Only Bucks 90s: Woopaa Returns to Action, Greatness with 94.5-Point Score

^{By: James Youness}

PUEBLO, Colo. – When the announcer at Paycom Center ceremoniously introduced Woopaa during his heavily anticipated return, the building went crazy as fans welcomed back the animal athlete with roaring, appreciative applause.

The 2021 YETI World Champion Bull returned to action this past weekend at Freedom Fest as the legend faced off with hometown host and Oklahoma Freedom veteran Chase Outlaw in Sunday’s Bonus Round.

Matching his rested partner jump-for-jump, Outlaw rode Woopaa for a round-best, career-high and event-clinching 94.5-point score.

 
The highest-scored ride in PBR Team Series history, the outing confirmed the bovine athlete was back.

While Freedom Fest attendees may have gotten to witness the most recent epic performance from the bull, this wasn’t Woopaa’s first time in the pen by any means. The decorated champion has been responsible for posting some of the sport’s best scores since debuting in 2020.

As we celebrate the electric return of the revered bucking professional, PBR.com is looking back at some of Woopaa’s most memorable rides.

98.75 points (PBR World Finals, 2021):

After the Austin Gamblers’ Jose Vitor Leme had compiled what’s now generally referenced as the greatest single season in PBR history, the respected cowboy capped his successful campaign by capturing the 2021 PBR World Finals event title en route to securing his 2021 World Championship.

But Leme’s star-studded season wouldn’t have ended on such a historical note if not for his elite bucking adversary.

Matched with a familiar, talented opponent, Leme climbed aboard Woopaa before a jam-packed crowd in Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena.

 
Destined for greatness, Leme went on to cover the legendary bull for a PBR record-breaking score of 98.75 points. The memorable outing helped the experienced cowboy capture his second-consecutive World Championship, becoming only the second rider to ever win back-to-back titles.

Not only did the bull’s 48.75-point bull score rank best in the competition, but it fell just .25 points short of tying the world record (49), which was originally set by Hercules and later matched in 2002 by Hammer.

Meanwhile, Leme’s perfect rider score (50) marked the first-ever recorded, capping off an entertaining evening for the record books.

While the talented Brazilian rider and revered bull talent cemented the record-best ride that night, the pair’s performance at the 2021 PBR World Finals wasn’t their first, or only, spectacular showcase together.

97.75 points (PBR Express Ranches Classic 15/15 Bucking Battle, 2021):

Another of the bull’s, and sport’s, top scores came again from Woopaa facing off with Leme, but this ride came much earlier in the rider’s legendary Unleash The Beast campaign.

Representing the second of five consecutive times that Woopaa was ridden for 90-plus points, both Leme and his bovine counterpart rose to the occasion.

 
Needing 91 points to capture the event title, the duo’s then-record-breaking performance (97.75 points) shattered the previous PBR record score of 96.5 points, which was most recently achieved in 2004 when 1997 PBR World Champion and current Gamblers’ Head Coach Michael Gaffney teamed up with Little Yellow Jacket.

The ride came during Leme’s other-worldly 2021 campaign, in which he regularly squared off with Woopaa, while setting or tying five major PBR records:

Most round wins in a season (21)
Most 90-point rides in a season (24)
First perfect 50-point rider score
Highest-marked qualified ride of all time (98.75 points, see above!)
Most event wins in a season (tied with 8)
While Leme has claimed three of the four top-scored rides atop the prized bull talent, Woopaa welcomed a young Kansas City Outlaws rider to his personal Top 3 in October 2021.

96.75 points (PBR U.S. Border Patrol Invitational, 2021):

Woopaa’s four-straight 90-plus-point ride streak? Yeah, Dalton Kasel wanted a piece of that action, and got his wish.

Helping the bovine champion extend his 90-plus-point streak to five in a row, Kasel posted an event-clinching 96.75-point ride atop the 2021 World Champion bull last year during Round 3 of the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational.

 
Forcing the Texas-based crowd to its feet and into raucous applause, Woopaa helped the Muleshoe, Texas, native to his career-best marking and one of his three premier series victories.

NEXT UP:

Following his lights-out performance last weekend in Oklahoma City, Woopaa is scheduled to return to the pen for his next Team Series outing during Rattler Days, Oct. 7-9 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

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