Willingham Back on Tour; 14 riders Set to Debut

By: Justin Felisko
April 19, 2018

PUEBLO, Colo. – The Sean Willingham retirement tour has officially made its way back to the PBR’s top level.

Willingham’s 2-for-3 performance in Tacoma, Washington, last weekend pushed the 36-year-old from No. 50 in the world standings to 31^st.

“It is still the same no matter how long it has been,” Willingham said in Tacoma. “It is bull riding. We are not waiting any more. It had been a while since I have actually rode a bull at this level. Let’s not talk about how many I bucked off in a row. Let’s talk about how many I have rode in a row.”

Willingham ended his streak of 17 consecutive buckoffs with an 87.25-point ride on Jasper in Round 1 at the Tacoma Dome. He then covered Lil Hank in Round 2 for 85.5 points before bucking off Like A Boss in 3.37 seconds during the championship round. Willingham had entered the final round atop the event leaderboard.

It had been over three years since Willingham last reached the 8-second mark on the premier series.

Despite coming up short of the event victory, Willingham is now one step closer toward qualifying for the PBR’s marquee event of the year for the 12^thand final time.

Willingham announced in November that he is retiring after the 2018 season.

Since last qualifying for the PBR World Finals in 2014, Willingham has battled a laundry list of injuries that have included a dislocated hip, broken neck and a torn left groin.

Willingham could have easily retired in 2015 when he broke his neck (C-7) and torn ligaments in his neck attempting to ride Cowboy Up in Billings, Montana.

 
“Everybody else at home thought I should retire and be done with it,” Willingham said in 2015 when he returned to competition. “When you hear someone breaking their neck, everybody is freaking out and thinks you are done,” Willingham said. “I never once questioned retirement when I broke my neck. I had a lot of people trying to convince me, but from day one I never thought about retiring. I was thinking about getting better and coming back and getting on some bulls.”

Instead, he is set to return to Billings for the first time since that injury this weekend, and he will continue his push to end his career on his terms when he takes on Hostile (0-0, PBR UTB) on Saturday night.

Willingham will be competing in the Group B pool of Round 1 riders in Billings.

The PBR announced a special format for this weekend’s event.

Round 1 is going to be split across two nights of competition with two groups of riders. The 60 highest-ranking riders in the world standings available to compete have qualified for the event.

On Friday night, riders competing in Saturday night’s 15/15 Bucking Battle will compete alongside 20 other pre-selected riders from the draw in Round 1 Group A.

Saturday night will then feature the remaining 25 riders in the draw competing in Round 1 Group B prior to the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

The Top 30 individual scores from Group A and B will advance to Round 2 on Sunday. Should fewer than 30 qualified rides be recorded, the remaining slots will be filled according to the PBR world standings at the start of the event.

The championship round will then consist of the Top 15 riders in the event average based on their two rides.

Below is a look at which riders are expected to compete in Billings and on what days.

Friday night Round 1 Contestants (Group A)

No. 1 Ramon de Lima
No. 2 Cody Nance
No. 3 Luciano de Castro
No. 5 Eduardo Aparecido
No. 6 Claudio Montanha Jr.
No. 7 Jess Lockwood
No. 9 Kaique Pacheco
No. 11 Cooper Davis
No. 12 Brennon Eldred
No. 13 Ryan Dirteater
No. 14 Derek Kolbaba
No. 15 Valdiron de Oliveira
No. 16 Stetson Lawrence
No. 18 Dakota Buttar
No. 20 Tanner Byrne
No. 21 Keyshawn Whitehorse
No. 41 Brock Radford
No. 42 Michael Lane
No. 47 Wallace de Oliveira
No. 48 Fernando Henrique Novais
No. 50 Ueberson Duarte
No. 51 Rubens Barbosa
No. 57 Troy Wilkinson
No. 58 Alisson Souza- !
No. 59 Bryan Titman
No. 59 Ryan Miller
No. 63 Ricky Aguiar
No. 64 Jesse Tillman- #
No. 65 Cristiano Figueredo- !
No. 67 Lonnie West – !
No. 72 Taylor Toves – #
No. 72 Danilo Carlos Sobrinho- !
No. 76 Dakota Eagleburger- !
No. 79 Daniel Tinsman- !
No. 80 Luke Bradley- !
! – Making PBR career premier series debut
# – Making 25^th PBR: Unleash The Beast season debut

There are seven riders making their career debuts in Billings on Friday night – Alisson Souza, Cristiano Figueredo, Lonnie West, Danilo Carlos Sobrinho, Dakota Eagleburger, Daniel Tinsman and Luke Bradley.

Souza is a talented rider from Taubate, Brazil, who is 5-for-14 since making his United States debut at The AMERICAN Semi-Finals.

The 24-year-old won the prestigious Barretos rodeo last year by going 4-for-5 with an event-winning 92 points in the championship round.

Souza also won the April 7 Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Casper, Wyoming.

 
He will make his premier series debut against Rooster Tail (0-1, PBR UTB).

Figueredo is 9-for-27 at all levels of competition this season and is two rides away from a new career-high. The 29-year-old will take on Twisted.

West is one of the up-and-coming riders in Canada and was selected by Team Canada coach Aaron Roy for the upcoming Sydney, Australia, Global Cup event (June 9-10).

The 22-year-old won the New Town, North Dakota, Velocity Tour event back in November and is 11-for-29 at all levels this season.

The Cadogan, Alberta, native comes from a prestigious rodeo family. West’s father, Kevin, won the Calgary Stampede in 1989, and Lonnie is one of three bull riding brothers.

West has drawn Udder Lover (15-5, PBR UTB) for Round 1.

