Cassio Dias Extends World Lead After Riding Previously Unridden Bull at Sold-Out Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeles
By: Mandi McCary
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – In one of the biggest cities on the PBR tour, World No. 1 Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil) put up the sport’s biggest ride in two years – a monster 94.75-point ride over PBR’s top bull to win the Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Dias’s fourth win of the season inside a sold-out Crypto.com Arena extended his lead at the halfway point of the 2024 regular season to 317.33 points over No. 2 Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas), who is sidelined with an injury.
After a great start to the weekend, conquering Hell Storm (Julio Moreno/ Bar CB) for 87.25 points on Friday night and coming in second place in Round 1, Dias faltered a bit as Saturday began. Matched with Ghost Face (Bierema Rodeo Inc./ Cooper Scruggs Bucking Bulls) in Round 2, the talented Kansas City Outlaws cowboy in the separate PBR Teams league was uncharacteristically unseated after just 3.04 seconds.
Despite the buckoff, he advanced into the championship round and set his sights on a previously unridden opponent in Man Hater (Jane Clark/ Gene Owen).
Launching from the chutes aboard the immensely talented bovine, Dias was picture-perfect with a 94.75-point score, the highest ride score of the 2024 UTB season and unmatched by any rides in 2023. The last ride in proximity to the 22-year-old’s high-scoring trip in Los Angeles was Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) covering world champion bull Ridin’ Solo (Bill McCarty/ McCoy Rodeo) in 2022 for 94.75 as well.
The ride earned Man Hater the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event with a 46-point bull score.
Before Dias made the 8 on Man Eater, the bovine athlete had bucked off more than 30 consecutive riders.”
“God gave me the strength to make all of this happen,” said Dias via the translation help of Paulo Crimber. “I just want to take it day-by-day. There is still a lot of ground left to gain and a lot of events left to go.”
In addition to a check for $50,856, Dias also earned 127 Unleash The Beast points.
To the dismay of the packed house at Crypto.com Arena, rookie phenom John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) came just over a half-second within going 3-for-3 to win his first-ever premier tour event. It was the third time this season Crimber was the runner up and denied a premier series buckle.
Matched with Show Me (Cooper/Scruggs Bucking Bulls) in Round 2 on Championship Saturday, he recorded a solid 86.5-point ride to tie for second place in the round.
Selecting Ricky Vaughn (D&H Cattle Co/Buck Cattle Co)as his final round partner, his hopes of advancing on the leaderboard were dashed when the inspirational bovine launched him to the ground after 7.21 seconds.
The 18-year-old cowboy leaves Los Angeles as the No. 3 man in the standings, up from No. 5 courtesy of netting 84.5 Unleash The Beast points.
After going 0-for-2 last week in Salt Lake City, 19-year-old Marco Rizzo (Quitman, Georgia) turned his buck-off streak around to finish in third place, moving from No. 52 to No. 37 in the standings.
Matched with Bubba G (Dakota Rodeo/ Brian & Ashley Pintar/ Clay Struve/ Chad Berger), Rizzo earned 85.25 points for his Round 2 ride to head into the championship round.
Manaba (Joe & Nina Webb/ Julian/ D&H Cattle Co) then dispatched him in 4.48 seconds during his final ride.
Despite the final-round setback, Rizzo’s 2-for-3 weekend netted him 65 Unleash The Beast points.
Nashville Stampede cowboy Kaiden Loud (Kaufman, Texas) ended his weekend as the No. 13 man, jumping up four spots in the world standings after going 2-for-3 for a fourth-place finish.
Having arrived in Southern California as the No. 17 man in the world, Loud hit the ground running with qualified rides in both Friday and Saturday’s opening rounds. The 19-year-old Texas man conquered Bouchon (Phenom Genetics/ Dragonetics/Sankey/Basham) for 84 points and No Cigar (D&H Cattle/Payson Parker) for 85.75 points, respectively.
His weekend then came to a sudden halt, tossed by DirtyBru (D&H Cattle Co/ Gordon/ OK Corralis) after 2.81 seconds in the championship round.
Although his weekend didn’t end on the same positive note on which it began, Loud garnered 48 Unleash The Beast points.
For the second week in a row, Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) rounded out the Top 5. Having shared fifth place in Salt Lake City with two other cowboys, this time the Arizona Ridge Rider held the position alone.
