Family Man Kolbaba Navigates Obstacles, Pair of Re-Rides to Take Home Opening Round Win

By: James Youness

FORT WORTH, Texas – Just two hours before Friday night’s Round 1 of the 2023 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast, Derek Kolbaba and family climbed aboard one of the many PBR-hosted shuttles with two things on his mind:

Getting out of the heat (and into some air conditioning), and more seriously, making his way to Dickies Arena to get his weekend started on a good note.

With a quick stop to pick up some fans along the way, only to be further delayed via some traffic as the vessel approached Dickies Arena, Kolbaba suddenly found himself in a bit of a pinch.

“That was not how I expected to start my day, but …” he shared Friday night.

“Things like that can get a guy all out of focus and start getting them worked up that’s not there at the time that he wanted to be or thinks he should be there, but I tried to just relax and go through my routine like I normally do.”

But as the age-old saying goes, it’s never been about how you start, it’s how you finish.

And after logging the night’s high-marked ride, an 89.75-point journey atop Top Shelf, en route to winning the opening round, his night will conclude the best way imaginable: with his wife and daughter, Callahan.

 
“Yeah, this is her first World Finals, so this is her first time in Texas. It’s always fun to bring the family with me,” Kolbaba said following his ride.

“Every time I’m on the road and gone while they’re at home, it’s always in the back of my mind that it would be nice to spend some more time with them. They’re the best support system that I could have and all of my family. It’s going to be a fun week.”

First drawing a showdown with what he described to a fan en route to his round-winning effort as “A little bull called July,” Kolbaba was thrown around a bit during the imperfect out, as the bovine made a few rounds of contact before eventually ushering a set of red flags to the dirt.

Able to best his re-ride bovine while forcing the crowd to erupt in approval, Kolbaba went on to conquer his animal athlete opponent with flying colors. Earning 88 Unleash The Beast points for the round win, he improved to No. 25 overall after entering the year-end event ranked No. 35.

Mathematically still capable of making an insane run for what would be his first gold buckle, he’ll look to continue the success, after celebrating with his family, of course.

“Just enjoy it. Go back and enjoy the family. Same mindset tomorrow. It’s a long week and you have to be able to take all of the momentum from the first ride and just put it into tomorrow and enjoy this moment,” Kolbaba said.

“Then at the same time, kind of push it away and be ready for tomorrow. Look at it as a clean slate all over again.”

Seeing the first three qualified rides of the night come from first-year competitors Joao Lucas Campos, Dawson Branton and Koltin Hevalow, the 26-year-old veteran represented the first non-rookie to get on the board.

“That’s one thing about bull riding, it’s always evolving. Even since the first couple of years that I came around, the bulls are always getting better and everything is elevating in such a quick fashion, and so these guys are having to do the same thing,” he said in regard to the loaded rookie class.

“Young 18, 19, 20-year-old guys who are riding at a very high level for how young and unseasoned some of them are, and they’re riding like veterans. It’s good to see that there are guys who still have that drive and want to be the best and not just show up to put their name on the board.”

Following up on his ninth-place finish two weekends ago in Louisville, Kentucky, courtesy of his 86.25-point conversion aboard Turn Back Jack, he managed to ditch his eight-event placeless streak at the right time, as the Walla Walla, Washington, native earned a leg up in both the overall standings and event title races.

Kolbaba will next face off with Chateau Montelena’s Montana Jacket during Round 2 of the 2023 PBR World Finals, as the Saturday slate is set to resume inside Dickies Arena at 7:45 p.m. CST.

Fans can stay tuned to PBR.com and PBR social media channels throughout the May 12-21 showcase for the latest updates on rides, wrecks and developing stories as the race to be crowned the 2023 PBR World Champion continues.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

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