KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For as long as we can remember, J.B. Mauney and having a good time have gone hand in hand. So, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise he wants his Oklahoma Wildcatters to enjoy the ride just the same.

“I tell them every time before we walk out there ‘Winning is fun and only winners have fun, so let’s go win,’” the Dragon Slayer offered Saturday night after his team got back into the win column.

“Shoot, we’ve been right there every single game. Those guys just had to get things figured out a little bit and we’ve got it rolling now.”

They haven’t won as many games as they’d like at this point in the season but they’ve been damn competitive. Exiting 11 of the squad’s last 12 contests within one ride score of their opponent, things haven’t broken their way too much. Yet, at least.

Enduring a bit of a down stretch after beginning the season with a quality 2-1 start, the Wildcatters managed a mere 4-9-1 record from there on out, looking like a drastically different unit than the high-hoped group present during their season-opening PBR Teams: Wildcatter Days homestand.

And while one win won’t change things in whirlwind fashion for the youthful contingent, it’s definitely the spark Mauney and company needed to get a streak started in their favor. Even if they opened the weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, with a loss to the Austin Gamblers Friday night.

“I tell them all the time, in my career, I realized that you get mad at yourself, but when you walk out of the locker room, nobody cares what happened yesterday, tomorrow is a new day. So we don’t let anything carry over to the next ride,” Mauney said.

Noticing the team brought some additional swagger with them entering T-Mobile Center on Saturday afternoon, it was a different vibe in the Oklahoma locker room on night two. And a much different outcome on the dirt.

“That’s what bull riding is all about. I always call it a light switch. When the switch is on, it’s on. When the switch is off, it’s off. I feel like tonight we flipped the switch,” he shared.

“Everybody was pumped up and when we walked out there, you could just tell they were confident and ready to ride. A couple of them didn’t, had bad outs and things like that, but overall you could just tell the difference in them from yesterday to today. It showed the way they rode and I think the light switch is on right now.”

Watching on as his team of youngsters got the job done, eventually finalizing another tight 177.5-176 victory over the Nashville Stampede, Mauney once again relied on the kids to get them over the hump.

Getting his most productive pair of riders out early in Cort McFadden and Eduardo Matos, there’s good reason the duo is ranked in the Top 12 of the PBR Teams MVP race. McFadden, who threw down a rank 90-pointer aboard Ricky Vaughn has been a very welcome bright spot for Oklahoma, indeed.

But it’s his skilled Brazilian teammate who both ranks No. 4 in the MVP race and got the team off to the hot start it needed Saturday.

“Cort and Eduardo, those are our two main hitters right now, that’s why I put them up there right off the bat to put some pressure on the other team,” Mauney added.

“I knew he (Matos) would be a big part of this season – The videos I saw of him before he came over to our team, so I said ‘Well, he rides pretty good,’ but I didn’t know exactly how good he rode. Man, he’s been hitting it out of the park every time.”

Officially 11-for-18 on the season, there haven’t been many riders more efficient or successful than Matos, who was selected sixth overall during the spring’s PBR Teams Expansion Draft.

Each of the riders selected above him? (Which include Kaique Pacheco, Josh Frost, Kyler Oliver, Lucas Divino and Dener Barbosa)

All below him in the MVP standings. Hell, at No. 4, there are only three guys who have had a hotter summer. And when that company includes Sandro Batista, John Crimber and Jose Vitor Leme, Mauney knows his ace is doing something right.

“Every bull rider here is a great bull rider and that’s what makes it a battle,” Mauney said.

“When you’ve got guys matched up and going head to head with other guys, it’s fun. Shoot, the more I’m getting into it, the more I like it.”

He may be the oldest guy in the locker room most nights, but there’s something about the skip’s personality that has kept him young over the years. So, it makes sense that he and the organization’s front office wanted to build this team young. For the long run.

“That’s kind of what I wanted to go with. I wanted to build a team around young guys. I feel like younger guys have more drive and you don’t really change their riding style, you just critique it. Help them better themselves faster and their career and they’ll become better bull riders sooner.”

Regardless of their actual age, he’s still sorting out the guys who want it during the squad’s push to Las Vegas.

Or, the men, rather.

“They showed out and I’ve always said that’s what separates the men from the boys: when you back them into a corner, some of them cower down, some of them come out swinging and every one of them came out swinging.”

Getting a variety of his youngsters involved Saturday, including Colton Byram who made his PBR Teams debut, Hayden Harris and Kase Hitt in addition to Matos and McFadden, they are without a doubt one of, if not the youngest team on tour.

And knowing how injuries play into the sport over the course of a season, the quality reps of real game action for these kids could go a long way. This season and for their future development alike.

Once Austin Richardson is able to shake off some rust after spending a good six months off due to a lower-body injury sustained during what would have likely been a career-high 2024 Unleash The Beast campaign, things are trending in the right direction for the new kids on the block.

Entering night two in the basement of the league standings, their clutch win Saturday moved the contingent up to the No. 6 spot, which represents the official postseason cut line.

At the end of the day, it’s all about punching their ticket to T-Mobile Arena for the 2024 PBR Teams Championship. So, they’ll look to keep this thing going when they return to action Sunday afternoon during a matinee matchup against the Florida Freedom.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media