Davis Wins Round 1 in New York City

By: Kacie Albert

NEW YORK CITY – As the 15th iteration of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event inside Madison Square Garden got underway on a snowy Friday evening in New York City, 2016 PBR World Champion Cooper Davis (Jasper, Texas) was unrivaled. Delivering his first 90-point ride of the season, Davis won Round 1 and surged to a commanding lead at the PBR Monster Energy Buckoff at the Garden, presented by Ariat, the first PBR Major of the 2022 season.

When last the Big Apple crowd watched Davis compete in 2020, he sustained a broken neck. While the injury could have been career-ending for many, Davis resounded in commanding fashion, returning five months later and concluding that year ranked inside the world’s Top 10.

Determined to earn his second gold buckle in 2022, Davis was sensational as the PBR returned to New York City following a one-year hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. As the last man to leave the chutes, Davis was electric, matching American Gangster (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) jump-for-jump en route to a 90-point score.

Davis’ monstrous score netted him a much-needed 39 world points, catapulting him to No. 12 in the world standings. He is now within 116 points of the No. 1 position.

Mason Taylor (Maypearl, Texas) was second in the opening round of competition inside the World’s Most Famous Arena, earning 28 world points and furthering his stronghold on the No. 1 ranking in the standings.

Still riding with his jaw wired shut after fracturing his mandible in October 2020, Taylor avenged a buckoff from the 2021 season when he covered Catfish (Viducic Bucking Bulls/Stetson Wright) for 89.5 points.

The steely Texan now leads No. 2 Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) by 46.34 points in the world standings.

Courtesy of an 88.25-point score aboard Young Man’s Blues (Paradigm/Parker McCollum/Lockwood), Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas) finished third in ROund 1.

Earning 22 world points, Alvidrez is now ranked No. 23 in the early 2022 PBR World Championship race.

Cole Melancon (Sour Lake, Texas) and Cannon Cravens (Porum, Oklahoma) rounded out the Top 5 in fourth place.

Each delivering an 87.75-point score, they covered Hell On The Red (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) and CopperPoint Swagger (Hart Cattle Co./Hale), respectively, to take home 19.5 world points.

Action for the 2022 PBR Monster Energy Buckoff at The Garden, presented by Ariat, will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Saturday, January 8. Action gets underway at 6:45 p.m. EST.

PBR RidePass on PlutoTV 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. Tune to channel 720 for the latest programming schedule, and click here for on-demand PBR programming.

PBR Unleash The Beast
PBR Monster Energy Buckoff at The Garden, presented by Ariat
Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Cooper Davis, 90-0-0-90.00-39 Points.
2. Mason Taylor, 89.5-0-0-89.50-28 Points.
3. Andrew Alvidrez, 88.25-0-0-88.25-22 Points.
4. Cole Melancon, 87.75-0-0-87.75-19.5 Points.
(tie). Cannon Cravens, 87.75-0-0-87.75-19.5 Points.
6. Austin Richardson, 87-0-0-87.00-17 Points.
7. Chase Outlaw, 86.75-0-0-86.75-15 Points.
(tie). Eli Vastbinder, 86.75-0-0-86.75-15 Points.
9. Claudio Montanha Jr., 86.25-0-0-86.25-12 Points.
(tie). Boudreaux Campbell, 86.25-0-0-86.25-12 Points.
11. Silvano Alves, 86-0-0-86.00-9.5 Points.
(tie). Alex Cardozo, 86-0-0-86.00-9.5 Points.
13. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 85.75-0-0-85.75-8 Points.
14. João Ricardo Vieira, 85.5-0-0-85.50-8 Points.
15. Dalton Kasel, 85-0-0-85.00-8 Points.
(tie). Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 85-0-0-85.00-8 Points.
17. Ezekiel Mitchell, 84.25-0-0-84.25-8 Points.
18. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 84-0-0-84.00-8 Points.
(tie). Adriano Salgado, 84-0-0-84.00-8 Points.
20. Kyler Oliver, 83-0-0-83.00-8 Points.
21. Fernando Henrique Novais, 79-0-0-79.00-7 Points.
22. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 78.75-0-0-78.75
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0.00
Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Jesus, 0-0-0-0.00
Jesse Petri, 0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0.00
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Ferreira Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0.00
Marco Eguchi, 0-0-0-0.00
Chase Dougherty, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Teel, 0-0-0-0.00
João Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Nance, 0-0-0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0.00
Jess Lockwood, 0-0-0-0.00
Tye Chandler, 0-0-0-0.00

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