Cody Jesus Seizes Round 1 Win Amidst Sold-Out Crowd in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

By: Andrew Hatfield

Johnstown, PA. – As the third PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event of the 2024 season got underway Friday night in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona) pushed to a perfect 4-for-4 on the season, propelling him to a Round 1 victory and an early event lead.

Jesus, a 2023 PBR Teams Champion with the Texas Rattlers in the separate PBR Teams league, was paired with Watch Out (Nothin’ But Try Ranch) in the first round.

 
Rocketing out of the chutes in front of a capacity crowd inside SUMMIT ARENA at PBR’s debut in Johnstown, the Arizonan made the 8 for a monstrous 90.75 points to win the round and net 29 Unleash The Beast points, pushing him to No. 7 in the standings.

After winning Round 1 in St. Louis last weekend, Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil) once again started an event strong.

Feeding off the energy from Jesus’s stellar outing, Aparecido sat tall on Punchy Pete (Crescent City Bucking Bulls/Lari Crane/Gene Owen) for a massive 90.5 points in the very next out.

With his runner-up finish in Round 1, the Arizona Ridge Riders cowboy earned 19 points, bolstering his hold on the No. 6 spot in the standings.

Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil), the current leader in the Unleash The Beast standings, retained his hold on the top spot by tying Felipe Furlan (Sales Oliveira, Brazil) in the opening round.

 
Sharing a chute with The Judge (Blake Sharp), the Kansas City Outlaws’ phenom thundered out of the chutes in front of the roaring Pennsylvania faithful, converting for 89.25 points and growing his lead to 77 points over No. 2 Caden Bunch (Tahlequah, Oklahoma), who was shut out.

Dias, the 2022 PBR Brazil Champion who has picked up the nickname “The Watchman,” is now 7-for-7 on the season.

The Missouri Thunder’s Furlan was the round leader for most of the evening after covering Highway 87 (Blake Sharp) in the first section of the night for a matching 89.25 points.

Rounding out the Top 5 Friday night was Conner Halverson (Gordon, Nebraska).

The young cowboy burst out of the gate on Kodiac (Blake Sharp/UB Buckin Company) for 88.75 points, gaining a crucial 15 points to remain in the Top 30 during the early push for a gold buckle.

Also of note were qualified rides from No. 10 Bob Mitchell (Steelville, Missouri) for 87.75 points and No. 8 Alan de Souza (Taubate, Brazil), who finished runner-up in St. Louis last weekend, for 65.75 points.

Action for PBR Johnstown continues with Round 2 on Saturday, December 9, at 6:45 EST and comes to a thrilling conclusion with Round 3 and the championship round on Sunday, Dec. 10, beginning at 1:45 p.m. EST.

PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.

PBR Unleash The Beast
PBR Johnstown
1st SUMMIT ARENA – Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Cody Jesus, 90.75-0-0-0-90.75-29 Points.
2. Eduardo Aparecido, 90.5-0-0-0-90.50-19 Points.
3. Cassio Dias, 89.25-0-0-0-89.25-16.5 Points.
(tie). Felipe Furlan, 89.25-0-0-0-89.25-16.5 Points.
5. Conner Halverson, 88.75-0-0-0-88.75-15 Points.
6. Austin Richardson, 88.25-0-0-0-88.25-14 Points.
7. Julio Cesar Marques, 88-0-0-0-88.00-12.5 Points.
(tie). Boudreaux Campbell, 88-0-0-0-88.00-12.5 Points.
9. Bob Mitchell, 87.75-0-0-0-87.75-10.5 Points.
(tie). Silvano Alves, 87.75-0-0-0-87.75-10.5 Points.
11. Eli Vastbinder, 86.5-0-0-0-86.50-9 Points.
12. Jesse Petri, 86-0-0-0-86.00-8 Points.
13. Alan de Souza, 65.75-0-0-0-65.75
Caden Bunch, 0-0-0-0-0.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Eduardo Rosseto, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Oleson, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Ednélio Almeida, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Braidy Randolph, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0-0.00
João Lucas Campos, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dalton Kasel, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Rafael dos Santos, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Kaiden Loud, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Alex Cerqueira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Daniel Keeping, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Divino, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Trace Redd, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wingson Henrique da Silva, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Koltin Hevalow, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Flavio Zivieri, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Vitor Losnake, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Ednei Caminhas, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Trevor Kastner, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

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