Divino Caps Wedding Week with Second-Place Finish in Salt Lake City
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Lucas Divino has grand plans to throw a big wedding party in 2021, and he made sure to cap his wedding week with a second-place finish at the PBR TicketSmarter Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires.
Divino and his wife, Taylor, got married earlier this week before he headed to Salt Lake City for this weekend’s Unleash The Beast event.
“I often questioned God why so many things, but today I understand why, he just made us strong and prepared for this great moment of saying yes,” Divino posted on Instagram. “I said yes without a doubt without fear, and today I have the greatest pleasure to call you my wife and I get emotional when I hear you calling me a husband, I promise to love you respect to support you in everything, I will always be with you in good and bad moments of our lives until death do us part, I love you my beautiful wife.”
Throughout the two-night competition at the Days of ’47 Arena, it was hard to not notice Divino grinning from ear to ear whenever his wedding was brought up to him on RidePass or on CBS Sports Network.
Like many couples currently trying to get married during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Divinos opted for a smaller ceremony this week, and they hope to have a larger celebration at some point next year.
Lucas can now take a portion of his $15,452.33 and put some money aside for that future party.
Divino earned the second-place finish in Salt Lake City by riding Soup in a Group for 90.5 points in the championship round on Saturday night at the Days of ’47 Arena.
“I know I had to push hard to (ride) this bull for 8 seconds,” Divino told CBS Sports’ Kate Harrison. “Then I am so happy. Everything around me is so nice. This is my life. I love it.”
The No. 6-ranked bull rider in the world bounced back from a Round 1 buckoff against Margie’s Tubby (7.8 seconds) Friday night by riding Smoke Show for 87 points in Round 2 Saturday.
Divino dedicated the ride to Taylor on CBS Sports Network.
“I am very happy,” Divino told Kate Harrison. “Last night I just bucked off my bull. So close. I almost made 8 seconds. Today I knew I had a great bull. So I just did my job. I am so happy. This is for my wife.”
The 26-year-old is 544.5 points behind world leader Jose Vitor Leme in the world title race with the Unleash The Beast heading to Fort Worth, Texas, next Saturday and Sunday.
Divino’s ride on Soup in a Group was his 21st on the Unleash The Beast, which ties his career-high from last season. He is also converting at a personal-best 55.26% on the premier series, which is fourth in the PBR, and he is the only rider not named Jose Vitor Leme to have won multiple events this season.
It may be tough for Divino to run down Leme this season, but two-time World Champion Justin McBride loves what he has been seeing from Divino during his breakout season.
“This guy has all the intangibles that you look for when you are drawing up a good bull rider,” McBride said on CBS Sports Network. “He is a skinny guy. He is flexible. It doesn’t matter which direction a bull goes. He understands where the front end is. He understands where he needs to get to every time. He doesn’t clamp. He doesn’t try to ride on strength alone. That is a recipe for a great bull rider.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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