After a buckoff on Friday night, the pride of the Navajo Nation fired from the chutes in Round 2 for a solid 85 points aboard VB Smooth (Less Than 8 Cattle Co), just making the cutline into the championship round.
Selecting Erik The Red (Tommy Julian/ Craig Moore/ D&H Cattle), Whitehorse was stone-faced on the back of the chutes as he readied.
Blasting into the air, he bested the muscular bull to the tune of 83.50 points.
Earning 50 Unleash The Beast points, he moved up from No. 40 in the standings as the weekend began to No. 32 in the race for the 2024 PBR World Championship.
The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida for the U.S. Border Patrol PBR Jacksonville, the 13th event of the 2024 season, on Friday, February 23, at 7:45 p.m. EST and Saturday, February 24, at 6:45 p.m. EST.
Elsewhere in the PBR this weekend, in front of a capacity crowd inside the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, at the Boot Barn PBR Youngstown, Dawson Branton (Jefferson, Oregon) rode victorious, going a perfect 3-for-3 at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVY) event.
The Carolina Cowboys’ Branton was tied for second entering Round 2 after topping Grayson (J Bar W) for 84.5 points in the final out of Round 1. Brimming with confidence, the Oregonian roared out of the gate aboard Lock ‘n Load (5S Ranch) for 86.5 points in the second round. Seemingly unstoppable, Branton moved in perfect time with Good To Go (Twisted Horns Cattle Co./Hearn) for 84 points to complete his flawless performance with a walk-off victory and garner 133.5 Velocity Global points.
In a double up weekend fort PWVT, as the PBR PWVT returned to Memphis, Tennessee Saturday night, Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil) was unstoppable to secure the event win.
In Round 1 of the night, Barbosa was paired with Cold Front (Barrett/D4), firing out of the chutes for an impressive 84.50 points.
As the extraordinary animal athletes of the PBR showcased their supreme agility throughout the championship round, besting all but three cowboys, the 29-year-old Brazilian cowboy won his matchup against Johnny Rocket (Richardson Land & Cattle Co #2) for 86.50 points.
For his 2-for-2 night, Barbosa netted 123.5 Velocity Global points.
PBR Unleash The Beast – Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeles
Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, California
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Cassio Dias, 87.25-0-94.75-182.00-127 Points.
2. John Crimber, 87-86.5-0-173.50-84.5 Points.
3. Marco Rizzo, 86-84.5-0-170.50-65 Points.
4. Kaiden Loud, 84-85.75-0-169.75-48 Points.
5. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-85-83.5-168.50-50 Points.
6. Jose Vitor Leme, 88.5-0-0-88.50-40 Points.
7. Alan de Souza, 0-87.25-0-87.25-34 Points.
8. Ezekiel Mitchell, 87-0-0-87.00-21.5 Points.
9. Clay Guiton, 85.75-0-0-85.75-18 Points.
10. Brady Fielder, 0-85.5-0-85.50-17.5 Points.
(tie). Jake Gardner, 85.5-0-0-85.50-14.5 Points.
12. Eduardo Aparecido, 85.25-0-0-85.25-12 Points.
13. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 84.75-0-0-84.75-11 Points.
14. Daylon Swearingen, 0-84-0-84.00-13 Points.
15. Wingson Henrique da Silva, 83.75-0-0-83.75-8.33 Points.
(tie). Julio Cesar Marques, 83.75-0-0-83.75-8.33 Points.
(tie). Eli Vastbinder, 83.75-0-0-83.75-8.33 Points.
18. Koltin Hevalow, 83.5-0-0-83.50-8 Points.
19. Cort McFadden, 82.5-0-0-82.50-8 Points.
20. Kyler Oliver, 0-82.25-0-82.25-11.5 Points.
(tie). Daniel Keeping, 0-82.25-0-82.25-3.5 Points.
22. Vitor Losnake, 77.75-0-0-77.75
Cody Jesus, 0-0-0-0.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00
Alex Cerqueira, 0-0-0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Felipe Furlan, 0-0-0-0.00
Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00
Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Ednelio Almeida, 0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0.00
Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00
Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Nick Tetz, 0-0-0-0.00
Warlei de Oliveira da Silva, 0-0-0-0.00
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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