Lockwood wins his first PBR 15/15 Bucking Battle

Jose Vitor Leme and Cody Nance tie for the Round 1 Tulsa win

  Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana) continued his winning ways in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he won the 15/15 Bucking Battle on Saturday night at the 25^th PBR: Unleash The Beast, Express Employment Professionals Classic, presented by Osage Casino and Hotel, inside the BOK Center.

In 2017, Lockwood won the Tulsa event for his second win of the season. Tonight, Lockwood used a 91.5-point score aboard Canadian Mist (TNT Bucking Bulls/Hart Cattle Co.) to win his first 15/15 of 2018 and earn 150 points toward the PBR world standings.

The sixth Bucking Battle of the season was the most exciting battle to date as seven riders earned qualified scores.

In their second meeting, but the first time Lockwood made it out of the chutes, the reigning PBR World Champion matched Canadian Mist jump for jump and bested his traveling partner, Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington), to win the special round of competition.

Kolbaba had brought the audience to its feet earlier as the second rider out in the 15/15. The meeting Friday night on the floor of the BOK Center was the third total meeting in PBR competition for Kolbaba and Cochise (Gene Owen/Jane Clark). The score was tied between the two athletes and Kolbaba was looking to exact revenge in the rubber match. As the big brown bovine exploded out of the gate, Kolbaba rode the bull for all it was worth and took the early lead with 91 points. With his second place finish Kolbaba picked up 90 world points.

Cody Teel (Kountze, Texas) finished in third place with an impressive 89.25 points aboard M.A.G.A. (TNT Bucking Bulls/Hart Cattle Co.). Teel earned 75 points toward the world standings.

Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) and Fabiano Vieira (Perola, Brazil) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Buttar rode Hedoo (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) for 87.75 points, while Vieira covered Smooth Over (GT Bucking Bulls/Hart Cattle) for 87.5 points. Buttar earned 60 world points and Vieira picked up 45.

In his first event back from a broken foot in March, Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil) earned a qualified ride on Hydrastar Slinger Jr. (K-C/Spark-lin Acres/Jo-Z Bucking Bulls) for 87 points. He added 25 world points.

Ramon de Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was the final rider to earn a score in the 15/15 Bucking Battle. He went 8 aboard Wild Goose (D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle) for 84 points and he earned an additional 10 points towards the world standings.

Despite not riding either of his bulls on Friday night, Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) remains the No. 1 man in the world. He leads No. 2 Claudio Montanha Jr. (Pacaembu, Brazil) by 301 points.

Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) and Cody Nance (Paris, Tennessee) tied for the Round 1 win in Tulsa. Leme leads the league with nine round victories and Nance has three this season. The pair each earned 80 points toward the world standings along with $3,217.86.

Leme started his night by covering Royal Flush (Cord & Sara McCoy) but was given a re-ride. He chose to take the re-ride option and proceeded to ride Pick-It Construction’s Find Jesus (Ogeden Ranch/Hart Cattle Co.) for 88.5 points.

Nance earned his 88.5 points with an impressive ride on Concealed Carry (Rockin R Bucking Bulls/Jerry Rush).

Third place went to the hometown boy, Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Oklahoma), who picked up 50 points and earned a paycheck of $2,052.86. Dirteater went the required 8 aboard Jokers Wild (01 Cattle Co./Robbie Schroeder) for 86 points.

Lonnie West (Cadogan, Alberta) finished fourth, earning 40 world points and a paycheck for $1,352.86. Tying his best finish this season, West stayed No. 33 in the world standings. He covered Real Gun (Cord McCoy/G-G) for 85.75 points.

In a tie for fourth place, Matt Triplett (Columbia Falls, Montana) and Fabiano Vieira each rode for 85.5 points. Triplett earned his points aboard Chocolate Shake (D&H Cattle Co.) while Vieira rode Striker (Halpain/Thompson). The pair picked up an additional 22.5 world points along with $777.86.

Friday night also featured an American Bucking Bull Inc. (ABBI) Big Tex Classic event in conjunction with the PBR’s Round 1.

Big Black (KbarC Bucking Bulls/Joe & Nina Webb) took his fourth Classic Champion title of the 2018 season with an 88.6-point performance. He took home $10,200 in winnings, putting him back in the top spot leading the season standings with over $40,000 in money won.

Medicine Man from Hart Cattle/TNT Bucking Bulls’ scored 88.4 points for second place, worth $6,120. In third place was Mind Freak from D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle, posting a score of 88 points for $4,420.

Prayer Warrior (Halpain/Roth) earned $3,740 with his fourth-place finish of 87.8 points. Fifth place with scores of 87.4 points were Mr. Majestic (McCoy/Wold), War Cloud (Tom & Peggy) and Mo Money (Andrews Rodeo Company) who each earned a check for $2,606.67. ABBI paid out $34,000 to the Top 9 finishers. ~ PBR Media