PUEBLO, Colo. – Had rookie cowboy Marco Rizzo not suffered quite the brutal lower-body injury back in April, he would’ve found himself competing alongside good friend John Crimber and 40-some other cowboys during the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast.
Managing a No. 41 finish during his first season on tour, despite participating in just seven premier series events, he proved that he has what it takes to compete amongst the most talented pack of riders in the industry.
“It was pretty cool (making that run). I started hitting the Velocity events and my main goal was really just to make the Velocity Finals and then I kind of got bumped up and had some success. It was like an eye-opener for me and it really boosted my confidence when I did good at some of those UTBs. It reminded me that I can be there and I have what it takes,” Rizzo said.
“It also really boosted my confidence for the Team Series because I feel like if you put me on some of those bulls, I can do good and really help my team out because I’ve kind of proven to myself that I can ride some of those bulls that they haul. It was a cool deal and a dream come true, for sure.”
So, obviously, it was a bummer to be watching on instead of competing against said group of top-tier talent in Fort Worth and Arlington, Texas, back in May.
But sitting on the sidelines alongside another good pal in Clay Guiton helped a bit. As did some of the veterans who helped the youngster make the spring showdown a learning experience.
“Several guys helped teach me what to do when I’m hurt, because that’s part of bull riding, and what to do when I’m back. Talking to a lot of experienced guys definitely helped me with being hurt because they’ve been through it and I haven’t, so it was good just being able to listen and watch,” Rizzo shared of his World Finals experience.
“Watching John and all of those guys that I’ve shared the locker room with, like Sage (Steele Kimzey) and all of them, it was awesome watching just knowing that I could’ve rode there as well, so it was pretty cool.”
While it seems safe to say fans will get to enjoy watching the trio of close comrades perform together on the big stage next spring, should injuries stay out of the way next time around, it didn’t take the sting away in totality.
Nor the drama, in rooting for Crimber!
“I think I was more nervous watching John ride than I’ve ever been riding. When he had to get on Big Bank and those last couple of days where it went down to the wire … Watching my best friend go out there and do good was awesome,” Rizzo said.
“It sucked that me and Clay had to watch, because we had been talking about riding together at World Finals ever since we were little.”
Guiton and the youngest member of the Crimber family were instrumental in keeping their buddy in good spirits throughout these last few months, no doubt.
But if it takes a village to raise a well-rounded rider, then it makes sense it’s been a group effort for Rizzo’s supporters in getting him back to good health.
And within any given village, everything starts at home.
“It was mostly my mom and dad, my family. I was really upset. That sucked, you know? There wasn’t much I could do about it, so when I got back home and settled in with my family, they really helped me out a bunch. They were praying over me a bunch and every night mom and dad would come talk to me, so they helped me a lot,” he shared.
“The Crimber family too, Paulo Crimber, I can’t thank him enough. John did too, mentally, just keeping my spirits up. Paulo is a guy who went through a bunch of injuries, so whenever he talked to me, it made me feel a lot better.”
Noting he’s been doing all that he can to potentially expedite his return, and respective career debut within the 5-on-5 landscape, he’s found a mix of physical therapy, drop-barrels and plenty of gym reps are the appropriate steps at this point of his ramp-up.
“The main thing right now is just my health so that I make sure when I come back, I come back strong. We’re chit-chatting about when I’ll be back, sort of gambling on time. The leg is feeling really good. I’ve been doing a bunch of physical therapy and I’ve been taking pretty good care of it, so it feels good. I’ve been walking around good, so hopefully I’ll be back real soon,” he shared.
“It’s a little bit of resting and a little bit of the gym. I’ve been doing a couple of workouts with my leg to make sure that when I’m ready to ride, my muscles are all back. I haven’t really been pushing it, just trying to build muscle around it. So, I’ve been doing a bunch of that. Everything else that I can work out I’ve been trying to push myself on, like my arms and my core and then I’ve been doing a lot of physical therapy, ice baths, all sorts of muscle treatment stuff, so it’s been a mix of things. I’ve been throwing about everything I can do at my leg to see if I can speed up the process.”
With a late August to early September return to action representing his current timeline, he’s been afforded time to not only work on his physical abilities, but also concentrate on film and some of the bad habits he’s developed during his first year on tour.
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“I’ve been studying up and watching a bunch of my buddies ride and stuff. I’ve been watching a bunch of videos of John and Clay getting on and just seeing what they’re doing,” he said.
