Kolbaba Believes Oklahoma Freedom Success Will Springboard him into UTB World Title Contention

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – Derek Kolbaba was lying on a table in the sports medicine room at Desert Diamond Arena, receiving treatment on his left leg after being stepped on during his game-winning ride aboard Red River (89 points) for the Oklahoma Freedom on the final day of the season.

Kolbaba then looked up with a grin as Oklahoma General Manager Brandon Bates walked into the room with a Coors for his hero. Kolbaba gingerly took the ice-cold beer and took a swig with his proud GM by his side.

The 26-year-old has been nothing short of outstanding for the Oklahoma Freedom and is the main reason the Freedom are the No. 3 seed heading into the 2022 PBR Team Series Championship in Las Vegas on Nov. 4-6. Oklahoma finished the regular season tied with the Austin Gamblers and Texas Rattlers for the best record in the league (16-12).

Most of Bates’s preseason plans have been altered this year, especially losing two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood for the season because of a torn left PCL sustained in the practice pen. But Kolbaba was always one of the centerpieces of what Bates hoped could be a championship-contending squad.

Kolbaba’s ride on Red River was his fourth walk-off ride for the Freedom, which tied him with Austin Gamblers captain Jose Vitor Leme for the most in the league.

“I don’t know what it is, man. It’s like, especially when I’m the last one, it’s all or nothing,” Kolbaba said. “And I don’t know what it is about it that kind of flips a switch in my brain that says nothing else matters but just getting the whistle.”

Leme has long been considered the ultimate closer in the sport, but Kolbaba has proven in PBR Teams that he is ready to try to be just as lethal.

 
That mindset and ability could be the difference-maker when the Freedom take on the No. 8 Nashville Stampede in the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 4 in Las Vegas.

“When the draft happened, this is what we hoped for,” head coach Cord McCoy said. “You know Kolbaba. That ice-water style that he has is what’s made him so effective for us. (Assistant coach) Kody (Lostroh) and I feel like any time we’re kind of in the situation to put him last and to put a bull under him that he can be enough – most of the time, we feel like the other team better be two bulls ahead because Kolbaba can throw out the 90s like they’re going out of style.

“That makes a big difference in your team.”

2022 PBR Team Series Championship First-Round Matchups

No. 3 Oklahoma (16-12) vs. No. 8 Nashville (7-20-1)
No. 4 Carolina Cowboys (15-13) vs. No. 7 Kansas City Outlaws (12-16)
No. 5 Arizona Ridge Riders (14-12-1) vs. No. 6 Missouri (13-15)

Byes: No. 1 Austin (16-12) | No. 2 Texas (16-12)
All games will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network

Oklahoma selected Kolbaba with the ninth pick of the PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter, on May 23.

Kolbaba finished the regular season 14-for-29 (48.29%) with four 90-point rides for a fifth-place finish in the MVP race. Even more important, Kolbaba’s longest buckoff streak was only three in a row just one time. Kolbaba has been historically inconsistent, but he is riding at a 17.94% higher rate at Teams events than UTB.

 
The Walla Walla, Washington, native believes his performance in PBR Teams competition could be a building block for pursuing the 2023 PBR World Championship once the 2023 Unleash The Beast begins on Nov. 26-27 in Tucson, Arizona.

In fact, Kolbaba hasn’t truly contended for a world title since 2017, when he entered PBR World Finals week atop the world standings. However, Lockwood would usurp Kolbaba for the title inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Kolbaba, who went 3-for-6 at the 2021 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas, believes his performance in the Teams season is the best run he has had to date in his career.

“I would say so,” Kolbaba said. “Right now, I feel like in those big moments is where I needed to capitalize on, and before, I wasn’t. Now, I just feel like I’m getting more comfortable in those moments, and it can’t do nothing but springboard us into the individual season.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media

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