Tanner Byrne Wins Duluth Invitational

DULUTH, Ga – Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, native Tanner Byrne took home the championship buckle for the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Duluth Invitational Sunday afternoon at Infinite Energy Arena. Byrne, who has now won two Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) events this season, earned the win at the buzzer with an 87.5-point ride aboard Cracker Jack (Rocking I Rodeo/Carpenter) in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round. He was the only rider to go 3-for-3 on the weekend.

With the event win, Byrne earned 482.5 PBR world standings points and moved inside the Top 10 to No. 7 in the PBR world standings.

“I had a good pick,” Byrne said. “I picked that bull because I saw him at an event earlier this year when Wallace [de Oliveira] won on him. If you can just keep your hand shut, you can ride any bull.”

Brazil’s Paulo Lima finished in second place in Duluth, winning the Built Ford Tough Championship Round along the way with an 87.75-point ride on Rebel Yell II (Rickey West Bucking Bulls).

Lima’s 410 world standings points for the finish rocketed him to the top of the world standings, knocking former No. 1 Shane Proctor, who failed to cover a bull in Duluth, to No. 2.

The weekend’s fan favorite, Australian veteran Ben Jones, finished in third place. Jones tied for the win in Round 1 on Saturday and after taking third place in Round 2, entered the championship round as the leader.  Jones was the last rider of the night and needed to score 81.25 points for the win, but fell short by 0.4 seconds as he bucked off Crazy Horse at the 7.6-second mark.

Jones’ strong weekend earned him 300 world standings points and moved him to No. 13 in the world standings. Just two weeks ago Jones had been cut from the BFTS as a result of his world standings points total. He took advantage of an alternate invitation in Phoenix and also captured third place at that event.

Rookie sensation Derek Kolbaba finished fourth in Duluth.  He went 2-for-3 on the weekend, capping it off with an 84.5-point ride on The Don (BMC Bucking Bulls/Jeff Robinson). Kolbaba earned 155 world standings points and now sits at No. 11 in the world standings. The 19-year-old still trails Wallace de Oliveira by 545 points in the 2016 Rookie of the Year race.

Cooper Davis rounded out the Top 5 by earning 145 points in the world standings. Davis was bucked off by SweetPro’s Bruiser in four seconds in the Built Ford Tough Championship round. Bruiser earned a 45.75-point bull score for the out and earned the Salem NationaLease High-Marked Bull Award for the weekend.

The Duluth Invitational was the 10th stop of 26 on the PBR’s 2016 Built Ford Tough Series. Next weekend, the BFTS heads to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the Ty Murray Invitational, presented by Sandia Resort and Casino. The event will celebrate its 20th anniversary when the PBR’s best arrive to ride March 18-20.

The competition begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday and 1:50 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday’s Round 3 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round will air live on CBS Sports Network at 4 p.m. ET on March 20. Fans can also watch all of the action in real time on PBR LIVE online at www.pbr.com/live, or via the PBR LIVE app, which is available for download now on Google Play and iTunes.

The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network and networks around the world. Television ratings for PBR on CBS are up more than 20 percent this season compared to last year at this time, according to Nielsen. BFTS telecasts are produced for the PBR under a multi-year agreement with David Neal Productions, a Los Angeles-based production company led by 34-time Emmy® Award winner and Peabody Award winner David Neal, who serves as executive producer.

Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series
Duluth Invitational
Infinite Energy Arena Duluth, Georgia
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Tanner Byrne, 83.75-82.75-87.5-254.00-482.5 Points.
2. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 86.5-0-87.75-174.25-410 Points.
3. Ben Jones, 86.5-86.5-0-173.00-300 Points.
4. Derek Kolbaba, 83.75-0-84.5-168.25-155 Points.
5. Cooper Davis, 0-88-0-88.00-145 Points.
6. Stormy Wing, 86.5-0-0-86.50-85 Points.
7. Matt Triplett, 0-86.75-0-86.75-80 Points.
8. Guilherme Marchi, 83.75-82.25-0-166.00-70 Points.
9. Gage Gay, 85-0-0-85.00-50 Points.
10. J.B. Mauney, 0-83-0-83.00-45 Points.
11. Justin Paton, 84.75-0-0-84.75-40 Points.
12. Aaron Roy, 0-82.75-0-82.75-22.5 Points.
13. Kurt Shephard, 84.5-0-0-84.50-20 Points.
14. Mike Lee, 84.25-0-0-84.25-10 Points.
15. Fabiano Vieira, 83.5-0-0-83.50-5 Points.
(tie). Fraser Babbington, 83.5-0-0-83.50-5 Points.
17. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 82.75-0-0-82.75
18. Lachlan Richardson, 77.5-0-0-77.50
Shane Proctor, 0-0-0-0.00
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0.00
Robson Palermo, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00
Ryan Dirteater, 0-0-0-0.00
Valdiron de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0.00
Nevada Newman, 0-0-0-0.00
Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Kasey Hayes, 0-0-0-0.00
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0.00
Juliano Antonio Da Silva, 0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00
Lindomar Lino, 0-0-0-0.00
Douglas Duncan, 0-0-0-0.00
Tyler Harr, 0-0-0-0.00
Nathan Schaper, 0-0-0-0.00

