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Kolbaba Heading to Ontario Velocity Event Following Rank Finals

By: Justin Felisko
November 16, 2018

Derek Kolbaba made back-to-back 90-point rides to cap his 2018 season. Photo: Andy Watson/BullStockMedia.com.

PUEBLO, Colo. – The rankest bull rider on Championship Sunday at the 2018 PBR World Finals was far from one of the riders receiving all of the attention amidst the pomp and circumstance that comes with crowning a World Champion.

Instead, it was Derek Kolbaba becoming the first rider in five years to post back-to-back 90-point rides on Championship Sunday at the World Finals.

Kolbaba capped off an under-the-radar, but highly impressive, World Finals by riding Smooth Wreck for 91.75 points in Round 5 and Cochise for 91 points in the championship round.

“Worth every point. It could have been 92 and it wouldn’t have been too high,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said on CBS Sports Network. “That was a great job by Kolbaba on a great ole’ bull in Cochise.

The last rider to post two consecutive 90-point rides to end the World Finals was J.B. Mauney in 2013.

 
Following two buckoffs to begin the Finals against Missile Toes (7.95 seconds) and Siouxper Stinger (6.64 seconds), Kolbaba stormed out of T-Mobile Arena with three qualified rides in his final four attempts – all for 91 or more points – to pick up a third-place finish overall and a career-high $158,000 in earnings.

“We will take that all day long,” Kolbaba said. “That is one of those things where I wish I would have done that last year, but you can’t dang do anything about the past. You can only learn from it and put it toward the future. That is what we did this Finals. It dang sure didn’t start out like I wanted to, but there is no better time to start it then now.”

Kolbaba was chasing a world title in 2017 when he walked into T-Mobile Arena. The No. 1 bull rider failed to finish the job, though, going 1-for-5 and finishing 447.5 points behind eventual champion Jess Lockwood.

The 22-year-old kicked ghosts at T-Mobile Arena to the curb last week and finished his fourth season ranked 11th in the world standings.

Kolbaba was 1-for-10 at T-Mobile Arena prior to this year.

“This is a guy that came in at the No. 1 guy in the world last year and had a terrible World Finals,” McBride said. “Now he is in a position to win three go-rounds this year.”

Rather than dwelling on past failures, Kolbaba was all smiles and enjoying the 2018 PBR World Finals.

The only thing on the line was money and a potential event victory, therefore, Kolaba let himself hang loose and rode with nothing to lose.

“The first year I came here. it was I haven’t stayed on a bull in however long, and then the year after it was what is he going to do for a world title,” Kolbaba said. “This year it is focusing on what we have done throughout the year and enjoying every minute of it. If we aren’t enjoying it, we might as well just quit. Right now, we are dang sure enjoying it.”

Kolbaba may have finished outside of the Top 10 this year, but it was still a strong showing from the Walla Walla, Washington, cowboy, especially considering he missed six weeks because of a torn right ACL and MCL he sustained in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

It took him the majority of the summer to get back into his normal riding form, but Kolbaba quietly finished in the Top 5 at four of the final eight Unleash The Beast events of the season.

Kolbaba concluded 2018 24-for-64 (37.5 percent) in 22 premier series events with five 90-point rides, eight Top-5 finishes and 10 Top-10s.

In fact, Kolbaba’s 37.5-percent riding average was a career-high and three points higher than his 34.48 percent from his 2017 championship-contending season.

“This year it is focusing on what we have done throughout the year and enjoying every minute of it,” Kolbaba said. “If we aren’t enjoying it, we might as well just quit. Right now, we are dang sure enjoying it.”

Kolbaba is not slowing down for the offseason just yet either.

He and Lachlan Richardson are two Top 35 riders that have decided to compete at the 2019 Velocity Tour season-opener in Ontario, California, on Saturday night.

Fans can watch the event exclusively on RidePass beginning at 10 p.m. ET.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

© 2018 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.

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