BILLINGS, Mont. – While the top two riders in the world faltered as the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast (UTB) Wrangler PBR Billings, presented by Cooper Tires, opened a three-day event on Friday night in Billings, Montana, Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil) emerged victorious, winning Round 1.
The 33-year-old veteran, who rides for the Arizona Ridge Riders in the separate PBR Team Series, was paired with Snap Wild Card (Blake Sharp/ UB Bucking Bulls) for Round 1.
Launching from the chutes aboard his bovine matchup, Aparecido was one of only seven men out of a field of 37 to record a qualified ride as the animal athletes had their extreme power on full display in Montana.
With a standout 88.5-point ride, he earned 28 Unleash The Beast points.
Sitting atop the leaderboard heading into Saturday, Aparecido holds tight to the No. 4 spot in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings.
The three-day event at First Interstate Arena at MetraPark marks the 29th time the elite tour has visited Billings and the 20th Unleash The Beast event of the 2024 season. With just three events remaining before the 2024 PBR World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning on May 9, the hunt for world points is hotter than ever.
As the clock winds down on the 2024 season, the top two riders in the world had a rough go of it on the opening night in Billings, while No. 3 ranked Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) sits out for the weekend to rest from aggravated pre-existing injuries.
Now sitting 580.5 points behind world leader Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil), John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) held tight to the No. 2 spot in the standings despite a frustrating buckoff by Cracker Jack (Ogden Ranch/ Hart Cattle Co) in 3.6 seconds.
Dias, who earned his sixth event victory of the season last week in Sioux Falls, had his night ended abruptly when Gucci (Blake Sharp/ Bull Mamas/ UB Bucking Co) tossed him to the ground after 6.12 seconds.
Missouri Thunder man Paulo Eduardo Rossetto (Colorado, Brazil) was on fire in Billings, capturing second place in Round 1.
Rossetto fired from the chutes aboard Let’s Roll (Stoltzfus/Bob & Jerry Adams/ BS Cattle Co) for 88.25 points.
For his runner-up finish, the 26-year-old earned 18 Unleash The Beast points to climb three spots in the standings from No. 34 to No. 31.
Rossetto’s Missouri Thunder teammate Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas) also moved up three spots in the standings after a third-place finish.
The steadfast 27-year-old stood on the back of the chutes laser-focused on the task ahead.
Climbing aboard Mr. Nasty (Blake Sharp/ Koe Wetzel/ Cody O’Neil), the Texas cowboy was ranked No. 42 in the world.
After flying through the air aboard the bovine as fans cheered, his 86.75-point ride earned him 17 Unleash The Beast points and moved to No. 39 in the standings.
Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia) ended his Friday night as the No. 4 man on the Billings leaderboard.
Climbing aboard Buffalo Chip (Blake Sharp/ Robbie Ray/ Doug Wilson) as his bovine opponent of the night, the Texas Rattler matched the muscular animal as the clock wound down to record an 84.25-point score.
The 16 Unleash The Beast points Fielder collected moved him from No. 10 to No. 9.
Conner Halverson (Gordon, Nebraska), who will ride for the Florida Freedom during the upcoming PBR Team Series, rounded out the Top 5 on the opening night.
After going 1-for-3 in Sioux Falls to finish tenth last week, Halverson was matched with Wild Fire (Blake Sharp) for his first partner of the weekend.
For his solid 84-point score, Halverson netted 15 Unleash The Beast points to climb from No. 30 to No. 29 in the Unleash The Beast World Championship standings.
The Wrangler PBR Billings, presented by Cooper Tires, continues with Round 2 on Saturday, April 13, at 6:45 p.m. MT. Round 3 and the championship round will take place on Sunday, April 14, at 1:45 p.m. MT.
