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Injury Report: Fresno

By: Staff reports March 30, 2014@ 02:00:00 PM

The Dickies Bullfighters come to the aid of Ty Pozzobon on Friday night. Photo by Andy Watson / BullStockMedia.com.

TABLE MOUNTAIN CASINO INVITATIONAL INJURY REPORT (3-30-2014)

FRESNO, Calif. ― Ty Pozzobon was one of three riders, including Sean Willingham and Billy Robinson, who were unable to compete on Saturday in Fresno, Calif., because of injuries sustained a night earlier during the opening round of the Table Mountain Casino Invitational.

Pozzobon was involved in a vicious wreck with a long-round bull namedCoyote 20.

The 22-year-old from Merritt, Canada, said he was stepped on several times – helmet, facemask, collarbone and chest – and knocked unconscious. After being carried from the arena on a backboard he was soon sitting up in the sports medicine room and never needed to be transported to a local medical facility.

On Saturday, he was “a little tired” and complained of a sore rib on his back left side.

Pozzobon said it’s made him nervous knowing how concerned his friends, family and fellow riders were following the wreck.

“The head is the only thing I worry about,” he said. “A broken arm or something like that will heal on its own.”

He’s officially listed as questionable for next week’s event in Nampa, Idaho.

However, when asked what he thought his chances of competing next week were, he replied, “I’ll be ready, for sure.”

Unlike Pozzobon, Brent Chaffin was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Chaffin sustained a concussion when his head collided with the horn ofBIG TEX “ROCKS” in the second round on Saturday night at Save Mart Center.

Dr. Tandy Freeman, who is traveling back to Dallas on Sunday, spent all night with Chaffin.

However, an official medical update from Freeman has not yet been released.

Gage Gay aggravated a left shoulder (free arm) injury he sustained in Albuquerque, N.M., during his second-round ride on Slap Happy. Gay scored 86.5 points, but was unable to compete in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round.

Gay said he was fine when he kept his free arm down, but the pain became unbearable once he needed to lift it up above his shoulder in Round 2.

He is questionable for Nampa.

Reigning World Champion J.B. Mauney said his days of switching to his right hand are effectively over.

“Nope, never again,” he said, after bucking off Cool Moe Dee in Round 2 on Saturday night. Mauney injured his left hand Friday night and will have an MRI this week before consulting with Freeman.

Mauney is not expected to compete in Nampa while Freeman determines the extent of his injury.

The 27-year-old had previously made a switch to his right hand a few years ago and successfully made the whistle on two short-round caliber bulls –Gunpowder & Lead and Bad Blake – but said he’s “retiring from riding right-handed.”

Saturday night, he borrowed Willingham’s rope and couldn’t get his hand out.

Mauney joked afterward that he failed to ask Willingham for the combination to the lock. After winding up underneath Cool Moe Dee, Mauney said he had no choice but to “play dead.”

The Mooresville, N.C., native was returning to competition in Fresno after being out one week with a sprained ankle sustained in Tacoma, Wash.

Chase Outlaw sprained his pelvis (pubic symphysis) and right SI joint along with straining his right groin (adductor brevis) during the second round. Outlaw said he might have caught a knot, which stretched out his right leg, and he immediately felt a pop.

He is doubtful for Nampa.

Robinson did not compete in Round 2 after aggravating a left groin (hip adductor) strain sustained a week earlier, while Willingham opted out of the 15/15 Bucking Battle after aggravating a jaw injury that he suffered in Albuquerque.

Both of them are questionable for Nampa.

Willingham said he’ll have his jaw re-examined by Freeman this coming week. A local physician, in Georgia, originally said there were no breaks or fractures.

Brady Sims sustained a concussion when his head collided with Western Hauler in the championship round. He is probable for Nampa.

Keith Roquemore, a late addition to the draw after Jory Markiss was injured when he was hit in the chest with a horn at a practice pen in Texas, sustained a concussion when his head hit the ground as he was thrown from Attitude Adjustment in the second round.

L.J. Jenkins and Kody Lostroh competed throughout the weekend, but are considered questionable for Nampa.

On Sunday, Jenkins was leaning towards taking a week off to allow his shoulder an opportunity to heal after separating it a week earlier during a hang up in Albuquerque. Jenkins only committed to riding in Fresno after learning he had drawn Bushwacker in Friday night’s 15/15 Bucking Battle.

Lostroh has missed nine of 13 events with two fractures in his riding hand and went 0-for-2 this weekend.

When asked if he would be in Nampa, the 2010 World Champion replied, “I guess so.”

He bucked off Harlem Shuffle on Friday night, and while he feels confident in his new tape job – designed to keep his wrist from bending all the way back – he said he wasn’t prepared for the sudden pain felt when the bull lunged from the chute.

He said he will work to mentally train himself not to react to the pain, but, unfortunately, Saturday’s result was much the same as Friday’s.

Follow Keith Ryan Cartwright on Twitter @PBR_KRC.

© 2014 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.

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