Surging Castro helps Arizona Ridge Riders to second METC win over Oklahoma Wildcatters
Fresh off his first UTB event win in seven years, Luciano De Castro is ranked No. 3 in the standings and was a key piece in Arizona's win in Salt Lake City.
By Darci Miller
SALT LAKE CITY – We haven’t seen this version of Luciano De Castro in quite a long time.
This Luciano De Castro, the one steamrolling through the 2025 Unleash The Beast season, leads the field with 21 qualified rides, is riding at an insane 70% clip, and is ranked No. 3 in the UTB standings.
The last time he had more than 21 qualified rides in a UTB season was in 2022, when he finished the year ranked No. 4 in the world. But that year, he recorded 23 rides across the entire season – remember, he has 21 through just 12 events in 2025 – and had a riding percentage of 44%.
Honestly, maybe we’ve never seen this version of Luciano De Castro.
Castro is fresh off his first UTB event win since 2018, as he took the title at the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys PBR Sacramento, presented by Cooper Tires, last weekend.
“It was a very important win,” Castro said with Bruno Zecchin translating. “It’s been seven years – a long time. A lot of people thought I didn’t know about it, but I was counting every year, every time. I won second a lot of times, but seven years without winning an event, and it was a very important win. And not just because of the time I was out, but because of the points I got. Now I’m in a good standing.”
Despite being a regular on the UTB and a respected veteran in the locker room, Castro said he had his doubts about whether or not he’d be able to climb the mountain again.
“A lot of times, I doubted myself,” he said. “I doubted I was able to win again. I doubted if I was going to ride again as the other guys were riding. If it was not God, I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, and I’m very thankful to God for giving me strength and courage to keep going.”
Coming into 2025, Castro focused on getting stronger – mentally and physically.
“Working out my body, working out my mind, and waiting on God,” he said. “We know that every competitor has highs and lows, and you need to keep going and keep focused and waiting on God.”
Castro is a member of the Arizona Ridge Riders in the PBR Team Series, and head coach Colby Yates says the mental shift has been the most key for his superstar.
“It’s all about the perception of some of these guys,” Yates said. “They buck themselves off a lot of times before they even get on because they make up this horror story about the bull, and they forget to make it as simple as it is. You’re a bull rider. You’re just supposed to ride the bull. It doesn’t say you’re supposed to ride only the good ones, or only the ones that go left, or only the ones that go right. You’d better ride them all. Whatever it takes, no matter what. You’ve got to do everything you can do to make the whistle, and that’s it. You just have to try to keep it that simple, and I think that’s kind of where Luciano is now.
“There’s been several times where, on our team, I’ve noticed he’ll just count himself out because of the draw, and he’s not doing that this year. That’s the biggest difference for me. He’s just fully committed to getting the job done no matter what.”
The Ridge Riders were at the PBR Salt Lake City this weekend to take on the Oklahoma Wildcatters in their second rivalry game of the Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by Camping World.
Arizona took its second victory over Oklahoma, 172.25-85.25. Eduardo Aparecido led off the scoring for the boys in black with 87 points on Off The Tracks, and Castro followed that up with 85.25 points on Karizma after nodding his head for the gate with one second remaining on the chute clock.
“I was very happy to get this bull, a very nice bull,” Castro said. “In the chute, I was trying to get the sweet spot, the better spot, and it took me a while to do this. I got a little desperate when I saw the clock going down. But thank God I was able to open the gate and ride this bull because he was really a very nice bull.”
Castro has been enjoying competing for his team during the UTB season, but he always keeps his mind where it needs to be.
“I think it’s good, but I prefer to focus on my bull because I know that in the background, there’s a championship race going on,” he said. “So I like it, but it’s different. I know that I need to keep going for the individual season.”
There’s still a long road remaining before the 2025 PBR World Finals kick off in May. No. 1 Brady Fielder is also riding at close to 70%, and he won Round 1 in Salt Lake City to further his lead atop the standings. Castro tied for 11th in Round 1 and will need some help if he wants to secure his second event win.
Action in Salt Lake City continues with Round 2 and the championship round on Saturday, Feb. 8, beginning at 9 p.m. ET on RidePass, X, YouTube and the PBR app. The Monster Energy Team Challenge airs on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 1:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
Whatever the rest of the season holds, Yates is thrilled by what Castro is doing.
“I’m so proud of him,” Yates said. “The confidence – he’s drawing bulls that are complementing him, and at this point, he knows that he’s going to have the confidence to ride them. But then there’s also some of those bulls that, before, he wouldn’t have had the confidence. I think he just continues to build on that over and over again. It’s huge for him.”
