Charleston, W. Va. – As the dirt settled after the opening round of the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour’s PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Charleston, brought to you by Oglebay Resort, at the Charleston Civic Center, Marco Eguchi (Poa, Brazil) sat alone atop the leaderboard.

The veteran rocketed out of the gate aboard Prime Tested (Blake Sharp/Koe Wetzel/Travis Austin/Henry Wilson) for 86.5 points to win Round 1.

The Brazilian is now 3-of-4 to start his 2024 season, and he rose to11th in the early Velocity Tour standings, netting 28 Velocity Global points with the round win.

Marco Rizzo (Quitman, Georgia) and Leandro Machado (Nova Esperanca, Brazil) remain tied for the last spot on the podium after posting matching marks Friday night.

Paired with Matthew (C-B Bucking Bulls) in the first round, Machado rose to the challenge and covered the powerful bovine competitor for 85.5 points.

Not to be outdone, Rizzo thundered out of the chutes on Blue Suede Shoes (Lucas Manning Bucking Bulls) for 85.5 points of his own later in the evening.

In fourth place sits Casey Roberts (Mumford, Alabama).

A member of the Florida Freedom in the separate PBR Teams league, Roberts recorded his first ride of 2024 on Copenhagen Wild Smile (Blake Sharp/Michael Floyd) for 83.5 points in Round 1.

Brandon Chambers (Newport, North Carolina) rounds out the Top 5.

After finishing inside the Top 20 at the Denver PBR Chute Out earlier this week, the veteran cowboy got off to another strong start in Charleston, topping Atomic Thunder Chicken (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 80.5 points.

Also of note was veteran Ramon de Lima (Rio Branco, Brazil), who finished sixth courtesy of his 80-point outing on Duchess of Earl (J Bar W).

Two other cowboys made the 8 to close out the eight qualified rides in Round 1, as Dakota Warnken (Wakarusa, Indiana) and Tyler Manor (Portland, Indiana) both bested their animal athlete opponents.

PBR Charleston concludes tomorrow, Saturday, January 12, with Round 2 and the championship round beginning at 7 p.m. EST.

PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour PBR Charleston, brought to you by Oglebay Resort Charleston Civic Center – Charleston, West Virginia Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points) 1. Marco Eguchi, 86.5-0-0-86.50-28 Points. 2. Marco Rizzo, 85.5-0-0-85.50-17.5 Points. (tie). Leandro Machado, 85.5-0-0-85.50-17.5 Points. 4. Casey Roberts, 83.5-0-0-83.50-16 Points. 5. Brandon Chambers, 80.5-0-0-80.50-15 Points. 6. Ramon de Lima, 80-0-0-80.00-14 Points. 7. Dakota Warnken, 79-0-0-79.00-5 Points. 8. Tyler Manor, 76.5-0-0-76.50-4 Points. Hunter Ball [1], 0-0-0-0.00 Hunter Ball [2], 0-0-0-0.00 Cody McCandless, 0-0-0-0.00 Chad Hartman, 0-0-0-0.00 Zane Cook, 0-0-0-0.00 Dustin Herman, 0-0-0-0.00 Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0.00 Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0.00 Grayson Cole, 0-0-0-0.00 Dylan Smith, 0-0-0-0.00 Matt Allgood, 0-0-0-0.00 Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00 Weston Davidson, 0-0-0-0.00 Alex Jenks, 0-0-0-0.00 João Paulo Fernandes, 0-0-0-0.00 Eder Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00 Alvin Detweiler, 0-0-0-0.00 Gabriel Morais, 0-0-0-0.00 Jake Maher, 0-0-0-0.00 Michael Phillips, 0-0-0-0.00 Ashton Sahli, 0-0-0-0.00 Tyler Craig, 0-0-0-0.00 Jean Fernandes Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00 Cole Trivette, 0-0-0-0.00 Eli Byler, 0-0-0-0.00 Will Loomis, 0-0-0-0.00 Leandro Aparecido da Silva, 0-0-0-0.00

Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media