Jesse Prepared to Challenge Leme in World Title Race
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – World leader Jose Vitor Leme stood by himself in the middle of the Lazy E Arena on Saturday night before the start of the PBR Las Vegas Invitational, presented by Union Home Mortgage.
Forty other bull riders, practicing safe social distancing, surrounded the outskirts of the arena surrounding the No. 1 bull rider.
Leme once again proved this weekend that he is arguably the rider to beat in the 2020 world title race with a 2-for-3, third-place performance, highlighted by a 90-point ride on Safety Meeting in the championship round.
One of the questions heading into the first Unleash The Beast event in more than a month was who may attempt to challenge Leme with defending World Champion Jess Lockwood out for six months following reconstructive left hamstring surgery. Meanwhile, expected challengers such as 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco, No. 3 Joao Ricardo Vieira and No. 6 Dener Barbosa are all at home with their families in Brazil amidst the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.
Two riders on the outside of that circle on Saturday night asserted themselves as challengers to potentially getting in the way of Leme’s pursuit of his first world title.
Fabiano Vieira went a perfect 3-for-3 this weekend to become, at 37 years old, the third-oldest bull rider to win a premier series event, moving up to No. 9 in the world title race, and Colten Jesse stepped up to the plate with a 2-for-3 showing, including an emphatic 90.25 points on Cool Customer.
Jesse finished runner-up to Vieira at the event, and he picked up 79 world points to move up to No. 7 in the world standings.
The 22-year-old told five-time PBR World Finals qualifier Colby Yates, who used a boom mic to interview Jesse from a distance, on CBS Sports Network that he was thankful for the opportunity to compete this weekend after the PBR had previously been on hiatus.
“It means the world,” Jesse said. “Everybody knows we have been sitting at home. I have been sitting at home craving it. To get the opportunity to come here and get some world points and get back in that world title race, I am trying to take full advantage.”
The ride is the first 90-point ride of Jesse’s career since he debuted at the 2017 event in Uniondale, New York. Jesse has never won a premier series event, and he now has three second-place finishes.
“Ninety and a quarter, and worth every point,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said on CBS Sports Network. “This is how you do it, man. This gets easy for Jesse right through here. This is timing. This is really, really good stuff from Colten Jesse, and Cool Customer has a great day. Jesse just has a better day. Outstanding ride.”
Jesse improves to 13-for-33 (39.39%) with five Top-10 finishes this season after missing six months last season recovering from reconstructive right shoulder surgery.
The Konowa, Oklahoma, bull rider won his first career 15/15 Bucking Battle with 89.5 points on Lil 2 Train last month in St. Louis, Missouri, and continues to develop into a well-rounded bull rider.
Jesse now trails Leme by 353.5 points heading into the next Unleash The Beast event at the Lazy E Arena on May 9-10.
Yates asked Jesse if he believes he was ready to push Leme for the world title.
“Yes sir. Most definitely,” Jesse replied emphatically.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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