Vieira and Montanha Win WCRA Semi-Finals Rodeo Bull Riding Pools
By: Justin Felisko
November 18, 2018
Joao Ricardo Vieira and Claudio Montanha Jr. were victorious in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
PUEBLO, Colo. – Joao Ricardo Vieira and Claudio Montanha Jr. took care of business Sunday afternoon by winning their respective pools at the WCRA $500,000 Semi-Finals Rodeo at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Vieira won Pool A and $7,000 with a Sunday-best score of 86.5 points aboard Silent Night.
“This is so important for me,” Vieira told Kate Harrison on RidePass. “I work for this. I come here. I ride better. I am so glad. This is for my family to stay here. My wife. My daughter, Maria. This is a big check.”
Vieira said his family gave him extra motivation.
“It is so important,” he added. “It make me more (powerful) and more confident.”
Montanha won Pool B and $7,000 later in the afternoon by riding Dark Thoughts for 85.5 points.
“I keep my focus even though Vegas took a toll on me,” Montanha said with the help of Humberto Viramontes translating. “I keep working every day and I want to thank my sponsors.
“I am focused on 2019.”
Both riders advance to the WCRA Windy City Roundup – a $1 million rodeo – on Jan. 11 at Allstate Arena in Chicago.
The bull riders competing on Sunday were split into two pools of contestants.
The Top-3 finishers in each pool advance to the Windy City Roundup. Joining Vieira from Pool A was Wyatt Rogers (79 points on Trump Train) and Jason Mara (buckoff time).
Three-time World Champion Silvano Alves (79.5 points on Frostywhirl) and two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney (buckoff time) advanced alongside Montanha in Pool B.
Chance Schott and Chandler Bownds received the two wild card invitations to the Windy City Roundup by posting the two highest buckoff times of the remaining riders that failed to advance out of pool play.
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