“I’m getting on the drop barrel a little bit and trying to study a bunch of film of the little things that I’ve done wrong in the past. Trying to get the little things right while not trying to rush anything with my leg and all that, but I’ll get on a drop barrel a couple of times a week just to remember the basics. I’ve been doing what I can studying wise.”
Checking the box for skills, good attitude and a fiery sense for continuing to learn and develop his skills, he seems to be quite the well-rounded rider at just 19.
The other main assumption for the trending Quitman, Georgia, talent is that he would’ve likely heard his name called a bit earlier during the 2024 PBR Teams New Rider Draft, had he not been nursing said bumps and bruises.
But that’s all spilt milk at this point, as he’s officially a member of the shiny new New York Mavericks after being selected No. 11 overall in Nashville, Tennessee, last month.
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“Once the Team Series started, that was a goal of mine, to get drafted. It felt really good to know someone believes in me enough to add me to their team, so it felt really good,” Rizzo said.
“The emotions were kind of mixed. I didn’t know … I guess being on a fresh team and I’m a new guy to the Team Series … then a team that was new to the Team Series … I don’t know, at first I was like ‘How is this going to go?’ but now I think it’s going to go good.”
After a few weeks of soaking it all in and learning more about his squad’s goals for the 2024 campaign, he confirmed he thinks things are going to, and already are, playing out just fine.
“I got really nervous but I couldn’t do much but just wait around and watch, you know? Watch my buddies get drafted and stuff, but I was nervous. I had never been that nervous in my life,” Rizzo added.
“I thought it was nerve-wracking just being in the PBR and going into the short rounds and stuff but sitting in that room, waiting to be drafted: it was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever done.”
Luckily for Head Coach Kody Lostroh and company, nerves mean the 19-year-old talent was excited to get this thing going. And after seeing the insane amount of rookie and overall fresh, incoming talent the past year or two invade the world’s top bull riding circuits, we know pressure can, and has, made diamonds in the past.
Just ask the likes of Cassio Dias, Daniel Keeping, Mavericks’ teammate Vitor Losnake and beyond, who have used the 5-on-5 platform to announce their greatness over the first two summer sessions.
With New York’s first-ever Training Camp sessions taking place this week, the squad has plenty to figure out when it comes to assembling a perfect puzzle.
But first, they need to see what kind of puzzle pieces they’re working with.
“That’s what I’m pretty excited about – Seeing how well we get along. Hudson Bolton and Braidy Randolph and Maverick (Smith) are pretty cool guys. Vitor Losnake, I think we’ll all get along really well. I like the coaches and I like the riders we have on our team and I feel like that’s the most important part about a team is everybody getting along and everyone being on the right terms. We’ll see how training camp goes and hopefully we all get along,” he said.
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“I plan to be there. I won’t be riding any bulls, but I plan on working out with my teammates and doing whatever we need to do.”
It may not be the first time at a Teams training camp for each of the riders suiting up for Lostroh, Assistant Coach Ednei Caminhas and company. But it’s the first time they’re lacing ‘em up as a unit, which means a lot.
Especially when Rizzo and folks know they have a show to put on when the tour makes its way to the northeast for the squad’s first-ever Maverick Days inside Barclays Center, Aug. 9-10.
“I’m pretty pumped up to see how it turns out. I went to Madison Square Garden one year to watch PBR and it was probably one of the coolest bull ridings I’ve ever watched. Being right down the road in Brooklyn, that’s going to be pretty exciting. Plus, being the home team there … I can’t imagine how great that home crowd is going to be, so I’m excited. I’m pumped up and words can’t even describe it,” Rizzo added.
“I’m excited to come back and win. I want to win and I want my teammates to just go out there and do really well. Every game, let’s ride all five bulls, and it’s hard to beat us of we ride all five, you know? Just winning, I like winning and I like staying on, so I’m just excited to be back, stay on and try to win with my teammates.”
So, if the excitement within the first-year contingent hadn’t already begun, it’s very much flowing now.
And if the new kids on the block can get themselves off to a favorable start before seeing their second-round selection give them a boost during the last part of the season, they’ll be sitting pretty during their inaugural journey.
“My first year in the UTB, success for me was just being able to improve and making the World Finals and stuff like that. As a team, we have a bunch of young guys, but it’s not about how we start, it’s about how we finish,” he concluded.
“I hope we all improve throughout the season, we all get better and strive to get better and hopefully by the end of the season we win this Championship and all of that stuff. But as long we’re improving and we’re trying every time we nod our head, I think that’s already success to us.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
