Davis Believes Team Ariat Can ‘Shock the world’ Against Team Cooper Tires
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Team Ariat captain Cooper Davis laughed late Friday night when asked about getting ready to face the juggernaut that is Team Cooper Tires (6-0) on Saturday in the semifinals of the Monster Energy Team Challenge, presented by U.S. Border Patrol.
“I don’t even know what a juggernaut is,” Davis responded. “I am just kidding. Shoot, we just have to stay on our bulls. Those guys put their pants on just like we do. I have all the respect in the world for them. They ride bulls really, really good. It is going to come down to who stays on more bulls tomorrow, and my guys can do that.”
Team Ariat (5-1-1) advanced out of the wild card round on Friday night at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to earn a date against the undefeated Team Cooper Tires by edging Team Can-Am (3-4) 172.25-88.25.
The win sets Ariat up for a huge game on Saturday night in front of the South Dakota faithful, as well as on TV live on CBS Sports Network and RidePass at 8 p.m. ET.
Cooper Tires outscored its opponents by 1,105 points in Division A competition and averages three rides per game. It has yet to even trail in a Monster Energy Team Challenge game.
“It would pump me up so much to go in there and shock the world and beat those guys,” Davis said.
Team Cooper Tires is led by world No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme (9-for-12), and it also has reigning six-time PRCA champion Sage Kimzey, 2014 PBR Canada champion Stetson Lawrence and 2018 PBR Rookie of the Year Keyshawn Whitehorse.
“I am excited because both teams have great riders, so I am hopeful to make a good work and a good fight for the next round and make a good show for the fans,” Leme told Kate Harrison on CBS Sports Network.
If there is any one rider in the PBR that has the confidence, swagger and riding ability to try to will his team to victory over Cooper Tires it is Davis.
The 2016 World Champion has written this narrative before.
Three years ago, Davis championed a group of last-minute additions to Team USA to a sensational victory at the inaugural Global Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, by going 2-for-3 and riding Catfish John for an event-winning 89.5 points.
It was the beginning chapter of Captain America, and Davis has become one of the biggest advocates for team bull riding competitions.
Davis agreed on Saturday night that his team at the Monster Energy Team Challenge has plenty of similarities to that Team USA squad that competed inside Edmonton’s Rogers Place.
“Absolutely. This is it. This is Edmonton,” Davis said. “This is our team that nobody knows much about, and so far we haven’t all pulled together at the same time, but somebody stepped up and made it happen when it needed to count.”
In Edmonton, Stormy Wing, Derek Kolbaba, Cody Nance, Cody Teel and Cole Melancon all made clutch rides at certain times to help Team USA upset a stacked Team Brazil and win the first Global Cup.
Davis’ running mates in Sioux Falls are a much different, and less experienced, group.
Davis selected two young guns in 20-year-old rising star Ky Hamilton and 19-year-old Maverick Potter to team up with him and fellow veteran Tyler Bingham.
While Hamilton was the Edmonton version of Stormy Wing in Las Vegas during Division A for Davis, it was Bingham making the clutch ride on Friday night in Sioux Falls that proved to be the difference-maker.
Davis got Team Ariat on the board first with an 85.25-point ride on Evil Intentions for the only ride from either team in the first half. Bingham then later came through with a crucial 87.5 points on Nailed in the second half that wound up being extremely important.
If Bingham – a two-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier – would have bucked off, Team Can-Am would have won when Mauricio Moreira ended the game with his 88.25-point ride on Black Rose.
“It was really big,” Davis said. “I knew that bull would fit Tyler. He is a guy that I have a lot of faith in, and he made the NFR for a reason. Any guy I put on my team, I felt like had a chance to step up in any position. But when you draw one like that, you really have to stay on them. He did just that. He stepped up and did his part. Shoot, I am proud of him for it.”
Bingham added, “(General Manager) J.W. (Hart) was right there and he kept telling me, ‘Bow my chest out and ride him like an old roping steer.’
“It was back to the basics, as basic as you can get. Stick your chest out and stay on your rope. That bull is awesome. He doesn’t move forward at all. He doesn’t have any power. He is the exact movement a bull rider wants to get on. We can get on that bull all day long and not get sick of it. I had a lot of pressure on me because everybody on the team wanted him.”
Team Ariat will need Bingham at his absolute best if it wants to defeat Cooper Tires on Saturday night. The 27-year-old is happy to turn things around following a 1-for-12 showing in Division A play for Team Ariat.
“I let everybody down in Vegas, and I don’t know what happened to me there,” Bingham said. “It just didn’t work out. I don’t know what the heck went wrong there, and for some reason it wasn’t clicking for me then. I came into this one with a clean mindset and got back to the basics. Forward, backwards and ride what I got. Not worry about anything else.”
Bingham admitted that it is possible that riding in the private, closed-to-the fans environment of the Pendleton Whisky Let ‘Er Buck Saloon at South Point Arena in Las Vegas last month may have played a factor in his struggles.
It was a weird environment compared to a standard bull riding or rodeo, and to be back in front of the fans in Sioux Falls is certainly a boost.
“You would be surprised how much fans make a difference,” Bingham said. “They pump a guy up. When they are yelling when you are riding, and they get louder and louder as you are riding, it makes you want to try that much harder. It is amazing to be back in front of fans. I’d much rather ride in front of thousands of people vs. 10 people.”
The Denny Sanford PREMIER Center will certainly be louder on Saturday night when Team Ariat and Team Cooper Tires get underway.
Bingham agrees with his captain that Ariat has what it takes to hand Cooper Tires its first loss and knock them out of the tournament.
“We are going to pull through and do what we need to do,” Bingham said. “I hope they do to. I hope we see a bunch of rides and it becomes a scoring contest.”
Davis is confident in his team, but he will remain proud of them regardless of the result on Saturday night.
“If we go in there tomorrow and get blown out, I am super proud of the guys for getting as far as we have,” Davis concluded. “I know a lot of people didn’t give us a chance, heck, to even get to Sioux Falls.
“These guys have really handled themselves well and I am proud of them.”
Professional Bull Riders – METC Playoffs Game 2
Sioux Falls, SD, 2020
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-88.25-88.25
2. Tyler Bingham, 0-87.5-87.50
3. Cooper Davis, 85.25-0-85.25
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0.00
Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 0-0-0.00
Ky Hamilton, 0-0-0.00
Maverick Potter, 0-0-0.00
Lane Lasley, 0-0-0.00
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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