ANAHEIM, Calif. – A battle of two first-place unbeatens and the surprising shutout of a high-flying team highlighted the start of the second and final neutral site event for the inaugural 2022 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Team Series season, Friday night in Anaheim.
After a homestand upset just one week ago, the Kansas City Outlaws recovered with an energetic shutout against the Carolina Cowboys as the third event of the 2022 PBR Team Series season began.
In a battle down to the final two rides, the Oklahoma Freedom edged the Ariat Texas Rattlers with a game-ending score from rookie Casey Roberts, recording the team’s second win of the season.
Led by two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme dominating a great bull, the Austin Gamblers surged to the top of the weekend event standings with a two-ride victory over the Nashville Stampede.
Channeling their winning moves from the inaugural PBR Team Series event in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Missouri Thunder reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the 2022 Team standings after dominating the Arizona Ridge Riders in a landslide game.
The PBR Team Series event from Anaheim continues Saturday, August 13 at 6:45 p.m. P.T. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at the box office or online at PBR.com, or by calling PBR customer service at 1-800-732-1727.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer replays of all the PBR Team Series action from Anaheim. Fans can also tune in to a special doubleheader of the CBS Game of the Week on Sunday, August 14 at 1:30 pm ET (check local listings). Click here for the latest programming schedule.
Missouri Thunder: 169.5
Arizona Ridge Riders: 0
In a battle of the league’s two top teams in Friday night’s final game in Anaheim, the high-flying Arizona Ridge Riders, just one week following their event victory in Kansas City, were shut out by the athletic animal athletes of the PBR, allowing the Missouri Thunder to sail to their fifth game win of the season.
As the game began, Missouri’s fifth-round draft pick Jesse Petri (Dublin, Texas) was paired with WSM’s Time in a Bottle (WSM Auctioneers/ Clay Struve/ Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) but came down quickly after a mere 3.4 seconds.
Following suit, despite his best efforts and ritual pre-game milkshake, Alisson De Souza (Taubate, Sao Paulo, Brazil) was no match for Big Heart (Leffew Bucking Bulls), thrown over the front end of the bull then taking two hard shots.
Despite the energy of the crowd, neither team made a notch on the scoreboard in the second frame. As the team’s third matchup of the night, 2012 PRCA World Champion Cody Teel (College Station, Texas) put the Thunder on the board as he confidently rode Money (Culp Bucking Bulls/ Zapata/ Mendes) for 84.25 points.
On the heels of buck offs from Arizona’s Sandro Batista (Pedra Preta, Brazil), Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) and Missouri’s Clayton Sellars (Fruitland Park, Florida), the competition heightened.
Missouri’s intense co-coach Ross Coleman climbed on the chutes above the team’s last rider of the night, Colten Fritzlan (Rifle, Colorado) to implore him to “stay in the middle.”
The first-round draft pick and young gun nodded his head and did just that to clinch the win with 82.25 points aboard Orca (Yount Bucking Bulls LLC).
The Ridge Riders’ fate of putting at least one score on the board, which came into Anaheim with the league’s highest riding percentage (44%), rested in the hands of first-round draft pick Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil), who was knocked to the ground after 3.10 seconds, leaving the team with no qualified rides and their second loss of the season.
When the PBR Team Series Anaheim event continues Saturday, the Ridge Riders (4-2) will look to rebound against the Ariat Texas Rattlers (1-5), while the Missouri Thunder (5-1) will look to continue their winning ways when they play the Carolina Cowboys (3-3).
“ This is all brand new to all of us,” said Missouri Thunder Co-Coach Ross Coleman. “To be in first place is a very humbling experience. We won tonight but we learned a lot. That’s the name of the game. Keep on learning and keep on winning.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media