Flawless Bob Mitchell Leads in New York City Ahead of Championship Sunday
By: Kacie Albert
NEW YORK CITY – In front of a record-setting, sold-out crowd Saturday night inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, Bob Mitchell (Steelville, Missouri) delivered a Top-10 score during Round 2 of the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast’s Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, presented by Ariat, to remain in the event lead as he seeks his career-first premier series victory.
On the spurs of winning the event’s opening round with a monstrous 90-point ride, the reigning PBR Rookie of the Year returned to the World’s Most Famous Arena confident as he prepared to attempt White Dust (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) in Round 2.
As the penultimate rider to leave the chutes, Mitchell matched the powerful animal athlete jump-for-jump en route to the 8-second whistle, awarded 85 points.
The ninth-best score not only earned Mitchell 11 Unleash The Beast points but also allowed him to retain the event lead. He currently leads the second-place contender by 0.75 points in the event aggregate.
In his Unleash The Beast season debut, two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) continued to ride red-hot in Round 2 of competition.
Leme logged the fifth-best score of the second round, registering 86.5 points atop Bad Decisions (TNT Bucking Bulls/Hart Cattle Co.) to catapult from fifth to second on the event leaderboard.
Additionally, his second score in as many attempts earned him an accompanying 15 points as he chases his record-tying third PBR World Championship.
Three additional riders have also gone a perfect 2-for-2 following the conclusion of Round 2.
Marcelo Procopio Pereira (Rinopolis, Brazil) is now third in the event after covering Experiment 626 (Classic Jack Cattle/Viducic Bucking Bulls) for 83.5 points, also netting him 8 Unleash The Beast points.
In fourth is Alex Cerqueira (Iguatemi, Brazil), who rode Wicked Ways (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 83.75 points Saturday evening to net 9 Unleash The Beast points.
Rounding out the Top 5 in the event standings is three-time PBR World Champion Silvano Alves (Pilar do Sul, Brazil). He gritted his way to an 81.5-point score aboard Shark Bait (Cornwell Bucking Bulls/Riley Bucking Bulls) to net 8 Unleash The Beast points as he seeks his unprecedented fourth gold buckle this May.
Returning to the Round 2 standings, Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) was unmatched. He converted atop his re-ride draw Homegrown (Cord McCoy/Chad Reese/McCoy Rodeo) for 88.5 points to win the second round of the Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, presented by Ariat.
The mammoth score also earned Kasel a crucial 28 Unleash The Beast points and propelled him to seventh in the event standings.
Young gun Tate Pollmeier (Fort Scott, Kansas) is now 11th in the event compliments of his second-place finish in the second round. Pollmeier earned the podium finish and 18 Unleash The Beast points courtesy of his 87.5-point ride on Harold’s Genuine Risk (M Rafter E Bucking Bulls).
Jesse Petri (Dublin, Texas) parlayed an 87-point ride on Viper (Cord McCoy/Big Sky Bulls, LLC/McCoy Rodeo) into a third-place finish in Round 2. He also collected 17 Unleash The Beast points.
Rounding out the Top 5 in Round 2 was Manoelito de Souza Junior (Itamira, Brazil), who finished fourth. Souza bested Hawkeye (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) for 86.75 points, earning 16 Unleash The Beast points.
Action for the PBR Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, presented by Ariat, concludes with Round 3 and the championship round on Sunday, Jan. 8. Action gets underway at 1:45 p.m. EST.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV 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. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.
PBR Unleash The Beast
PBR Monster Energy Buck Off at The Garden, presented by Ariat
Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Bob Mitchell, 90-85-0-0-175.00-35 Points.
2. Jose Vitor Leme, 87.75-86.5-0-0-174.25-29.5 Points.
3. Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 86-83.5-0-0-169.50-20 Points.
4. Alex Cerqueira, 84.75-83.75-0-0-168.50-19 Points.
5. Silvano Alves, 85.75-81.5-0-0-167.25-19 Points.
6. João Ricardo Vieira, 90-0-0-0-90.00-24 Points.
7. Dalton Kasel, 0-88.5-0-0-88.50-28 Points.
8. Mason Taylor, 88.25-0-0-0-88.25-16.5 Points.
(tie). Koltin Hevalow, 88.25-0-0-0-88.25-16.5 Points.
10. Thiago Salgado, 87.75-0-0-0-87.75-14.5 Points.
11. Tate Pollmeier, 0-87.5-0-0-87.50-18 Points.
12. Jesse Petri, 0-87-0-0-87.00-17 Points.
13. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 0-86.75-0-0-86.75-16 Points.
14. Taylor Allen, 86.5-0-0-0-86.50-13 Points.
15. Andrew Alvidrez, 0-86.25-0-0-86.25-14 Points.
16. Eduardo Aparecido, 0-86-0-0-86.00-12.5 Points.
(tie). Derek Kolbaba, 0-86-0-0-86.00-12.5 Points.
18. Cole Melancon, 0-84.75-0-0-84.75-10 Points.
19. Boudreaux Campbell, 0-83.5-0-0-83.50-8 Points.
(tie). Dener Barbosa, 0-83.5-0-0-83.50-8 Points.
21. Ednei Caminhas, 0-79-0-0-79.00-7 Points.
22. Luciano De Castro, 0-76.25-0-0-76.25
Cooper Davis, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Daniel Keeping, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Rafael Jose de Brito, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brady Oleson, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Colten Fritzlan, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Braidy Randolph, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Chase Outlaw, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Casey Roberts, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Junior Patrik Souza, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0-0-0.00
João Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Louis, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Alisson De Souza, 0-0-0-0-0.00
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