By the Numbers: Fritzlan Increases Lead in Rookie of the Year Race
By: Justin Felisko
OKLAHOMA CITY – Colten Fritzlan made quite the splash when he won his debut Unleash The Beast event earlier this season, and the 21-year-old appears to be getting the ball rolling once again.
Fritzlan bounced back from a Round 1 buckoff against Bread Basket on Saturday night at the PBR Express Ranches Invitational by riding both of his bulls on Championship Sunday to salvage a third-place finish overall.
The Rifle, Colorado, native rode Funky Cold Medina for 86.75 points in Round 2 before conquering Speed Demon for 89.75 points.
Fritzlan moved up to No. 6 in the world standings while also increasing his lead in the Rookie of the Year race to 179.5 points on Marcelo Procopio Pereira.
The 2020 Wrangler National Finals bull riding event winner knows that if he wants to be up there alongside the PBR World Champion contenders ahead of him, he must improve his consistency. This past weekend was a great example that he is getting things back on track.
After winning his debut event in Arcadia, Florida, Fritzlan dipped into a 1-for-13 slump. He has since ridden four of his last eight bulls.
“My season could be worse. It could be better,” Fritzlan said. “Consistency is key in this game, so you have to find a routine to make yourself more consistent on these weekends and keep doing it. I am looking forward to riding more bulls and staying consistent.”
Here are some other noteworthy statistics from the weekend in Oklahoma City.
47.25: Woopaa did not produce a third consecutive 90-point ride this weekend during the 15/15 Bucking Battle, but the 2020 ABBI Classic champion reasserted himself as the No. 1 bull in the world. Woopaa bucked off Keyshawn Whitehorse in 2.14 seconds for a career-high 47.25-point bull score. The 5-year-old bull has picked up 47-point or higher bull scores in back-to-back outs and sits atop the YETI World Champion Bull standings with an average score of 46.56 points in four outs.
9: Joao Ricardo Vieira has ridden nine consecutive bulls, and went 4-for-4 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Oklahoma City. Before that, he ended the Louisville, Kentucky, event with 89.5 points on Slingin Tears. Vieira last rode nine in a row during the 2019 season. Coincidentally, that streak ended in Oklahoma City with a 2.4-second buckoff against M.A.G.A.
88.1: Vieira is averaging 88.1 points per ride this season, which is second in the PBR among riders with 10 or more qualified rides. How does that compare to the last three World Champions? 2020: Jose Vitor Leme (88.15). 2019: Jess Lockwood (88.52). 2018: Pacheco (86.18).
Leme leads the league this season with an average score of 89.65 points.
8: Jose Vitor Leme is now halfway to Cody Hart’s 1999 single-season record of 16 90-point rides. Leme rode Top Shelf for 92.5 points for his eighth 90-point ride of 2021. The defending World Champion likely would have picked up his ninth 90-point ride in the championship round on Sunday if not for a slap at 7.71 seconds aboard Bubba G.
422: Claudio Montanha Jr. used a season-high 88.75 points on Crossover to win Round 2 Sunday at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The round win is Montanha’s first on the UTB in 422 days. He last won a round on February 22, 2020, with his 87 points on Constant Sorrow in St. Louis. The ride on Crossover propelled him to a sixth-place finish in OKC and moved him up seven positions to No. 27 in the world rankings.
19: Chase Dougherty jumped 19 positions in the world standings on Sunday by riding Slinger for 85 points and Detroit Lean for a career-high 91.25 points. Dougherty, a last-minute alternate for 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis (concussion), moved from No. 44 in the world standings to No. 25.
28: A season-high 28 bulls in Oklahoma City were marked 44 points or higher, 32.18% of the entire pen of bulls who bucked in OKC.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
© 2021 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.