Leme’s 10th 90-Point Ride Pushes him to World No. 1 Ranking Ahead of Billings

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – Jose Vitor Leme gave fans a reason to hold their breath for a minute Sunday after the 2020 World Champion gingerly walked to the locker room inside the CHI Health Center, holding his riding arm.

Leme had gotten caught underneath Jayded following his 86.75-point ride in Round 2 of the PBR Union Home Mortgage Invitational in Omaha, Nebraska, and certainly appeared to be a bit banged up.

However, Leme brushed off what he later called a bruise flawlessly in the championship round. If his arm was bothering him, there was no telling by the way he bounced back to end his weekend with a 91.75-point ride on I’m Legit Too.

Leme’s PBR-leading 10th 90-point ride appeared to have him set up for his third event win of 2021 before 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis converted on Trail of Tears for 92.25 points.

Regardless, Leme is on top of the world standings for the first time since he walked out of AT&T Stadium last year as the PBR World Champion. His second-place finish in Omaha netted him 107.5 world points.

The 24-year-old now leads No. 2 Kaique Pacheco (1-for-3, 12th place) by 27.5 points ahead of the Unleash The Beast off weekend.

The next UTB event is slated for Billings, Montana, with the PBR Wrangler Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, slated for May 14-16.

Leme was close to flawless in Omaha this weekend. The 2017 World Finals event winner won his seventh round of the season on Saturday night with 89.25 points on Blue Crush. His only blemish was a 6.56-second buckoff vs. The Sauce in the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

 
“Let me just state the obvious and say we are all getting to watch something really special happen with this young man right here,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride told Craig Hummer on CBS Sports Network this weekend. “He won a world title last year, and he shows no signs of letting go of that World Championship status.”

The world No. 1 bull rider will be stiff competition for his challengers the rest of the season. Leme leads the PBR in both riding percentage (70.37%) and average ride score (89.71 points per ride) on the Unleash The Beast.

That is a lethal combo, and one that will continue to make Leme extremely dangerous – and difficult to defeat – for the remainder of the season.

Professional Bull Riders – PBR UNION HOME MORTGAGE INVITATIONAL
Omaha, NE, 2021 – Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Cooper Davis, 88.5-88.75-92.25-269.50-144 Points.
2. Jose Vitor Leme, 89.25-86.75-91.75-267.75-107.5 Points.
3. Dener Barbosa, 85.25-87.75-88.5-261.50-79.5 Points.
4. Colten Fritzlan, 87.75-86.75-0-174.50-47.5 Points.
5. Cody Teel, 86.5-87-0-173.50-42.5 Points.
6. Eli Vastbinder, 85.5-86-0-171.50-32 Points.
7. Chase Dougherty, 86.75-82-0-168.75-29 Points.
8. João Ricardo Vieira, 0-89.25-0-89.25-33 Points.
9. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-88.75-0-88.75-21.5 Points.
10. Derek Kolbaba, 88.5-0-0-88.50-19.5 Points.
11. Silvano Alves, 0-87.75-0-87.75-16.5 Points.
12. Kaique Pacheco, 0-87.5-0-87.50-14 Points.
13. Junior Patrik Souza, 0-87.25-0-87.25-13 Points.
14. Austin Richardson, 86.5-0-0-86.50-13.5 Points.
15. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-86.25-0-86.25-9 Points.
16. Ramon de Lima, 84.75-0-0-84.75-10 Points.
Marco Eguchi, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Alex Cerqueira, 0-0-0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Nance, 0-0-0-0.00
João Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00
Jesse Petri, 0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Ferreira Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0.00
Brennon Eldred, 0-0-0-0.00
Kyle Jones, 0-0-0-0.00
Rodrigo Melgar, 0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0.00

2021 Professional Bull Riders Unleash The Beast World Finals Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)

1. Jose Vitor Leme, 12, 3, 9, 819.50, $151,469.00
2. Kaique Pacheco, 19, 5, 9, 792.00, $134,928.13
3. Cooper Davis, 16, 2, 8, 696.50, $99,120.70
4. João Ricardo Vieira, 23, 1, 8, 682.00, $109,118.03
5. Dener Barbosa, 21, 1, 8, 529.83, $75,718.77
6. Colten Fritzlan, 16, 1, 4, 339.50, $55,653.36
7. Junior Patrik Souza, 23, 0, 5, 298.50, $31,163.37
8. Marco Eguchi, 14, 1, 4, 290.00, $42,983.92
9. Derek Kolbaba, 20, 0, 1, 279.00, $45,204.93
10. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 15, 1, 3, 262.00, $36,579.04
11. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 20, 1, 4, 260.00, $43,438.99
11. Cole Melancon, 15, 0, 3, 260.00, $35,677.78
13. Silvano Alves, 19, 0, 4, 257.50, $28,377.86
14. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 23, 1, 4, 249.50, $38,917.62
15. Eduardo Aparecido, 14, 0, 1, 215.00, $26,091.54
16. Boudreaux Campbell, 13, 1, 2, 214.00, $41,186.24
17. Alex Cerqueira, 18, 0, 3, 208.50, $27,647.49
18. Cody Teel, 13, 0, 3, 174.00, $27,459.49
19. Taylor Toves, 13, 0, 2, 173.50, $28,260.80
20. Kyler Oliver, 7, 0, 1, 163.00, $23,452.09
21. Chase Dougherty, 17, 2, 4, 154.50, $26,812.00
22. Cody Nance, 15, 0, 5, 149.16, $26,296.64
23. João Henrique Lucas, 14, 0, 2, 143.50, $19,099.11
24. Jess Lockwood, 7, 0, 1, 119.50, $21,219.20
25. Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 16, 1, 2, 115.00, $12,308.08
26. Mason Taylor, 10, 2, 3, 114.50, $24,516.45
27. Austin Richardson, 11, 1, 3, 99.00, $20,790.77
28. Eli Vastbinder, 13, 1, 2, 93.50, $14,133.24
29. Claudio Montanha Jr., 15, 0, 0, 92.50, $13,169.25
30. Dalton Kasel, 9, 0, 1, 90.00, $13,651.39
31. Jesse Petri, 11, 1, 1, 85.33, $9,610.66
32. J.T. Moore, 12, 1, 3, 82.00, $12,621.85
33. Lucas Divino, 9, 0, 2, 81.00, $23,474.00
34. Ezekiel Mitchell, 11, 1, 1, 78.50, $9,146.15
35. Paulo Ferreira Lima, 13, 1, 3, 75.83, $11,769.25
36. Michael Lane, 11, 1, 3, 73.00, $12,851.20
37. Brennon Eldred, 12, 0, 1, 70.50, $11,058.93
38. Brady Fielder, 3, 1, 2, 69.00, $4,745.69
38. Cody Jesus, 8, 2, 2, 69.00, $17,728.14
40. Kyle Jones, 11, 0, 1, 50.50, $7,492.39
40. Hunter Ball, 12, 0, 1, 50.50, $8,238.43
42. Luciano De Castro, 11, 0, 3, 49.33, $20,195.00
42. Rodrigo Melgar, 12, 1, 2, 49.33, $7,988.09
44. Andrew Alvidrez, 8, 0, 0, 46.50, $2,568.29
44. Thiago Salgado, 12, 0, 2, 46.50, $7,776.13

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

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