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– Wrangler PBR Billings First Interstate Arena at MetraPark -Billings, Montana Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points) 1. Eduardo Aparecido, 88.5-0-0-0-88.50-28 Points. 2. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 88.25-0-0-0-88.25-18 Points. 3. Andrew Alvidrez, 86.75-0-0-0-86.75-17 Points. 4. Brady Fielder, 84.25-0-0-0-84.25-16 Points. 5. Conner Halverson, 84-0-0-0-84.00-15 Points. 6. Wyatt Rogers, 83.75-0-0-0-83.75-14 Points. 7. Leonardo Castro, 83.5-0-0-0-83.50-13 Points. Cassio Dias, 0-0-0-0-0.00 John Crimber, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Alan de Souza, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Koltin Hevalow, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Julio Cesar Marques, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Kaiden Loud, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Cort McFadden, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Felipe Furlan, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Vitor Losnake, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Alex Cerqueira, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Ednélio Almeida, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Sage Steele Kimzey, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Marco Rizzo, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Dawson Branton, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Daniel Keeping, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Ben Bode, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Alvaro Ariel, 0-0-0-0-0.00 Joao de Castro, 0-0-0-0-0.00 2024 Professional Bull Riders Unleash The Beast Standings (Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5's, Points) 1. Cassio Dias, 20, 6, 8, 1,365.33 2. John Crimber, 18, 1, 7, 784.83 3. Dalton Kasel, 17, 1, 7, 776.00 4. Eduardo Aparecido, 18, 1, 4, 727.00 5. Alan de Souza, 18, 0, 5, 613.50 6. Koltin Hevalow, 21, 1, 6, 541.50 7. Austin Richardson, 8, 2, 3, 533.50 8. João Ricardo Vieira, 16, 1, 4, 491.00 9. Brady Fielder, 20, 2, 5, 441.66 10. Caden Bunch, 17, 2, 3, 430.83 11. Kaique Pacheco, 14, 0, 3, 389.33 12. Julio Cesar Marques, 20, 0, 3, 358.32 13. Cody Jesus, 12, 0, 3, 327.00 14. Thiago Salgado, 11, 1, 2, 326.00 15. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 14, 0, 3, 296.66 16. Leonardo Castro, 9, 1, 1, 290.50 17. Kaiden Loud, 18, 0, 2, 278.50 18. Cort McFadden, 13, 0, 2, 276.00 19. Wingson Henrique da Silva, 15, 1, 3, 272.83 20. Daylon Swearingen, 19, 0, 1, 265.50 21. Felipe Furlan, 17, 0, 2, 256.00 22. Vitor Losnake, 17, 0, 2, 252.50 23. Alex Cerqueira, 19, 0, 2, 245.00 24. Clay Guiton, 10, 0, 3, 238.66 25. Boudreaux Campbell, 18, 0, 1, 217.00 26. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 17, 0, 0, 206.00 27. Jose Vitor Leme, 6, 0, 1, 200.00 28. Bob Mitchell, 20, 0, 1, 196.00 29. Conner Halverson, 19, 0, 1, 180.50 30. Ednélio Almeida, 19, 0, 2, 177.00 31. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 20, 0, 1, 162.50 32. Sage Steele Kimzey, 9, 0, 1, 161.00 33. Jesse Petri, 17, 0, 0, 153.50 34. Marco Rizzo, 7, 0, 2, 147.83 35. Luciano De Castro, 14, 0, 0, 137.33 36. Wyatt Rogers, 13, 0, 1, 134.50 37. Ezekiel Mitchell, 13, 0, 1, 125.50 38. Callum Miller, 10, 0, 1, 115.00 39. Andrew Alvidrez, 10, 0, 1, 113.33 40. Silvano Alves, 15, 0, 0, 112.50 41. Eli Vastbinder, 15, 0, 0, 105.83 42. Mason Taylor, 9, 0, 0, 100.00 43. Braidy Randolph, 5, 0, 0, 92.50 44. JaCauy Hale, 2, 0, 0, 81.00 45. Kyler Oliver, 7, 0, 1, 72.33
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media