07.26.22 - Teams
Scoreless game between Oklahoma Freedom and Kansas City Outlaws ends in first tie in PBR Team Series competition
Neither team was able to make the 8-second whistle on the first night of competition in Cheyenne.
By Kacie Albert
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – As the inaugural season for the groundbreaking PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Team Series got underway Monday evening in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the world’s best bull riders made history at the iconic Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, squaring off in the first of four games for the new sports league.
The evening was highlighted by a slugfest between the Nashville Stampede and Carolina Cowboys. In a game where 70% of the outs ended in qualified rides, veteran rider Ryan Dirteater delivered the game-winning score, emerging from retirement to give the Stampede its first regular-season victory.
The Missouri Thunder earned their position in the league’s record books, registering the first game win in the PBR Team Series, edging the Ariat Texas Rattlers by one ride score. The final game of the evening between the Arizona Ridge Riders and Austin Gamblers was also decided by one score, with the Ridge Riders collecting the victory to bring the evening to a climactic end.
Also making history, the contest between the Oklahoma Freedom and the Kansas City Outlaws ended in the league’s first tie, as neither five-rider roster was able to log a qualified ride.
The PBR Teams Series: Cheyenne event continues Tuesday, July 26 at 7:45 p.m. MDT.
CBS Sports Network will televise all the action from the second day of action for the PBR Team Series season debut in Cheyenne, Wyoming, LIVE, with coverage beginning at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 26. CBS Sports will also air a one-hour highlight show from the season-launch PBR Team Series event on Sunday, July 31, at 1 p.m. ET.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer replays of all the PBR Team Series action from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Check https://pluto.tv/en/live-tv/pbr-ridepass for the latest programming schedule.
Oklahoma Freedom: 0.00
Kansas City Outlaws: 0.00
As the Oklahoma Freedom and Kansas City Outlaws readied to go head-to-head in the third game of the evening at the world’s largest outdoor rodeo, fans were struck by two very different, and very apparent, coaching approaches to setting a lineup. While Kansas City Outlaws Head Coach J.W. Hart elected to put his heavy-hitter and first-round draft pick Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) as the Outlaws’ final rider, the Freedom’s Head Coach Cord McCoy slated his top pick, Eli Vastbinder (Statesville, North Carolina), first in the draw for the Sooner State team.
However, despite the different approaches to the game, neither roster could solve 10 very rank bulls for a single qualified ride, and the contest ended in the first-ever PBR Team Series tie, 0-0, with no rider from either roster reaching the requisite 8. Both teams will look to reverse their fortunes on the second day of PBR Team Series action in Cheyenne, as the Freedom face the Austin Gamblers and the Outlaws take on the Ariat Texas Rattlers.