Halverson Gets Stepped on but Notches First Ride at the “Daddy of ‘Em All”
By: Justin Felisko
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Connor Halverson’s shirt was ripped and his ribs were pulsating, but all the pain in his body was quickly erased by the euphoria of earning his first qualified ride at the “Daddy of ‘em All” on Monday night.
Halverson shook off a rough buckoff against Safe Cracker in Round 1 at Last Cowboy Standing at Cheyenne Frontier Days on the first out of the night to ride his re-ride bull, Homegrown, for 86.75 points after winning a challenge to earn the re-ride and advance to Round 2 of the progressive-elimination PBR Major event.
“It was kind of rough,” Halverson said after Safe Cracker stepped on his ribs. “I was pretty sored up. He kind of stepped on me pretty good. But I knew I had a good re-ride, so I was really excited, and I just kind of looked forward to it even more. It just all worked out, and I couldn’t be any happier.”
Once he got past Homegrown for the second ride of his premier series career, Halverson immediately ran toward the side of the arena facing the packed grandstands and lifted his arms triumphantly into the air.
The 20-year-old knew his dad, grandpa, grandma and friends were somewhere in the sea of PBR fans.
Halverson grew up about three hours away in Gordon, Nebraska. He had heard plenty about Cheyenne Frontier Days and the prestigious rodeo facility where the legendary Lane Frost tragically passed away in 1989.
“But I’ve never been to this arena in my life,” Halverson said before peering back to look at the crowd. “To get one rode here is definitely a check off the bucket list. It was kind of surreal. It’s the Daddy of ‘Em All. You hear it all growing up. Just to kind of take a breath, and you’re like, ‘I’m here. Cheyenne, Wyoming.’
“It is a pretty sweet feeling.”
Halverson made sure to check out the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo earlier in the day Sunday before turning his focus towards competing at the first PBR Major since last February in downtown Los Angeles.
The 20-year-old is attempting to pull off what Cole Melancon did in LA at Iron Cowboy and become just the third rookie in PBR history to win a PBR Major since the world’s leading-bull riding organization launched the PBR Majors in 2015.
2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco won the Music City Knockout in Nashville as a rookie in 2015.
Halverson tied for fourth place with Daylon Swearingen on Monday night to pick up 19.5 world points and push himself up five spots in the world rankings to No. 40 overall.
The No. 6-ranked rider in the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour standings has drawn Mezcal (5-0, UTB) for Round 2 (CBS Sports Network 10 p.m. ET).
Mezcal is 5-0 on the premier series and 9-0 at all levels of competition.
There were 11 qualified rides in Round 1, so 14 additional riders were brought back on world standings ranking as of July 19 for the second round.
The Top 8 riders via aggregate score following the second round will then advance to Round 3.
Round 4 will then consist of the Top 4 riders in the aggregate based upon the previous three rounds.
Round 5 will feature every rider that posted a qualified ride in Round 4. A minimum of two riders will compete in Round 5. If only one rider covers in Round 4, then the PBR will bring back one rider (based on aggregate scores following Round 4).
The rider with the highest score in Round 5 will win the title of Last Cowboy Standing. If all riders buck off in Round 5, then the LCS crown will go to the rider with the highest aggregate score among those that attempted a bull in Round 5.
The winner of Last Cowboy Standing will earn 150 points toward the world standings and a minimum of $75,000.
If Halverson can rise from dark horse to event champion on Tuesday night, he would be well on his way to his first PBR World Finals qualification in less than four months.
“That’s the main goal,” Halverson said. “That’s what I’m shooting for, and I’m not going to let off the pedal. The Finals is the main goal at the end of the year, so winning this would just be huge for that. And just to have that Cheyenne, Wyoming, belt buckle would be even cooler.”
So will his ribs be OK enough on Tuesday for at least four more bull rides?
“I don’t think they are broken,” Halverson said with a chuckle. “They feel alright now.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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