Sobrinho is competing in PBR-sanctioned events for the first time. The Tupa, Brazil, bull rider is 6-for-11 in five non-premier series events in 2018.

The 31-year-old won the 2014 Brazilian championship in the Top Team Cup association and was teammates with Castro and Dener Barbosa during a two-year span when the group was part of a winning team at Barretos.

Sobrinho is slated to face Hell Bound (1-0, PBR UTB) in Round 1.

Eagleburger is 4-for-17 this season on the Velocity Tour, including a second-place finish in Lexington, Kentucky. The 23-year-old is 4-for-17 (23.55 percent) in 11 non-premier series events.

The Fair Grove, Missouri, bull rider rode Vegas Outlaw for 87.75 points at Matt Scharping’s annual hometown rodeo in Arlington, Minnesota, last September as well.

Eagleburger has drawn Whiskey Bent (8-2, PBR UTB) for Round 1.

Tinsman is 5-for-14 on the Velocity Tour with two fourth-place finishes in March. The 22-year-old from Farmland, Indiana, will face Blue Boy (0-0, PBR UTB) in Round 1 and comes from a family of bull riders.

Bradley (2-for-13) notched his two rides this year on RVT during his second-place finish in Wheeling, West Virginia.  The 24-year-old from Seligman, Missouri, has drawn White Tie (0-0, PBR UTB).

Saturday night Round 1 Contestants (Group B)

No. 24 Fabiano Vieira
No. 26 Marco Eguchi
No. 27 Alex Marcilio
No. 29 Joao Ricardo Vieira
No. 31 Sean Willingham
No. 33 Lucas Divino
No. 33 Tye Chandler
No. 36 Cody Heffernan
No. 40 Cody Campbell
No. 42 Colten Jesse
No. 44 Paulo Lima
No. 45 Justin Granger
No. 52 Junio Quaresima – !
No. 55 Jorge Valdiviezo – #
No. 59 Ezekiel Mitchell – !
No. 66 Cody Jesus
No. 67 Cody Casper – !
No. 67 Lawson Nobbs – !
No. 67 Lachlan Richardson
No. 74 Garret Lange
No. 76 Austin Richardson – !
No. 80 Kache Moosman – !
No. 85 Cody Brewer – !
No. 88 Zane Lambert -#
! – Making PBR career premier series debut
# – Making 25^th PBR: Unleash The Beast season debut

There are seven riders making their career debuts in Billings on Saturday night – Junio Quaresima, Ezekiel Mitchel, Cody Casper, Lawson Nobbs, Austin Richardson, Kache Moosman and Cody Brewer.

Quaresima earned a trip to Billings after earning 120 world points in his victory in Roanoke, Virginia, last weekend. The 25-year-old went 2-for-3 for his first PBR victory on American soil on his birthday,

2018 is the Meridiano, Brazil, native’s first in the United States. Quaresima finished 2017 fourth in PBR Brazil.

 
Quaresima has drawn Carbon Copy (0-1, PBR UTB) for Round 1.

Mitchell is making his debut after beginning the season 8-for-18 (44.44 percent). The 21-year-old finished first and third at the ABBI Spring Fling event in Stephenville, Texas, by riding Church Bells for 86 points and The Accountant for 82 points.

The Baytown, Texas, bull rider will meet up against Check It Out.

Casper – a 25-year-old from Newport, Washington – is 10-for-29 at non-premier series events and will take on Clover Mountain Beau (3-2,PBR UTB) in Round 1.

Nobbs is 7-for-27 (25.93 percent) at all levels of competition, but the Moura, Australia, 21-year-old has bucked off seven in a row. He will look to buck that streak when he faces Get Shorty (7-1, PBR UTB).

Richardson is the youngest competitor in Billings. This weekend is the 18-year-old’s fifth at any level, and he earned his way to Billings by finishing in second-place at last week’s RVT event in Roanoke, Virginia.

The Wilmer, Texas, native has trained and practiced alongside 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi.

 
Richardson takes on Like A Boss (10-8, PBR UTB) in Round 1.

Moosman is competing in only his fifth event and is 4-for-8 this season. The 27-year-old from Price, Utah, is in his first PBR season after primarily competing in PRCA rodeos. He has drawn Uncle Si (8-0, PBR UTB).

There are 15 riders – Radford, Lane, Wallace Oliveira, Novais, Duarte, Wilkinson, Titman, Miller, Aguiar, Tillman, West, Toves, Sobrinho, Eagleburger, Bradley that are also entered in the Saturday Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Des Moines, Iowa.

Brewer got the call to compete in Billings after winning the Elmira, New York, Touring Pro Division event last weekend. It was the 27-year-old’s first victory of his career. The Knoxville, Tennessee, native will take on Check Mate (2-1, PBR UTB).

There are 12 riders inside the Top 35 not competing in Billings: No. 4 Jose Vitor Leme (torn left ACL), No. 8 Dener Barbosa (broken right foot), No. 10 Cody Teel (broken left ankle), No. 17 Guilherme Marchi (fractured sternum/broken rib/right sternoclavicular sprain), No. 19 Gage Gay (right reconstructive knee surgery), No. 22 Emilio Resende (left shoulder surgery), No. 23 Nathan Burtenshaw (broken right clavicle), No. 25 Silvano Alves (bruised neck), No. 28 J.B. Mauney (broken back T1/T2), No. 30 Fraser Babbington (ineligible), No. 32 Chase Robbins (right elbow) and No. 35 Juan Carlos Contreras (right hip pointer). 

World leader Ramon de Lima has drawn Muddy Water (0-0, PBR UTB).

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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