Lockwood Comes Up Big for First Win of the Year
By: Mandi McCary
April 08, 2018
Jess Lockwood rode Big Dutch for 91 points to earn his first win of the season. Photo Andy Watson/BullStockMedia.com
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – After three days of record attendance at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, reigning PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Champion Jess Lockwood (Volborg, Montana) collected his first PBR elite series win of the 2018 season at The 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast, First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard Invitational.
Lockwood went 3-for-4 over the weekend and won with an impressive 91-point ride on Big Dutch (Jane Clark / Gene Owen) in the championship round. The Montana cowboy earned 760 world points in the victory, moving him from No. 13 in the world to No. 7, and collected a paycheck of $41,830.
The win, Lockwood’s first since September of last year, also earned him a spot at the Days of 47 Cowboy Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo presented by Zions Bank, July 19-21 and 23-24, will take place at the $17.5 million state-of-the-art Days of ’47 Arena at the Utah State Fair Park, custom designed and built for rodeo. The venue, an outdoor arena located in the heart of Salt Lake City, features more than 10,000 stadium-style seats.
Lockwood is now 215 points behind world leader Ramon de Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil).
“I feel good and I’m riding good so I can’t ask for much more right now,” Lockwood said. “Everything’s going great. I got some good luck charms with me here this weekend and my family, and you couldn’t ask for a better weekend.”
“He’s got that fire back,” said PBR on CBS commentator JW Hart. “You can see it in his eyes, you can see it in the step he takes when he gets off. He’s happy and ready to go back at them.”
2017 PBR Rookie of the Year Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) finished second also with a 3-for-4 performance, including 89 points aboard Siouxper Stinger (Berger Bucking Bulls) in the championship round. For his efforts, Leme earned 415 points toward the world standings and $21,080. Leme advanced from No. 7 to No. 3 in the world standings and trails Lima by a mere 60 points.
Cooper Davis (Jasper, Texas), who entered the weekend at No. 9 in the world standings, secured a third-place finish after going 2-for-4 in the Denny Sanford Arena. The 2016 world champion covered Ocean Wave (H Bucking Bulls/Little Acres Ranch) for 84.5-points in Round 3 on Sunday but was bucked off Bad Beagle (Phenom Genetics / Rothe) in the championship round. He earned 235 points toward the world standings along with $12,830. Davis is now No. 10 in the world. The Top 10 bull riders are separated by a mere 615 points in an extremely tight 2018 world championship race.
After climbing to the top of the leaderboard during Round 3 on Sunday, Kaique Pacheco (Itatiba, Brazil) went 3-for-4 when he was bucked off Shelley’s Gangster (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Shelley Cadzow) for the last ride of the night. Despite the fall in the final round, the young Brazilian took home a fourth-place finish and moved from No. 14 in the world standings to No. 11. Earlier in the day he covered Element 79(Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Heald Pro Bulls) for 83 points in Round 3. He picked up 225 world points and a $7,150 paycheck.
Rounding out the Top 5 was Brennon Eldred (Sulphur, Oklahoma), despite being bucked off of Losing My Religion (Broken Arrow Bucking Bulls) in the championship round and Milky Jones (Phenom Genetics/ JCL Bucking Bulls/Waller Brothers Cattle Co.) in Round 3. Eldred took home 127.5 world points and $7,060. He leaves Sioux Falls at No. 14 in the world standings after starting the weekend in the No. 19 spot.
The YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event was Pearl Harbor (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/ H&C Bucking Bulls who exploded from the chute and dispatched two-time world champion J.B. Mauney (Statesville, North Carolina) after just 2.17 seconds, earning a massive bull score of 47.
Action from Round 3 and the championship round can be seen in its entirety on RidePass.com or via the RidePass mobile app starting on Monday, April 9 at 8 a.m. ET.
The Top 35 bull riders in the world will now head to Tacoma, Washington, for the Tacoma Invitational presented by Cooper Tires at the Tacoma Dome April 14-15.
25th PBR: Unleash The Beast – FIRST PREMIER BANK/PREMIER BANKCARD INVITATIONAL
Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, SD
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event
1. Jess Lockwood, 87.75-0-88-91-266.75-760 Points.
2. Jose Vitor Leme, 89-0-83.25-89-261.25-415 Points.
3. Cooper Davis, 0-90.25-84.5-0-174.75-235 Points.
4. Kaique Pacheco, 86.25-84.75-83-0-254.00-225 Points.
5. Brennon Eldred, 85.25-89-0-0-174.25-127.5 Points.
6. Eduardo Aparecido, 0-87-0-86.75-173.75-111.66 Points.
7. Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-88.5-85-0-173.50-110 Points.
8. Valdiron de Oliveira, 0-84.75-85.75-0-170.50-70 Points.
9. Nathan Burtenshaw, 86.75-0-0-0-86.75-55 Points.
10. Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-85.5-0-85.50-52.5 Points.
11. Dakota Buttar, 0-87.5-0-0-87.50-50 Points.
12. Emilio Resende, 85.75-0-0-0-85.75-35 Points.
13. Silvano Alves, 0-87-0-0-87.00-21.66 Points.
(tie). J.B. Mauney, 0-87-0-0-87.00-21.66 Points.
15. Fabiano Vieira, 85.5-0-0-0-85.50-17.5 Points.
(tie). Lucas Divino, 85.25-85.5-0-0-170.75-17.5 Points.
17. Ramon de Lima, 84.75-0-0-0-84.75
18. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 82.75-0-0-0-82.75
(tie). Juan Carlos Contreras, 0-82.75-0-0-82.75
20. Cody Nance, 0-0-82.5-0-82.50
Tanner Byrne, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Marco Antonio Eguchi, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Joao Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Alex Marcilio, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Tye Chandler, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Oleson, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Cody Campbell, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Colten Jesse, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Ferreira Lima, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Lindomar Lino, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Ueberson Duarte, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Stormy Wing, 0-0-0-0-0.00
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