SALT LAKE CITY – When Kyler Oliver was cut from the Unleash The Beast, he had one thought: making it back on tour for his home-state event, the PBR Salt Lake City.
It was a rocky start to the 2024 season for the 24-year-old from Roy, Utah, just 30 miles north of Salt Lake City. He went 1-for-7 in his first three events before falling victim to the cutline in the last days of 2023.
“It’s been a struggle the past little while,” Oliver said. “I guess it was good for me – kind of gave me the drive again. Got on a little bit easier bulls, too, to kind of get some confidence.
“(I was) a little bit mad. You want to blame other people and make excuses, and then it’s kind of just accepting it and going and making the most of your opportunities. Because I still get to ride bulls, still get to travel, and I get to take my family pretty much everywhere with me. I’ve got a little girl and a fiancée, so we travel in a van everywhere. I’m just grateful that I get to do this, and I had to remember that, and it started showing up in my riding that I was having fun again.”
It took all of two Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour events for Oliver to win his way back to the premier series, when he was victorious at the PBR Spokane last month.
“It’s just changing the mindset,” he said. “I went from being kind of mad about things that I couldn’t control, but I wanted to be better, and just realizing it is what it is. All I can do is ride my bulls, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
He didn’t change much besides his mindset, besides part of his wardrobe.
“I changed my chaps,” Oliver said with a chuckle, gesturing down at his new white duds. “I was falling off, and I was like, ‘I’ve got some I’ve never worn,’ just because they’re white and they’re hard to keep clean. I was like, ‘I’m going to crack out a new pair of chaps and see if something changes.’ And I stayed on, and I was like, you know what? A little bit of luck.”
Oliver was lucky enough to get back on tour exactly when he wanted to and was back in the premier series draw for the PBR Salt Lake City.
Not only was he in the draw, he went 2-for-3 for a fourth-place finish. Starting the event at No. 45 in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings, he’s now ranked No. 39.
Oliver began his weekend with 83 points on High Plains Drifter and then rode Cocky for 80.75 points in Round 2.
“Man, he got me out of position a few times, real bad there at the end, and it was do or die right there,” Oliver said of his Round 2 ride. “I was like, ‘Man.’ I just really, really wanted to stay on in front of everybody here, my family and everything like that. It kind of gave me extra motivation to really bear down that last second and get it done. It’s cool to have everybody here and be at home and ride. It’s fun.”
On CBS Sports Network, 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis tipped his cap to Oliver for his gritty effort.
“Not just a great, special bull ride,” Davis said, “but it means more to him than 80.75 points, I guarantee you that.”
A grinning Oliver agreed with that sentiment.
“It’s been a struggle the past little while,” he said. “I guess (being cut) was good for me – kind of gave me the drive again. Got on a little bit easier bulls, too – kind of get some confidence. And yeah, just to get two in a row here means way more than 80. That was a 90-point effort in my head. It’s nice to get the ball rolling. It feels way better than when you’re on a cold streak and you’re questioning everything. Now it’s just fun again.”
It was especially fun because Oliver had 20-30 friends and family members in the stands at Delta Center. His uncle pulled his bull rope on Championship Saturday, and his grandpa was also on the back of the chutes. Also watching in person were his fiancée and daughter, his mother, another uncle, aunts, cousins, neighbors and friends. He got 15 tickets for his family but knows more people came than he thought would.
Having so many people there to watch him upped the stakes and added some pressure.
“I’ve been fine since I’ve been in the arena, but the day before it started, at home, I was getting anxious and had to go do stuff to keep my mind off bull riding, not even think about bull riding,” Oliver said. “I wanted to be here, so I worked so hard to get back on tour for this event specifically, that I wanted it to go well. You don’t want to screw it up, getting here, so I’ve just been trying to keep my mind off of it.”
Despite the added stress, Oliver enjoyed every second of his home-dirt advantage.
“Oh man, it’s the best,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to have everybody cheering for me. It’s louder than I’ve ever heard anywhere before, even when I’ve won events. I mean, shoot, everything about it’s just really special to me, and I probably won’t ever forget this event.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
