Melancon Ready to Push for PBR World Finals and Wrangler NFR Qualifications
LOS ANGELES – Cole Melancon was not going to sugarcoat making his Unleash The Beast debut in downtown Los Angeles at STAPLES Center in one of the PBR’s largest events of the year.
For any rider stepping foot on the UTB for the first time, there are naturally some nerves attached. Those nerves only amplify for a rider like Melancon who had to ride his bull in Round 1 at Iron Cowboy, presented by Ariat, if he wanted the opportunity to ride for over $100,000 on Saturday night.
“There are some nerves there, but I’m not near as nervous as I guess I would be,” Melancon said. “Shoot, I’ve been doing this for a long time, and you’ve just got to go at it like it’s just another bull riding. You see all these guys that’s been doing it forever, but hey, they’re all my buddies and stuff, and I rodeoed with half of them, and I’ve known a lot of them before that.
“So there’s no sense of sweating it. You just come over here and just do what you do. Just take it one bull at a time, and we’ll see how it goes. Play it by your cards. Just do your job and the judges do theirs.”
Melancon is no stranger to some of the biggest stages in rodeo and bull riding. Not only is he a two-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, but he also was a key member of the 2017 Team USA Eagles squad that won the inaugural Global Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, over two years ago.
Therefore, it came as no surprise when Melancon took care of business in Round 1 of Iron Cowboy on Friday night, riding Let’s Play Clay for 85 points to advance in the progressive elimination bull riding.
“Oh man, shoot. I mean, the nerves weren’t near as bad as they were,” Melancon said. “But like you said, I’ve been to the NFR twice, and that helps kind of soothe everything down for events like this.”
Melancon picked up six world points with the eighth-place finish in Round 1 to move up to 24th in the world standings.
At his current pace, Melancon may end up seeded on the PBR’s top tour, which is one of his goals for 2020.
In past years, Melancon did not want to commit to a PBR run so that he could focus on his rodeo career. That is going to change in 2020.
Melancon is going to attempt to qualify for both the PBR World Finals and the NFR.
“I got this opportunity and hopefully it works out,” Melancon said. “I definitely am planning on sticking around. It will be tough doing both. It is not easy. If you can make the PBR Finals and the NFR, it is all worth it at the end of the day.”
Melancon was on track to qualify for a third consecutive NFR last year before he suffered a collapsed lung and three broken ribs at the California Rodeo Salinas on July 22. He wound up finishing 18th in the final 2019 NFR standings; he was ranked No. 13 at the time of his injury.
“I am going to still rodeo and try and swing both this year,” Melancon said. “I am putting my cards out there and seeing how they play out. I dang sure am not going to give up on rodeoing with me barely missing the Finals last year because of an injury. It sucked having to sit home in December last year and watching that on TV. It dang sure gave me the will and the fire to get back there.”
Melancon has seen fellow bull riders Daylon Swearingen and Brennon Eldred recently pull off double-duty, and he believes he can follow suit and make it to Las Vegas twice this year.
“It’s dang sure doable,” Melancon said. “But seeing Daylon do it last year, he juggled that, this, college rodeo and pro rodeoing. So I know it’s doable. It’s just the fact of, am I willing to put in the time and the effort, and spend all this time away from home to do it?
“Which I’m going to do this year.”
Melancon is one of 25 riders still in contention at Iron Cowboy. The Paris, Texas, bull rider has drawn Bad Decisions (7-3, UTB) for Round 2 (RidePass 9:45 p.m. ET).
The Top 8 riders via aggregate score following the second round will then advance to Round 3 on Saturday night.
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 the completion of Round 4).
The rider with the highest score in Round 5 will win the title of Iron Cowboy. If all riders buck off in Round 5, then the Iron Cowboy crown will go to the rider with the highest aggregate score among those that attempted a bull in Round 5.
Only one rookie has ever won a PBR Major, and Melancon would become the frontrunner for the 2020 Rookie of the Year title if he could become the second rookie to notch a Major victory.
“Oh man, that’d be awesome,” Melancon said of Rookie of the Year. “I didn’t get it done pro rodeoing, and I told myself when I made it here I was going to win Rookie of the Year. So that’s one of my goals, but I’ve got my mind set on it, for sure.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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