OKLAHOMA CITY – It may be the first event of the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series season, but the bull riders of the PBR are in mid-season form.
None more so than the Carolina Cowboys and Florida Freedom, who kicked off night two of PBR Wildcatters Days with some serious fireworks in Oklahoma City.
The teams went blow for blow, and when the dust settled, the Cowboys took home a 448-343.75 win.
Not only did the Cowboys record the third perfect game ever seen in PBR Teams, but it was also the highest-scoring contest in PBR Teams history. The squads combined to go an astounding 9-for-10.
“Both teams were great,” Florida Freedom head coach Paulo Crimber said. “That’s what the people came to watch – a game like that.”
2016 World Champion Cooper Davis started the Cowboys’ season with 87.25 points aboard Mikey’s Surprise. While not the highest score of the game, it may have been the most important.
“Coop, he’s a blessing for our team,” Cowboys head coach Jerome Davis said. “When he rolls into the bucking chutes, he don’t bobble, and he just sets the stage right off the bat. One good thing we like about starting with Coop is that he usually starts us off really strong, and he’s there keeping the guys built up through the rest of the deal.”
The Freedom countered with Caden Bunch, who rode Seth Wadley’s No Bull for 89.5 points.
Then came Derek Kolbaba for the Cowboys, countering with 88.5 points on Wild Card.
Up next was Thiago Salgado for the Freedom, notching 87.5 points on Brown Bomber.
His older brother, Adriano Salgado, followed that up with a huge 93 points aboard Flyin Wired – by far a career-high, the first 90-point ride he’s ever recorded, and the highest-scoring ride this season.
“It just had his name written all over it,” Davis said. “When I saw that bull, and when we looked at all the other matchups – I mean, we had some guys I felt like could ride that bull, but Adriano, it just fit him. Every time, his name was coming up in my mind, and me and (assistant coach) Robson (Palermo) went over it the other day and we said, ‘This is it. These are our matches. Let’s go with it. I don’t think it’ll be no better.’ And you never know how it’ll turn out, but the Lord blessed us, and he stuck and rode like he can. Adriano has really stepped his game up, too, lately. That’s why we had a lot of faith in him tonight, and that bull into his hand, it just fit him.”
The Freedom kept the momentum going with Elizmar Jeremias’s 85 points aboard Ruthless, followed by 2022 World Champion Daylon Swearingen riding Homeboy for 88.25 points for Carolina.
The only buckoff of the game came courtesy of a historic out in its own right. Florida’s Casey Roberts bucked off 2024 YETI World Champion Bull Man Hater in three seconds even, with Man Hater earning a bull score of 48.75 points – tying for the second-highest bull score in PBR history.
“Man Hater, sometimes he has good trips, and sometimes he runs off,” Crimber said. “And today, he was as rank as he ever was. He was 48.75, almost 49. That says something that that’s the only bull we got bucked off of.”
Carolina’s closer, seven-time PRCA bull riding world champion Sage Kimzey, capped off the flawless effort with another 90, going 91 points aboard Killer Bee.
“We can end it with Sage,” Davis said. “He’s like steel. He’s solid, and he don’t let much shake him. That’s the guy we need to clean up with.”
Florida cleaned up with John Crimber, the 18-year-old phenom making his first start in PBR Teams action. Black Jacket stumbled during the out, but Crimber stayed focused and turned in a score of 81.75 points.
“That bull fell down, and when he got up, John came back spurring him,” the elder Crimber said. “You can’t get no better than that.”
Unfortunately for the Freedom, the Cowboys were one ride better, starting the season 1-0.
“It feels really awesome,” Davis said. “I mean, just the camaraderie of our team – it’s what we wanted to do to set the stage for the new year, and it’s a good way to kick it off. But it’s just one game. We’ve got a whole year to go, so we’ve got to keep our nose on the grindstone and just stay at it.”
The Cowboys have fallen short of expectations in the first two years of PBR Teams. With more combined gold buckles than any other team – nine, courtesy of Swearingen, Davis and Kimzey – they’re always expected to be a title contender. But they finished the 2023 regular season ranked No. 6 and placed seventh out of eight at the 2023 PBR Teams Championship.
But Davis thinks this year could be the year.
“I think just this group of guys this year seems a little different,” Davis said. “It feels like our camaraderie of our team and our brotherhood, you might call it, is here. I think we’ve always had a pretty decent team, and our guys are pretty healthy right now. They’re more dedicated to the team because before, a lot of them were rodeoing. This year, the majority of our team is dedicated just to the team. If we can keep our guys healthy and keep rolling through the new year, I think it’ll be good.”
The Florida locker room, meanwhile, was nearly as upbeat despite starting the season 0-1.
“I was very confident with the game and the lineups because they were really excited,” Crimber said. “We spent some great time in Florida, and we’ve been training at the house every Wednesday, getting on bulls. And after this, I told them, if they do what they do today every weekend, show up like this, it’s most likely we’re going to be the winners at the end of the year.”
The end of the year – the 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series Championship on Oct. 18-20 in Las Vegas – is still a very long way away.
Davis knows that one win – even the highest-scoring win PBR Teams has ever seen – doesn’t mean more than any other game, and the Cowboys will stay even-keeled as they look forward.
“This is our standard,” Davis said. “That’s where we’re going to set it. We’re just going to move forward from here. We’re not going to blow it out of the water yet. It’s really good, but we’ve got a lot of games in front of us, so we’re just going to keep that mindset, keep moving forward, and get our asses down every time we nod our head, and at the end of the day, try to pull a championship out here.”
Both squads are back to work on Sunday, with the Freedom taking on the 2022 PBR Teams Champion Nashville Stampede (1-1) and the Cowboys facing off against the New York Mavericks (0-2).
But for at least a little while, Davis and the Cowboys will relish their accomplishment.
“It was awesome,” Davis said. “We worked so hard at it. Every guy in here busts his butt and wants to win. When we pull five off like that, it makes it feel good. It’s awesome. I’m just shouting from the roofs, out of my skin. It’s what we wanted, and it’s good to get there, but you can’t overdo it. We’ve got a big year in front of us, so we’ve just got to stay focused and keep that rolling from here. See if we can get five rode tomorrow.”
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media
