NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – As the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event in North Little Rock, Arkansas, got underway Friday night, Koltin Hevalow (Smithville, Missouri) rode a cut above the rest, winning Round 1 and surging to an early event lead at PBR Little Rock.

Hevalow, who rides for the Kansas City Outlaws in the separate PBR Teams league, was tasked with Woody (Flinn Cattle Co.) as the premier series event got underway. Nodding confidently, Hevalow burst from the chutes, remaining in perfect time with the powerful animal athlete. Reaching the requisite 8 with ease, Hevalow was marked an unrivaled 87.75 points, cementing the round win.

Hevalow garnered 28 Unleash The Beast points for the top mark. He rose one spot in the race for the 2024 PBR World Championship, climbing from No. 6 to No. 5. He is now within 420.33 points of his Outlaws teammate, No. 1 Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil).

Dias extended his lead atop the standings as he finished eighth in Round 1, coupled with a buckoff from No. 2 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas). Dias earned 12 Unleash The Beast points for his 83-point effort aboard T-Wrecks (D4 Cattle Co./Double F Ranch), while Crimber was tossed by Man Eater (Halpain Bucking Bulls/Jane Clark/Gene Owen) in 3.71 seconds and is now 276.5 points behind Dias.

Returning to the top of the event standings, the Florida Freedom’s Thiago Salgado (Navirai, Brazil) was second via an 87.25-point ride aboard Cracker Jack (Ogden Ranch/Hart Cattle Co.), netting 18 Unleash The Beast points.

In the heated battle for this season’s world title, Salgado rose from No. 51 to No. 46.

Third was the Arizona Ridge Riders’ Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil).

The veteran Brazilian covered Thunderstruck (L5 Risen Bucking Bulls/Rock Solid Bucking Bulls) for 87 points to collect 17 Unleash The Beast points.

Topping Double 00 Buck (Diamond L Cattle) for 86.75 points, Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) was fourth. Whitehorse, who also rides for the Arizona Ridge Riders, collected 16 Unleash The Beast points, remaining No. 23 in the standings.

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas).

Mitchell bested Spendin’ Cash (Kelly & Cami Heath/McCoy Rodeo) for 86 points to net a critical 15 Unleash The Beast points. The Austin Gamblers rider rose from No. 42 to No. 39 in the standings.

Action for the 2024 PBR Little Rock, the sixteenth event of the 24-event 2024 Unleash The Beast season, will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Saturday, March 16. Action gets underway at 6:45 p.m. CDT.

PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.

PBR Unleash The Beast PBR Little Rock Simmons Bank Arena – North Little Rock, Arkansas Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points) 1. Koltin Hevalow, 87.75-0-0-87.75-28 Points. 2. Thiago Salgado, 87.25-0-0-87.25-18 Points. 3. Eduardo Aparecido, 87-0-0-87.00-17 Points. 4. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 86.75-0-0-86.75-16 Points. 5. Ezekiel Mitchell, 86-0-0-86.00-15 Points. 6. João Ricardo Vieira, 85.5-0-0-85.50-14 Points. 7. Kaiden Loud, 84-0-0-84.00-13 Points. 8. Cassio Dias, 83-0-0-83.00-12 Points. 9. Alan de Souza, 78.5-0-0-78.50-10 Points. John Crimber, 0-0-0-0.00 Dalton Kasel, 0-0-0-0.00 Caden Bunch, 0-0-0-0.00 Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0.00 Julio Cesar Marques, 0-0-0-0.00 Wingson Henrique da Silva, 0-0-0-0.00 Leonardo Castro, 0-0-0-0.00 Alex Cerqueira, 0-0-0-0.00 Felipe Furlan, 0-0-0-0.00 Ednélio Almeida, 0-0-0-0.00 Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0.00 Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00 Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00 Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 0-0-0-0.00 Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00 Jesse Petri, 0-0-0-0.00 Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0.00 Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0.00 Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00 Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0.00 Marco Rizzo, 0-0-0-0.00 Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00 Kyler Oliver, 0-0-0-0.00 Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0-0.00 Marco Eguchi, 0-0-0-0.00 Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00 Hunter Ball, 0-0-0-0.00 João Paulo Fernandes, 0-0-0-0.00

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media