ALLENTOWN, Pa. – During the PBR’s (Professional Bull Riders) Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) stop at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Friday night, Matt Triplett turned in an impressive 90.50-point ride on Shaft (E-J Bucking Bulls/Gene Owen) to win the eighth 15/15 Bucking Battle of the 2015 season.
The win was the second 15/15 Bucking Battle victory of Triplett’s career. He earned 150 world standings points for the finish and has moved to within 1,180 points of the No. 1 ranking in the PBR world standings.
The current No. 1 bull rider in the world, 2013 PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney, joined Triplett in the 90-point club, receiving 90.25 points atopModified Clyde (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Ken Barnhard) to add 90 points to his season total in the world standings and increase his lead over Joao Ricardo Vieira to 477.5 points.
There were five other qualified rides in the bonus round of competition.
The 15/15 Bucking Battles feature the Top 15 bull riders in the world competing against the 15 highest-ranked bulls at the event for an additional purse of $21,000 and valuable bonus points toward the PBR world standings. The bulls are randomly assigned a position from 1-15 and the riders are then matched with their bulls based upon their current rankings in the BFTS standings.
The 15/15 Bucking Battle will air on CBS Television Network on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
Round 1 of the PBR’s two-day Allentown Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, also took place Friday at the PPL Center with Stormy Wing posting 87 points on Tahonta’s Magic (J.A.R.S. Bucking Bulls/Gene Owen) to capture first place in the round and earn 100 event points for the finish.
The round win was Wing’s first since the St. Louis BFTS event in February.
Stetson Lawrence rode Micro Man (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 85.75 points for second place in the round. Lawrence collected 60 event points toward the world standings for the performance.
Mason Lowe covered Big John (Gene Owen Bucking Bulls) for an 85.5-point ride score, putting him in third place in Round 1. Lowe received 50 event points for the finish.
J.W. Harris continued his hot streak with another qualified ride to finish in fourth place. His 85.25-point ride on Big Dan (Cornwell Bucking Bulls) earned him 40 event points.
Reese Cates and Chase Outlaw finished in a tie for fifth place with 85 points apiece. Cates covered Direct Deposit (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls), while Outlaw rode Say I Won’t Gunslinger (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/H&C Bucking Bulls) as each received 15 events points.
Round 2 and the Built Ford Tough Championship Round of the Allentown Invitational take place Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. ET. All of the action will air on CBS Sports Network on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can also catch each night of the action on PBR LIVE via CarbonTV.com. PBR LIVE is now available at no charge to all fans and media.
In honor of the PBR Pink Promise campaign to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), every Friday at the remaining BFTS events will be Wrangler Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night, featuring the $5,000 Bootdaddy.com Breast Cancer Bounty Bull.
Circle City (Cornwell Bucking Bulls) was the Bootdaddy.com Breast Cancer Bounty Bull in Allentown worth a $2,500 bonus to his opponent, reigning World Champion Silvano Alves, and $2,500 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation if Alves made a qualified ride. After only 2.37 seconds, Circle City launched Alves for no score. As a result, neither Alves nor the foundation will receive the bonus. Fans can still donate to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation by visiting the PBR Pink Promise web page at www.pbr.com/PBRgoesPink.
Allentown is the 25th stop on the 2015 Built Ford Tough Series. The season will culminate with the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 21-25 at the Thomas & Mack Center when the 2015 PBR World Champion, the bull rider who earns the most points during the 2015 season, will receive the coveted World Championship belt buckle and a $1 million bonus. Tickets for the PBR World Finals are on sale now and can be purchased at UNLVtickets.com.
The BFTS is televised every week on CBS, CBS Sports Network – the home of the PBR – and networks around the world. 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.
© 2015 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.