KANSAS CITY, Mo. – If each of the 12 regular season Camping World Team Series events are the battle …
… then the quickly approaching 2024 PBR Teams Championship is the war.
And with the postseason gauntlet inside T-Mobile just five weekends away with PBR Teams: Outlaw Days officially in the books, teams are jockeying back and forth more than ever before. Each and every game just flat out means more.
Which is both dramatic and, specifically for the coaches of these 10 units, a bit stressful.
“That’s a stressful situation for sure but it is what it is,” New York Mavericks Head Coach Kody Lostroh Sunday.
“Some days you win like you want to, riding some or all of your bulls and other days you struggle and still get the win. That’s what is so interesting about this concept and this team bull riding is it can go a thousand different ways.”
Clinching yet another tight, one-score victory, which seems to be the team’s thing this season, the Mavericks defeated the Nashville Stampede 86.25-0 in the second game of the afternoon.
Victorious in four of their last seven matchups, the new kids on the block have very much endured a bit of a learning curve. Some of that progression comes during the week – In the gym, on the ranch and at the dinner table.
The rest of it can’t be replicated, an important reason Lostroh remains proud of his group for gutting it out despite the up and down season.
“The biggest deal for us, especially with all of these young guys on the team, is just getting more experience and doing this thing. Every time they nod their heads out here they’re getting better,” Lostroh said.
“Even if we don’t get the win that night it’s important for them to keep progressing and that’s kind of what the goal is every day, is to get a little better than we were yesterday.”
The most important part of that steady ramp-up for the kids is getting the real reps on the big stage. Just like their fellow year one squad in the Oklahoma Wildcatters have displayed.
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They may be rocking an 8-10 record, two games under the .500 mark, but right now, that’s good enough for the No. 6 seed, which serves as both the official postseason cutline and another reason Lostroh continues to believe in his bunch.
And when you consider they began their season 0-4, noticeably stumbling out of the gates, they’ve already seen quite the turnaround since Week 1.
“Absolutely. I’m proud of these guys – What we started with and now they’re holding their own. Every week it’s a battle, but they’re not quitting the battle, so I’m proud of them,” Lostroh said.
“The key has just been putting in the work and that’ll continue to be the key. All of these guys are growing but we need to ride more bulls and that will come.”
With Sunday’s second game witnessing eight consecutive buckoffs to begin the showcase, the energy wasn’t exactly top-tier. Hell, even when your own team isn’t off to a hot start themselves, sometimes the guys across the chutes can bring out the best in your squad.
But that wasn’t the reality, leaving one of the hottest free agent signees of the season in Mauricio Moreira to drum up his own momentum.
Stepping up to the plate in the top of the fifth to get his team on the board, and eventually the win, the young Brazilian took another step for the Mavericks.
“You just keep trying to get the momentum turned around. Sometimes it happens too late and other times it happens right in the nick of time. But it’s the name of the game and it’s contagious. Lots of great rides are contagious and lots of buckoffs, unfortunately, tend to be contagious, too,” he shared.
“Mauricio has done so well for us. As a free agent, he got invited to our training camp and really put out. Then he got put on our Reserve Roster and really put out. And it showed to us that he’s a team player and he means it. So, now he has to protect his spot but he’s leading the MVP race for our team and it’s great to see a guy that really buys in to the whole process. Because the process is what leads to results. Sometimes it’s a little hard to understand for younger guys, but it’s great to see it.”
As one of the younger teams on tour, they have plenty of lessons to learn and reps to soak up.
But the squad’s starting roster could soon be welcoming a potential star to the lineup, with 19-year-old Marco Rizzo preparing to make his 5-on-5 debut here sooner than later.
“Hopefully here in a couple of weeks,” he said of the team’s second-round selection in the 2024 PBR Teams New Rider Draft.
“I think he’s going to be officially cleared to ride this week and he’ll start getting on practice bulls, so we’ll see how that goes. He could be back as soon as this upcoming weekend but if not, probably the weekend after that.”
New York may have managed just a 1-1 record on the season, but it’s the way they closed out the weekend that may ultimately help them biggest during their push for the playoffs. Momentum is one hell of a drug in any aspect of this sport.
But when a team is able to lighten up the vibe and kick back a bit by securing a big win on Sunday, that will be key, and welcome, for the group who keeps figuring it out in the direst of situations.
“Honestly, our struggle hasn’t been energy at the beginning of the event, it’s been energy at the end of an event. So, that’s what I’ve been trying to focus on mostly with these guys is staying focused and keeping the foot on the gas,” Lostroh concluded.
“I feel like that, actually a better finish to these weekends, is going to be the key for us moving forward in these last four events. We’ve seen it how many times? Every ride matters. Every game matters. Letting opportunities slip away in this format is huge because everybody in the middle of the pack is so tight, so we’re all jostling around multiple positions every night.”
Set to embrace a trio of matchups next weekend in Anaheim, California, as the circuit heads west, will the Mavericks be able to ride their win into the postseason?
Or will they be forced to duke it out inside South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa during the Ride In Round?
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
