No. 3 Oklahoma Freedom Ride Red-Hot in Round 2 of PBR Team Series Championship, Defeat No. 4 Carolina Cowboys to Advance to Semifinals
By: Kacie Albert
Oklahoma Freedom: 267.25
Carolina Cowboys: 265
LAS VEGAS – After riding their way back into the inaugural PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Team Series Championship Friday evening via the Last Chance Game, the No. 3 Oklahoma Freedom continued to ride red-hot inside T-Mobile Arena, beating the No. 4 Carolina Cowboys by a mere 2.25 points to advance to the Semifinals of the league’s inaugural title battle. After an electric start to the game, including five consecutive rides, the final scoreboard read a 267.25-265 Freedom victory.
When the game got underway, 2016 PBR World Champion and the Carolina Cowboys’ lead-off rider Cooper Davis (Jasper, Texas) danced with Express Lane (Classic Jack Cattle/Viducic Bucking Bulls) for a mammoth 90.25 points to set an early tone for what would be a ride-for-ride battle. Quick to respond, the Oklahoma Freedom also converted in the first. In the bottom of the frame, Chase Outlaw (Hamburg, Arkansas) conquered Homegrown (Chad Reese) for a critical 89 points to bring Oklahoma within 1.25 points of the lead. In the second, Carolina looked to Mason Taylor (Maypearl, Texas) while Oklahoma tapped Trevor Kastner (Ardmore, Oklahoma).
Taylor delivered Carolina’s second consecutive score when he reached the whistle atop Midnight Flyer (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) for 87.5 points. Courtesy of the score, Carolina’s lead briefly grew to 88.75 points. In the very next out, Oklahoma claimed their first lead of the game. Snapping the powerful animal athlete’s unridden streak, Kastner rode Sneaky Situation (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger) for a monstrous 90.25 points to put Oklahoma in front of Carolina by 1.5 points.
The slugfest continued in the third. In the opening out of the frame, reigning PBR Challenger Series Championship event winner Sandro Batista (Pedra Preta, Brazil) bested Safety Meeting (Hruby/Kainz/Clay Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger) for 87.25 points to give the Cowboys back an 85.75-point lead. The impressive five-out ride streak, however, came to an abrupt end in the bottom of the third when the Freedom’s Trevor Reiste (Linden, Iowa) bucked off The Right Stuff (Diamond Willow/Clay Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger) in a swift 2.52 seconds.
In the top of the fourth, despite an official review, the Carolina Cowboys sustained their first buckoff when Marco Eguchi (Poa, Brazil) was upended in a heartbreaking 7.77 seconds by Pookie Holler (Dakota Rodeo/Brian & Ashley Pintar/Clay Struve/Chad Berger). Eager to rebound, first-round draft pick and 2021 PBR Rookie of the Year Eli Vastbinder (Statesville, North Carolina) settled in aboard Prime Tested (Blake Sharp/Travis Austin/Koe Wetzel). In what would prove to be the game-winning out, Vastbinder matched the bull jump-for-jump en route to the whistle as his team burst into celebration on the back of the chutes. Needing 86 points to take the lead, Vastbinder was marked 88 points to give Oklahoma a 2.25-point lead.
The game then came down to the fifth with reigning PBR World Champion Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) in the closing role for Carolina and Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington) last out for Oklahoma. Riding first, and in a must-convert position, Swearingen appeared to be in total control atop Choc Tease (Cody Ohl/Robert & Angel Myers). However, a late direction change unseated the reserved Cowboy at 6.28 seconds, cementing the win for Oklahoma. After Kolbaba was bucked off, the Freedom won the game 267.25-265. The No. 3 Oklahoma Freedom earned the final direct berth to the Semifinals for the inaugural PBR Team Series Championship, slated to face the No. 5 Arizona Ridge Riders on Sunday, November 9. The No. 4 Carolina Cowboys quickly regrouped as they prepared for the Last Chance Game to keep their title hopes alive.
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