Mentally Tough Lawrence Pushes through the Pain
By: Justin Felisko
LOS ANGELES – Stetson Lawrence already had plenty of things on his mind to try to block out on Tuesday night during the PBR Pluto TV Invitational at Crypto.com Arena.
Whether it was the 21 stitches in his left calf or his swollen right ankle, Lawrence was doing all he could to not think about any of the pain in his legs.
Lawrence showcased his growing mental strength by riding @PBR on TikTok for 88.25 points in Round 1 to enter the championship round in second place and within striking distance of his second event win of the season.
“It just must be my test,” Lawrence said. “These injuries are testing my mental ability to overcome the injuries. That is the biggest thing, overcoming breaking my neck last year and needing shoulder surgery is building that mental strength.”
However, Lawrence admittedly got rattled in the championship round Tuesday when his bull rope snapped in half as he was preparing to nod for the gate against Marquis Metal Works Red Clark.
Lawrence would later buck off Red Clark in 2.11 seconds using Kyler Oliver’s bull rope, resulting in a third-place finish.
“It just snapped,” Lawrence said, shaking his head in disappointment as Daylon Swearingen headed to the middle of the arena to celebrate his second event win of 2022. “It happened to me in Kansas City one year. It just didn’t work out tonight. I just didn’t feel comfortable, and it didn’t feel like my rope.”
Lawrence will now need to figure out a bull rope plan for the upcoming PBR Bad Boy Mowers Mowdown in Little Rock, Arkansas, this weekend.
The 33-year-old is slated to fly to Little Rock directly from Los Angeles, and he will not be able to get his backup rope from home in North Dakota.
“I got one at home, but I am not going home, so I will have to see if I can get one from somebody in Texas maybe,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence leaves Los Angeles with 54 points toward the world standings to inch closer in the 2022 World Championship race. The No. 4-ranked bull rider in the world is 196.16 points behind new world No. 1 Swearingen.
Slice of Heaven bucked off previous world No. 1 Joao Ricardo Vieira in 4.83 seconds in Round 1.
Rounding out the Top 5 in Los Angeles behind Swearingen was Derek Kolbaba (2-for-2; 174.25 points), Lawrence (1-for-2; 88.25 points), Eduardo Aparecido (1-for-2; 87.75 points) and Clayton Sellars (1-for-2; 87.5 points).
Lawrence will use the next few days to continue icing, elevating and undergoing compression treatment on his sprained ankle.
“My ankle is a little tender, but it’s OK,” Lawrence said. “The swelling has been going down.”
At the end of the day, Lawrence would certainly take his current minor injuries struggles compared to last year. He missed the first six months of the 2021 season recovering from reconstructive left shoulder surgery only to then break his neck (C7) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Lawrence competed in seven summer Touring Pro Division events last year and two UTB events before undergoing his season-ending neck surgery.
“This is easier than that, but don’t get me wrong. This is still aggravating,” Lawrence said. “Don’t get me wrong. All this still pisses me off. It is what it is. It is bull riding. I can’t expect to not get bumps and bruises. I will take my calf being ripped open and my ankle being sprained over my neck any day.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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