Dakota Buttar Goes 2-For-2 on Opening Night of 2023 PBR Canada National Finals
By: Kacie Albert
EDMONTON, Alta. – As the 2023 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada National Finals, presented by Command Tubular Products, got underway Friday night in Edmonton, Alberta, Dakota Buttar (Eatonia, Saskatchewan) went a perfect 2-for-2 to overtake the No. 2 rank in the race for the Canadian Championship, while Tyler Craig (Crossfield, Alberta) swept both rounds of action to surge to an early event lead.
Marking the richest ever iteration of the Canadian National Finals, set to award $225,000, including the $100,000 Canadian Champion bonus, the 21 competing bull riders showed up and showed out, covering 54.76% of the bulls, going a combined 23-for-42. Among the contenders, seven riders went a flawless 2-for-2.
Attempting to become just the fourth multi-time Canadian Champion in history, Buttar began the event in commanding form. While he traveled to Rogers Place No. 3 in Canada, following the opening rounds of competition he is now No. 2.
Buttar first put points on the board in Round 1 when he teamed with Young Blood (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock) for an 84.75-point score. The 2020 Canadian Champion completed his perfect evening inside the home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers when he topped High Voltage (Wilson Rodeo) for 86 points.
Currently positioned second on the event leaderboard, Buttar garnered a crucial 49 national points. Rising from No. 3 to No. 2 in the standings, Buttar is now within 57.66 points of No. 1 Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan).
Reigning PBR Canada Champion Nick Tetz (Calgary, Alberta) was surpassed by Buttar for the No. 2 rank. The young Calgarian was unable to gain ground as his 1-for-2 effort Friday night earned him just 15 national points.
Attempting to become the first back-to-back Canadian Champion in history, Tetz got off to a fast start in Round 1, riding Haunted Creek (Vold Rodeo) for 84.25 points, but failed to convert in the second round, upended by Ain’t About Fame (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) in 4.24 seconds.
Ahead of the final day of the season, Tetz, who is tied for 11th overall in the Canadian National Finals, trails No. 1 Coverchuk by 64.5 national points.
Two-time Canadian Champion Coverchuk went 1-for-2, currently tied for 14th at the year-end event, having earned 11 national points.
Coverchuk made a business decision in Round 1, declining a re-ride after being marked 82.5 points for his 8-second effort on Foo Fighter (Flying Four Bucking Bulls). Continuing to battle a hand injury, Coverchuk stumbled in Round 2, upended by Ringling Road (Wilson Rodeo) in a hard-fought 5.48 seconds.
Should Coverchuk remain atop the standings, he would tie Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan) for most national titles won by one rider with three.
Roy, who is in the hunt for his unprecedented fourth PBR Canada Championship, fell from No. 4 to No. 5 in the standings. The veteran was bested by both his draws, bucked off by Wolf Bait (Vold Rodeo) in 2.42 seconds in Round 1 and Heavy on the Grind (Vold Rodeo) in 3.97 seconds in Round 2.
He is now 157.16 points back of No. 1 Coverchuk.
Coy Robbins (Camrose, Alberta) overtook Roy for the No. 4 rank as he went 1-for-2, rising to be tied for 11th on the event leaderboard, having earned 15 national points.
The 2017 PBR Canada Rookie of the Year rode Dark Mark (Flying Four Bucking Bulls) for 84.25 points in Round 1 but couldn’t crack the code aboard Broken Pearl (Kinky Buckers) in Round 2, sent airborne in 5.15 seconds.
Robbins is now within 155.5 points of No. 1 Coverchuk.
Craig leads the race for the 2023 PBR Canada National Finals event win by 3 points over second place Buttar.
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The reserved Albertan was the evening’s top performer, dominating Round 1 with an 87-point ride on Black Mamba (Lazy P Rodeo) before again topping the field in Round 2 with an unrivaled 86.75-point score atop Times A Tickin (Thompson Rodeo Livestock).
Garnering 96 national points, Craig climbed from No. 10 to No. 8 in the standings, pulling within 277.16 points of No. 1 Coverchuk.
In addition to Craig and Buttar, 2023 PBR Australia Champion Macaulie Leather (Calliope, Queensland, Australia), Blake Smith (Abbey, Saskatchewan), 2022 PBR Canada National Finals winner Jared Parsonage (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan), 2023 PBR Canada Rookie of the Year Conner Halverson (Gordon, Nebraska) and three-time PBR World Champion Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil) also advanced to Championship Saturday with a perfect 2-for-2 record.
The 2023 PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Command Tubular Products, will conclude in Edmonton, Alberta, and Rogers Place on Saturday, November 18 with Round 3 and the championship round. Action will get underway at 7 p.m. MST.
Stay tuned in to PBRCanada.com and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Canada), Twitter (@PBRCanada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the latest results, news, stats and more.
PBR Canada Cup Series
2023 PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Command Tubular Products
Rogers Place – Edmonton, Alberta
(Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Tyler Craig, 87-86.75-0-0-173.75-96 Points.
