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Montanha Wins Round 1 in St. Louis

By: Justin Felisko

ST. LOUIS – Claudio Montanha Jr. looked at the draw this week for the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational and saw he had drawn two familiar foes in Constant Sorrow and Stunt Man Ray.

Montanha had never bucked off either bull before, and he made sure to stay perfect against Constant Sorrow on Saturday night at the Enterprise Center.

The 30-year-old won Round 1 of the two-day Unleash The Beast event by riding Constant Sorrow for 87 points to pick up 20 world points.

“It helps a lot knowing the two bulls,” Montanha said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “The first bull, the one I just rode, that was the one that was kind of worrying me more, because he kind of jumps out of the spin. I tried to stay a little behind to the outside, just to kind of make him stay in it. It worked out great.”

 
Montanha moved up to 13th in the world standings, and he will be in the driver’s seat on Championship Sunday when he takes on Stunt Man Ray in Round 2. A qualified ride would also be the 100th of his premier series career.

Fans can watch the conclusion of the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and 2:45 p.m. ET on RidePass.

Montanha and Stunt Man Ray previously teamed up for 88.5 points (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and 88.75 points (2018 World Finals) in 2018. Another ride in that range should help Montanha enter the championship round with a top draft pick as well.

“He’s a great bull,” Montanha, who has not won an Unleash The Beast event since last April in Columbus, Ohio, said. “The hard one (Constant Sorrow) already went. Tomorrow will be easier.”

It was a tough night in Round 1 for the bull riders as the 36 riders combined to go a season-low 7-for-36. The previous low was 10 in Chicago and Sacramento.

Rounding out the Top 5 in Round 1 was defending World Champion Jess Lockwood (86.5 points on Ghost Rider, 10 world points), new world No. 1 Jose Vitor Leme (84.75 points on Air Tight Alibi, nine world points), Cole Melancon (83.75 points on Holy Terror, 7.5 world points) and Marcus Mast (83.75 points on Big Shot, 7.5 world points).

However, the 15 riders in the 15/15 Bucking Battle bounced back to go 7-for-15, highlighted by Daylon Swearingen’s 91.75 points on I’m Legit Too.

Leme now leads No. 2 Joao Ricardo Vieira by 26.25 points in the world standings after Vieira went 0-for-2 on Saturday night. Leme rode Jive Turkey for a third-place finish (35 world points) in the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

Last weekend, Leme and Montanha were members of Team Brazil at the 2020 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA, presented by Monster Energy.

Montanha went 1-for-3 as Team Brazil finished in third place, 88 points behind the Team USA Eagles.

“It’s hard to say,” Montanha said. “But it’s just like every competition. Every time, if you look, when we won, the USA was one bull behind. We try to do our best every time. Everybody was thinking the same object, trying to win, and it’s just how it is. In competition, somebody’s got to lose, somebody’s got to win. We did our best. I was expecting at least one team to have 10 scores, and none of them did. I think the bulls just got rank, and the draw was hard for everybody. We could’ve done better, but it is what it is.”

PBR Unleash The Beast
15/15 Bucking Battle
Enterprise Center – St. Louis, Missouri

1. Daylon Swearingen, 91.75-91.75-50 Points.
2. Matt Triplett, 91.5-91.50-40 Points.
3. Jose Vitor Leme, 89.75-89.75-35 Points.
4. Jess Lockwood, 89.25-89.25-30 Points.
5. Kaique Pacheco, 87.75-87.75-20 Points.
6. Dener Barbosa, 87.5-87.50-18 Points.
7. Derek Kolbaba, 85.75-85.75-16 Points.
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0.00
Cole Melancon, 0-0.00
Colten Jesse, 0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0.00
Fabiano Vieira, 0-0.00
Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0.00

PBR Unleash The Beast
U.S. Border Patrol Invitational
Enterprise Center – St. Louis, Missouri
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Claudio Montanha Jr., 87-0-0-87.00-20 Points.
2. Jess Lockwood, 86.5-0-0-86.50-10 Points.
3. Jose Vitor Leme, 84.75-0-0-84.75-9 Points.
4. Cole Melancon, 83.75-0-0-83.75-7.5 Points.
(tie). Marcus Mast, 83.75-0-0-83.75-7.5 Points.
6. Lucas Divino, 82.25-0-0-82.25-6 Points.
7. Aaron Kleier, 81.5-0-0-81.50-5 Points.
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0.00
Colten Jesse, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Triplett, 0-0-0-0.00
Fabiano Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0.00
Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0-0.00
Bradley Brittain, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Joao Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-0.00
Brady Sims, 0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Jake Lockwood, 0-0-0-0.00
Brock Radford, 0-0-0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Louis, 0-0-0-0.00
Joseph McConnel, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Teel, 0-0-0-0.00
Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00
Stetson Lawrence, 0-0-0-0.00
Brennon Eldred, 0-0-0-0.00
Alisson De Souza, 0-0-0-0.00
Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0.00

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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