Ridge Riders Benefit with ‘Heavy Hitter’ Souza in the Lineup
By: Justin Felisko
TRYON, N.C. – Arizona Ridge Riders coaches Paulo Crimber and Colby Yates grabbed at each other and started whooping and hollering on the back of the bucking chutes at the Tryon International Equestrian Center.
Alisson de Souza had just ridden Crossover for 86.5 points in the first out of Arizona’s game against the Nashville Stampede to give the Ridge Riders an early lead.
Aaron Williams quickly responded for Nashville with an 86-point effort on Yippee High Cowboy, but Arizona remained unfazed.
Josh Steele answered the bell for Arizona with an 83.5-point effort on Brutal Player, and the Ridge Riders would go on to defeat Nashville 170-86.
After going 0-2 in Bismarck last week during the PBR Team Series Preseason opener, Crimber was happy to see his team get a much-needed victory on Friday night at the PBR Tryon Chute Out: PBR Team Series Preseason Event.
“Probably the main key is starting the game with our heavy-hitter,” a hoarse Crimber said. “Why is that? The younger kids see he’s doing what he did; they get pumped up and say, ‘Hey, we got to back that up. We’ve got to get going,’ and that helps the younger kid ride his bull. The other three guys, they were close. They didn’t buck off looking off or anything. They just happened to buck off. But that’s what needs to be done.
“You need to see the veteran bring the heat, pulling the heat to himself, and you’ll go far.”
Arizona and Nashville are in similar spots this preseason, with both teams missing several likely starters once the regular season begins on July 25-26 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Souza just returned to the U.S. from Brazil this week, and he immediately added a jolt to a young Arizona roster in need of some veteran guidance and confidence.
The Ridge Riders went 1-for-10 last week in Bismarck. They doubled their ride total in one game in Tryon.
Souza, the 2018 Velocity Tour champion, is expected to slot into the Ridge Riders’ five-man starting lineup in the regular season and be an instrumental part of the team that will be without Mauricio Moreira (hip surgery) and Chase Doughtery (knee injury) for at least the first half of the season.
“I’m really happy,” Souza said with the help of Crimber translating. “I felt like I got a job done. I did my job, which is being there, helping the guys.”
Souza signed with Arizona as a free agent in part because of the comfort level he felt with Crimber and his teammates. During the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter, four of the Ridge Riders’ five draft picks were Brazilian – Luciano de Castro, Moreira, Eduardo Aparecido and Marco Eguchi.
“Because the majority of the bull riders are Brazilian, and you know it’s going to be easy to fit in and get a group focused on teamwork,” Souza said. That’s what I thought about it, and I just wanted to be part of the Ridge Riders.”
The Ridge Riders (1-2, Tryon 1-0) will take on the Oklahoma Freedom (2-1, Tryon 1-0) Saturday night in their preseason finale.
The team will then return to Texas for a three-day training camp at the TR9 Ranch in Weatherford, Texas, where team chemistry will be one of the key areas of focus for Crimber, Yates and the Ridge Riders staff.
“The main goal for the camp is just get those guys to kind of bond as a team, and know they can count on each other and have each other’s back, count that they’re going to have somebody there to do whatever it takes to make them go through whatever they need to go through,” Crimber said. “Get them working out, where they need to be fixing it here and there to be the most ready for Cheyenne.”
Souza returned to the United States to ride full-time in the PBR for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. He admits he is still returning to his best riding shape after not being able to ride consistently in Brazil.
The 28-year-old went 15-for-32 (46.88%) in 15 events once he returned to the U.S. in February and finished the 2022 season ranked 50th in the world.
“COVID kind of held me back, and all that kind of just got me,” Souza said. “I couldn’t get all the way through in my career because of it, but I’m back at it. I feel I am about 80%. I still have 20% to get to where I need to be.”
ARIZONA TO FACE OFF AGAINST OKLAHOMA ON SATURDAY (7 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV)
As the preseason event continues Saturday, June 25, the game matchups are:
Missouri Thunder (2-1, Tryon 1-0) vs. Kansas City Outlaws (2-1, Tryon 0-1)
Oklahoma Freedom (2-1, Tryon 1-0) vs. Arizona Ridge Riders (1-2, Tryon 1-0)
Texas Rattlers (2-1, Tryon 1-0) vs. Austin Gamblers (0-3, Tryon 0-1)
Nashville Stampede (1-2, Tryon 0-1) vs. Carolina Cowboys (2-1, Tryon 0-1).
Following the four games, a Bonus Round will take place. Each team will select one rider to attempt to ride one more bull. This rider does not have to be one of the five riders who competed earlier in his team’s respective games and instead can be an alternate (bench) rider.
The overall event-winning team in Tryon will be the team with the best overall win-loss record. In the event of a tie in the event standings, a team’s bonus points will be the first tiebreaker. If there is still a tie, the second tiebreaker will be the team’s total aggregate score from its two games. The next and final tiebreaker will be combined buckoff time from a team’s games.
The preseason does not affect the PBR Team Series championship race and standings. These games are strictly exhibitions for the eight teams to prepare for the upcoming season.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media
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