2. Dakota Buttar, 84.75-86-0-0-170.75-49 Points.
3. Macaulie Leather, 85-84-0-0-169.00-44 Points.
4. Blake Smith, 82-85-0-0-167.00-32 Points.
5. Jared Parsonage, 81.75-84.5-0-0-166.25-30 Points.
6. Conner Halverson, 85.5-80.25-0-0-165.75-42 Points.
7. Silvano Alves, 84.5-79.25-0-0-163.75-31 Points.
8. Ashton Sahli, 86.25-0-0-0-86.25-28 Points.
9. Garrett Green, 0-85.75-0-0-85.75-26 Points.
10. Lachlan Richardson, 84.75-0-0-0-84.75-21 Points.
11. Nick Tetz, 84.25-0-0-0-84.25-15 Points.
(tie). Coy Robbins, 84.25-0-0-0-84.25-15 Points.
13. Stefan Tonita, 0-83.75-0-0-83.75-18 Points.
14. Cody Coverchuk, 82.5-0-0-0-82.50-11 Points.
(tie). Jordan Hansen, 82.5-0-0-0-82.50-11 Points.
16. Chad Hartman, 81.5-0-0-0-81.50-8 Points.
Aaron Roy, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Gleeson, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Jake Gardner, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Cody Fraser, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0-0.00
2023 PBR Canada National Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
1. Cody Coverchuk, 45, 3, 18, 721.16, $49,476.29
2. Dakota Buttar, 28, 4, 11, 663.50, $50,531.52
3. Nick Tetz, 26, 4, 17, 656.66, $53,187.19
4. Coy Robbins, 24, 5, 11, 565.66, $43,440.69
5. Aaron Roy, 42, 6, 15, 564.00, $43,506.46
6. Wyatt Gleeson, 31, 2, 10, 487.83, $34,680.31
7. Garrett Green, 16, 2, 7, 468.50, $30,011.17
8. Tyler Craig, 29, 1, 10, 444.00, $18,729.13
9. Jordan Hansen, 8, 3, 4, 425.00, $27,408.33
10. Chad Hartman, 44, 1, 8, 394.33, $22,792.69
11. Jared Parsonage, 10, 2, 3, 352.50, $20,095.83
12. Ashton Sahli, 27, 1, 8, 336.50, $23,608.68
13. Jake Gardner, 20, 0, 6, 320.50, $19,763.46
14. Stefan Tonita, 37, 2, 7, 319.83, $18,635.55
15. Blake Smith, 23, 1, 7, 267.50, $20,769.83
16. Conner Halverson, 11, 1, 4, 258.16, $14,185.29
17. Cody Fraser, 28, 1, 7, 241.83, $14,962.08
18. Weston Davidson, 43, 1, 6, 215.50, $17,209.14
19. Brock Radford, 24, 0, 4, 200.00, $10,882.06
20. Callum Miller, 30, 0, 5, 194.00, $13,232.13
21. John Crimber, 2, 1, 1, 158.50, $8,446.25
22. Daylon Swearingen, 8, 1, 1, 158.00, $9,912.50
23. Jake Dunham, 24, 1, 4, 152.66, $10,881.58
24. Griffin Smeltzer, 11, 2, 5, 150.00, $14,586.75
25. Cauy Schmidt, 28, 0, 3, 126.33, $7,782.81
26. Cole Brewer, 13, 1, 4, 123.00, $14,785.75
27. William Barrows, 10, 0, 2, 118.50, $6,388.75
28. Fabian Dueck, 18, 0, 2, 111.00, $7,887.50
29. Chanse Switzer, 2, 0, 1, 83.00, $3,973.13
30. Boudreaux Campbell, 4, 0, 3, 68.00, $4,675.00
31. Jake Maher, 28, 0, 1, 65.00, $3,326.69
32. Gage Gay, 6, 0, 1, 62.33, $3,848.25
33. Macaulie Leather, 1, 0, 0, 44.00, $0.00
34. Kobe Whitford, 4, 0, 1, 40.50, $1,615.00
35. Cole Wagner, 5, 1, 1, 36.50, $3,479.69
36. Silvano Alves, 1, 0, 0, 31.00, $0.00
37. Wade Marshall, 11, 0, 1, 29.00, $875.00
38. Micheal Ostashek, 22, 0, 2, 23.50, $2,916.03
39. Tim Lipsett, 9, 0, 0, 22.50, $496.33
40. Kelsey Pavlou, 10, 0, 1, 21.00, $610.94
40. Lachlan Richardson, 1, 0, 0, 21.00, $0.00
42. Joe Alejos, 1, 0, 0, 20.66, $446.25
43. Carter Sahli, 7, 0, 1, 17.00, $1,115.63
43. Tanner Skene, 10, 0, 1, 17.00, $1,568.25
45. Zane Hall, 10, 0, 1, 15.00, $1,739.84
Photo courtesy of Covy Moore/CovyMoore.com
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