2016 Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series World Finals Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)

1. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 24, 4, 10, 1,845.00, $194,131.06
2. Shane Proctor, 11, 2, 3, 1,811.66, $179,723.80
3. J.B. Mauney, 14, 2, 8, 1,695.00, $89,626.48
4. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 15, 1, 7, 1,665.00, $162,585.00
5. Fabiano Vieira, 16, 2, 6, 1,631.99, $104,115.39
6. Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 25, 2, 5, 1,360.00, $78,690.68
7. Tanner Byrne, 14, 2, 3, 1,272.50, $87,262.67
8. Robson Palermo, 18, 0, 4, 1,170.00, $49,787.95
9. Eduardo Aparecido, 14, 1, 3, 966.66, $59,107.33
10. Lachlan Richardson, 18, 1, 3, 818.33, $40,337.30
11. Derek Kolbaba, 19, 5, 7, 815.00, $66,080.18
12. Kaique Pacheco, 18, 1, 6, 797.83, $52,670.05
13. Ben Jones, 10, 0, 2, 777.50, $37,954.52
14. Ryan Dirteater, 10, 1, 2, 717.50, $50,188.33
15. Cooper Davis, 10, 0, 2, 600.00, $33,092.86
16. Mike Lee, 22, 1, 5, 590.00, $39,044.54
17. Gage Gay, 16, 1, 2, 527.83, $34,266.67
18. Valdiron de Oliveira, 20, 0, 4, 522.50, $32,597.52
19. Mason Lowe, 18, 2, 4, 520.00, $29,319.66
20. Nevada Newman, 17, 1, 5, 510.00, $38,210.48
21. Rubens Barbosa, 15, 0, 4, 473.33, $25,852.71
22. Aaron Roy, 14, 0, 1, 352.50, $16,194.52
23. Cody Heffernan, 17, 5, 8, 341.66, $28,278.37
24. Guilherme Marchi, 9, 0, 3, 335.00, $11,301.19
25. Stormy Wing, 10, 0, 1, 315.00, $21,556.67
26. Kasey Hayes, 13, 0, 1, 310.33, $21,191.67
27. Stetson Lawrence, 13, 0, 2, 293.66, $18,598.33
28. Cody Nance, 11, 0, 0, 280.00, $14,995.51
29. J.W. Harris, 4, 1, 1, 250.00, $16,700.00
30. Justin Paton, 16, 0, 4, 247.50, $22,201.69
31. Fraser Babbington, 13, 2, 4, 205.00, $16,603.07
32. Juliano Antonio Da Silva, 13, 2, 4, 200.00, $21,235.84
33. Silvano Alves, 16, 0, 1, 181.66, $15,853.39
34. Kurt Shephard, 19, 1, 6, 170.00, $15,004.04
34. Lindomar Lino, 17, 1, 5, 170.00, $18,022.38
36. Chris Lowe, 4, 2, 4, 155.00, $13,426.55
37. Douglas Duncan, 8, 0, 0, 150.00, $9,930.00
38. Tyler Harr, 16, 0, 4, 147.50, $14,727.72
39. Nathan Schaper, 13, 0, 0, 145.00, $8,259.00
40. Josh Faircloth, 16, 0, 5, 135.00, $14,707.57
41. Winston Lopez, 9, 2, 4, 130.00, $12,219.33
42. Brant Atwood, 10, 1, 3, 125.00, $11,782.56
43. Marco Antonio Eguchi, 16, 0, 5, 120.00, $13,505.54
43. Garrett Afton Green, 3, 2, 2, 120.00, $8,624.10
45. Emilio Resende, 16, 0, 4, 117.50, $12,145.97