DULUTH, Ga. – It was only four days after the 2021 PBR World Finals when Daylon Swearingen packed his bags and made the frigid trek to our friendly neighbors north of the border.
Swearingen had received an invitation to compete at the 2021 PBR Canada Finals courtesy of his 2019 PBR Canada championship, and he felt the need to get right back on the grind following a 1-for-5 performance at the World Finals.
The 22-year-old did just that and became just the second rider in PBR history to win the PBR Canada Finals year-end event title.
“I definitely didn’t have the (World) Finals I wanted, so I was grateful they gave me the opportunity to go up to Canada and keep going,” Swearingen said. “It definitely helped. I have been performing and riding the good ones, but I just have to up my performance. I like to be getting on bulls and staying in bull-riding shape. I haven’t been on a lot, but I have been getting on some.
“With this new season, there is not a lot of time to be fixing stuff, so I wanted to get it all worked out.”
Swearingen was a fierce competitor in the days leading up to the Unleash The Beast season-opener, riding at four PBR events and rising to the No. 1 ranking in the world to begin the new year. He then kept his momentum rolling with a victory at the WCRA Cowtown Christmas Championship Rodeo on Dec. 15 and, 24 hours before he competed in Indianapolis on Jan. 1, placed third at the Cowtown Classic in Fort Worth.
The Piffard, New York, native’s commitment to not beginning the year rusty finally paid off this past weekend at the PBR Gwinnett Invitational. Swearingen went a perfect 3-for-3, highlighted by a 90.75-point ride aboard Montana Jacket, to finish a season-best second overall.
“I remember seeing Eli (Vastbinder) get on that bull in the short round in Vegas, and it was a really good bull,” Swearingen said. “He kind of pulled me down, and I had to sit back up and spur him to move over one jump to get through there.”
Swearingen will head into next weekend’s crucial three-day PBR Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic, presented by Bass Bro Shops, third in the world standings. He trails No. 1 Joao Ricardo Vieira by 79.34 points.
It is Swearingen’s best placing since a second-place effort in Lincoln, Nebraska, on October 3, 2020, which was the last time he rode three bulls at one premier series event.
Swearingen missed the first five months of last season due to reconstructive surgeries on his right shoulder and hip.
“I just need to keep working on the mobility in my shoulder,” Swearingen said in Duluth. “(Some bulls) have been kind of pulling me down a little bit, and I am going to go back and look at what is going on there. Today, it was hard to get my shoulder up, and it was really tight today. I just have to get it loosened up.”
Here are some noteworthy stats following Duluth.
13: Swearingen leads all riders in the PBR with 13 qualified rides in a PBR-high 20 outs at all levels of competition. On the premier series, Swearingen is 6-for-10.
30: Marcelo Procopio Pereira earned his first UTB win with a career-high 91.75 points aboard Chiseled. The 26-year-old is in his second full season in the United States, and he looks poised to improve his riding percentage of 30% from his rookie campaign.
80: Joao Ricardo Vieira’s weekend ended with two buckoffs in Duluth, lowering his riding percentage to 80%. Of course, Vieira will not be finishing 2022 with an 80% riding average, but it will be interesting to see if he can surpass his career-best of 49.21% from two years ago. Vieira has a career riding percentage of 45.31% on the premier series.
2: Austin Richardson won the second UTB round of his career with his 88.75-point ride on Danny Boy. The 21-year-old’s last round win came on August 21, 2021, in Nashville (91.75 points on Medicine Man).
46: How important was Brennon Eldred’s Round 1 win in Duluth? Eldred’s 90.75-point ride on Gangster Bones propelled him to a fifth-place finish and 46 world points. After beginning the weekend unranked in the world standings, Eldred had only one injury exemption from last season remaining. He looks to have done just enough to get another UTB crack in Sacramento as his 46 world points rocketed him to the No. 29 world ranking.
2: Event winners this season have failed to build momentum. Mason Taylor, Kyler Oliver and Stetson Lawrence went a combined 2-for-8 (25%) in the week following their respective 2022 UTB event wins.
3: Duluth was the third consecutive event in which the rider entering the championship round in the lead failed to win the event. Andrew Alvidrez (New York), Cole Melancon (Chicago) and Chase Dougherty (Duluth) all had the No. 1 pick in the draft but failed to ride their selection for a qualified ride, let alone an event victory.
46.5: Woopaa made a resounding statement that he is ready to go this year. He scored 46.5 points Sunday afternoon when he slammed the door shut on Chase Dougherty’s attempt to win his first premier series event in 3.21 seconds during the championship round of the PBR Gwinnett Invitational. Last season, Woopaa did not score 46.5 points or higher until his third out.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media