento.
It will be a special weekend for Guzman as his older brother, Alex, is also set to make his PBR premier series debut. Alex has drawn Classic Man (12-1, UTB/METC).
Aaron Williams, who is also making his UTB debut, and Alex Santana are the other two home-state cowboys competing in California at the Golden 1 Center this weekend. Williams, 25, has drawn Pearl Pistol (2-0, UTB), and Santana takes on Javelina (0-0, UTB). Santana debuted last year at Iron Cowboy in Los Angeles.
Juarez won the New Mexico High School Rodeo Association bull riding state title by tying for the event average victory after winning two of the three rounds at the state finals in Lovington, New Mexico. He then placed sixth at the National High School Finals Rodeo.
Juarez committed to Mesalands College Rodeo Team in July. He will look for his first qualified ride in the PBR at any level (0-for-8) against Nickey Dash (1-2, UTB).
Another 18-year-old making his UTB debut is Bob Mitchell. The Steelville, Missouri, native is 10-for-30 (30%) in his first year as a professional. Mitchell, the 2020 United Rodeo Association bull riding champion, has drawn TJ Chavez (0-0, UTB).
Gagnon is no stranger to PBR Canada fans after competing north of the border for the past two seasons. The 21-year-old moved to Texas this year and is 1-for-8 in five PBR events. Gagnon is 7-for-40 (17%) in his PBR career. The Innisfail, Alberta, native actually broke his neck while attending the PBR Academy a few years ago at PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert’s ranch.
Speaking of Salgado, Thiago’s brother Adriano Salgado is set to make his debut on the premier series this weekend. Earlier this year, the brothers were reunited in March after being separated for a year.
Adriano, 23, arrived in the United States in early 2019 but returned to Brazil in June of that year. He became Iron Cowboy champion in Americana and competing for the rest of the season there, finishing in 16th place in the PBR Brazil standings.
Thiago then made the journey to the U.S. in January 2020 with his brother. After three events, Adriano returned to Brazil to stay with his family and son, Henry Gabriel, once the COVID-19 pandemic started, while Thiago decided to remain in the United States until he could start competing in the PBR this past January.
Adriano has drawn Regulator (0-0, UTB), while Thiago will take on Delbert Sr. (2-3, UTB).
Fellow Brazilian native Flavio Vinicius da Silva is debuting against WSM’s Hammerhead Blu (18-2). The 33-year-old decided to pick up the sport after watching three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes.
HOEY HEADS TO SACRAMENTO FOLLOWING WIN IN STERLING, COLORADO; PLENTY OF SECOND-GENERATION BULL RIDERS IN SAC
Nate Hoey will make his debut after going 2-for-2 to win the Nextera PBR Touring Pro Division event on Tuesday night in Sterling, Colorado. The 22-year-old had bucked off his first nine bulls of competition since appearing at his first non-premier series event on June 5 in Great Falls, Montana.
The Montrose, Colorado, native’s dad and uncle were bull riders, and his mother and aunt ran barrels. Hoey attended Lamar Community College, where he majored in welding fabrication, and qualified for the 2018 College National Finals Rodeo.
Hoey will face Redginator (0-0, UTB) in Round 1.
Rounding out the Top 5 in Sterling were Cole Skender (2-for-2, 166.5 points), Jake Morinec (2-for-2, 158.5 points), Mason Ward (1-for-2, 85.5 points) and Joseph McConnel (1-for-2, 85 points).
Skender finished second at the College National Finals Rodeo (2-for-4), and Ward (1-for-4) finished 10th.
Skender has drawn Top Gun (0-0, UTB) for Round 1, while Ward, who competed for Southeastern Oklahoma State University, will make his UTB debut against Black Ice (0-0, UTB) after learning Thursday morning he had a draw spot.
Ward’s father is Mark Ward – a four-time PBR World Finals qualifier and stock contractor.
Justin Houston also has strong roots in rodeo. His father, John, was a bull rider, and his mom Stacy, uncles Mike Houston and Sam Storts, grandmother Melody Storts, and grandfathers Jerry Storts and Chum Summers were all competitive rodeo athletes in riding, racing and roping, per Oregonfamilyfarm.com.
Houston, 22, has bucked off 15 consecutive bulls heading into his matchup against Counting Cards (2-3, UTB).
D.J. Parker and Ross Freeman also are the sons of bull riders. Parker will make his debut vs. Muddy Jacket (2-0, UTB). The 26-year-old is 10-for-30 in his first PBR season, including a pair of second-place finishes this summer at TPD events.
Freeman, who is from the same town as 2012 PRCA champion Cody Teel (Kountze, Texas), takes on Ghost of Oscar (1-0, UTB). The 22-year-old posted a career-best fifth-place finish at last weekend’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour stop in Memphis, Tennessee.
Fellow Texan Laramie Craigen, 22, debuts in Sacramento against Mr. Winston (8-5, UTB). Craigen is the 2016 Backyard Bull Riders champion, a title that 2020 World Finals event winner Boudreaux Campbell won in 2015 and two-time PBR World Finals qualifier Ezekiel Mitchell took home in 2017.
SUMMER WINNERS LOOK FOR NEXT JUMP
Casey Coulter (Deadwood, South Dakota), River Stephenson (Binford, North Dakota) and Tyler Congleton (Estero, Florida) all picked up summer Touring Pro Division victories. The trio will now be looking to make a splash in their UTB debuts.
Coulter, 31, has drawn Mr. Clean (16-1, UTB/METC).
Stephenson, 24, faces Cheii Swagger (0-1, UTB).
Congleton, 24, has never competed at a PBR event outside of the last five annual bull ridings in Estero. He takes on Whiskey Bent (20-9, UTB).
Dalton Rudman may not have won the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo, but the Utah native flashed his talent with a 90.5-point effort on Angel’s Landing. The 26-year-old makes his premier series debut against Bad Brad (11-4, UTB/METC).
CASTELLANOS FIRST MEXICAN NATIVE TO REACH UTB IN ALMOST 2 YEARS
Santiago Castellanos is the first Mexican native to appear on the Unleash The Beast since two-time PBR Mexico champion Gustavo Pedrero competed in Greensboro, North Carolina, in October 2019. Castellanos is 8-for-47 in his PBR career. The 29-year-old has drawn Montana Moon (2-1, UTB) for Round 1.
HELLO OLD FRIENDS
Four previous PBR World Finals qualifiers are making their UTB season debuts – 2011 Rookie of the Year Rubens Barbosa, five-time World Finals qualifier Gage Gay, 2019 finalist Junio Quaresima and 2012 PBR Brazil invite to the World Finals Davi Henrique dos Santos.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
