Melancon Surges to Event Lead at Debut PBR Challenger Series Event in Ocean City
By: Kacie Albert
OCEAN CITY, Md. – Competing just steps from the Atlantic Ocean, the world’s best bull riders and bulls enthralled the sold-out crowd for the debut PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Challenger Series event in Ocean City, Maryland, as competition continued Saturday night for the Bulls on The Beach – Ocean City PBR. Delivering the highest-marked ride seen yet on the Eastern Shore, Cole Melancon (Sour Lake, Texas) won Round 2 to surge to the event lead ahead of Championship Sunday.
Following a bitter, 1.9-second buckoff dealt to him by Pocket Change (J Bar W) in Round 1, Melancon was quick to rebound for the second round of action.
Just days after being inked to the Kansas City Outlaws as a free agent, Melancon was a picture of perfection atop Xoxo (Lucas Manning Bucking Bulls), reaching the requisite 8 for a dominant 88.5 points.
Not only did the score garner Melancon 7 Challenger Series points, but it also propelled him to the event lead.
Melancon, however, is followed closely by Alex Jenks (Vale, North Carolina), who rode to a silver finish in Round 2.
Like Melancon, Jenks was in critical need of a score Saturday evening following a 3.84-second buckoff aboard Rip Tide (J Bar W) from Round 1. Facing Chief (Blake Sharp/Michael Floyd), Jenks seized the moment, remaining in total control en route to an 86.5-point score.
Jenks, who now trails Melancon by a mere 2 points in the aggregate, collected 4 Challenger Series points for the qualified ride.
Round 1 winner and Texas Rattlers rider Rafael Jose de Brito (Potirendaba, Brazil) slipped to third on the event leaderboard after he was unable to cover Air Shift (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson) in the second round.
Brito, who first put points on the board when he covered Judgement Day (Lucas Manning Bucking Bulls) for 86 points, trails the top position by 2.5 points.
As the PBR’s animal athletes once again emerged supreme in Ocean City, surrendering just three rides, Eduardo de Oliveira (Nova Lacerda, Brazil) finished third in Round 2 to surge to sixth place in the battle for the Bulls on The Beach – Ocean City PBR Championship.
Oliveira delivered the bronze showing in Round 2 compliments of his 81-point score atop Just Denim (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls).
Action for the Bulls on The Beach – Ocean City PBR will conclude with Round 3 and the championship round on Sunday, June 5. Action gets underway at 2 p.m. ET.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Tune to channel 720 for the latest programming schedule, and click here for on-demand PBR programming.
PBR Challenger Series
Bulls on The Beach – Ocean City PBR
Ocean City Beach Front – Ocean City, Maryland
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Cole Melancon, 0-88.5-0-0-88.50-7 Points.
2. Alex Jenks, 0-86.5-0-0-86.50-4 Points.
3. Rafael Jose de Brito, 86-0-0-0-86.00-7 Points.
4. Michael Lane, 85.5-0-0-0-85.50-4 Points.
5. Jake Morinec, 82.5-0-0-0-82.50-3 Points.
6. Eduardo de Oliveira, 0-81-0-0-81.00-3 Points.
7. Lane Nelson, 79.5-0-0-0-79.50-2 Points.
8. Felipe Nogueira, 79-0-0-0-79.00-1 Points.
Leonardo Lima, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Matt Allgood, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Bryce Hoekwater, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brandon Chambers, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Lamar Lehman, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Marcus Mast, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dustin Martinez, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Keith Hall, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Levi Hershberger, 0-0-0-0-0.00
D.J. Parker, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Will Loomis, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Kevin Fairris, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Matt Oliver, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Warlen Aquino, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Ben Havill, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Perry Schrock, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Joseph Petersheim, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Kyle McDaniel, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Clancy Hart, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Tyler Crank, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Travis Wimberley, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Chance Fryer, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Melvin Byler, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Adrian Stackhouse, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Decker, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Jake Schreiber, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Dustin Herman, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Eckhart, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Hunter Gunneson, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Preston Wentworth, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Brandon McDowell, 0-0-0-0-0.00
Jordon Beck, 0-0-0-0-0.00
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