Silva Wins Round 1 at PBR Minneapolis Invitational

By: Mandi McCary

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – As the third event of the 2023 PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast (UTB) season got underway Friday night in Minneapolis, 38 of the top cowboys in the sport were no match for Round 1 winner Wingson Henrique da Silva (Navirai, Brazil) and his standout 89-point ride.

Matched with the previously unridden Blown Away (Nothin’ But Try Ranch/ Diggers/ Kinser/ McCall), Silva finally solved the powerful bovine athlete. As Silva blew from the chutes, his fellow Brazilian riders shouted encouragement watching him match Blown Away jump-for-jump. As the buzzer sounded, the 22-year-old confidently launched from his opponent to collect a career-first round win.

For his winning efforts in Round 1, Silva collected 28 points to jump from No. 7 in the UTB standings to No. 4 as he heads into Championship Saturday atop the event leaderboard.

For video highlights of Round 1, including Silva’s winning ride, courtesy PBR, click here.

In all, there were 14 qualified rides on night one in Minneapolis.

In a three-way tie for second place, Daniel Keeping (Montague, Texas), Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington) and Rafael Jose De Brito (Potirendaba, Brazil) had the Minnesota crowd cheering as they recorded matching 87.25-point scores.

First up in the trio was De Brito in his UTB debut, paired with Don’t Come Easy (Blake Sharp/ Chris Utz/ Garret Carey). Launching from the chutes as the second rider of the night, the 30-year-old Brazilian cowboy recorded the first qualified ride of the night.

Shortly after, Kolbaba stood on the back of the chutes with his trademark stern expression preparing for his matchup with Mike’s Effect (Blake Sharp/ Michael Floyd/ High Voltage Cattle). Despite his bovine opponent’s best efforts, Kolbaba bested the talented animal and strode across the dirt with a sparkling smile.

The last in the group to lock in an 87.25-point score was Keeping. After a remarkable first season for the Texas Rattlers during the inaugural PBR Team Series, the 23-year-old has continued his good fortune during the start of the UTB individual season. Paired with Pearl Jam (D&H Cattle Co./ Buck Cattle Co.), as the clock neared 8, the talented Texan looked as though he might be tossed by his opponent but through sheer try, hung on to make the whistle.

All three riders collected 17 points for the second-place win.

Brito, who began the weekend at No. 33 in the UTB standings, propelled to No. 25 by night’s end. Meanwhile, Kolbaba moved up from No. 21 to No. 15 and Keeping maintained his hold on No. 5.

Rounding out the Top 5 was Rafael Henrique dos Santos (Quitman, Brazil). Matched with Valiente (Nothin’ But Try Ranch/ Kinser/ McCall), Santos continued the Brazilian riders’ round 1 success as he sailed to 87 points.

The 26-year-old cowboy began the night in the No.18 spot in the standings. After collecting 15 UTB points for his Round 1 ride, Santos jumped two spots to No. 16.

Minneapolis’ opening night – the first time since 2019 that the world’s premier bull riding organization has visited the city – was not off to an ideal start for reigning PBR World Champion Daylon Swearingen’s (Piffard, New York). Paired with Skeeter Peeter (Dakota Rodeo/ Mark Baker/ Clay Struve/Chad Berger), the New York cowboy hit the ground after 6.25 seconds. Arriving in Minneapolis in the No. 31 spot in the UTB standings, his buckoff moved him to No. 34 as the first night rolled to a close.

Cooper Davis (Jasper, Texas), the No. 1-ranked rider coming into Friday night, was also bucked off by Pearl’s Ghost (Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) in a mere 2.23 seconds. Despite the upset, he held onto the No. 1 ranking in the standings.

Swearingen, Davis and their fellow athletes will have the opportunity to gain ground in Round 2 followed by the championship round, as the PBR Unleash The Beast – Minneapolis Invitational continues on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 6:45 p.m. CST. Championship Saturday will also be televised on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. EST.

PBR RidePass on PlutoTV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR UTB event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Tune to channel 720 for the latest programming schedule.

PBR Unleash The Beast – Minneapolis Invitational
Target Center -Minneapolis, Minnesota
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Wingson Henrique da Silva, 89-0-0-89.00-28 Points.
2. Daniel Keeping, 87.25-0-0-87.25-17 Points.
(tie). Derek Kolbaba, 87.25-0-0-87.25-17 Points.
(tie). Rafael Jose de Brito, 87.25-0-0-87.25-17 Points.
5. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 87-0-0-87.00-15 Points.
6. Sandro Batista, 85.75-0-0-85.75-14 Points.
7. Casey Roberts, 85-0-0-85.00-13 Points.
8. Colten Fritzlan, 84-0-0-84.00-12 Points.
9. Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 83.75-0-0-83.75-10.5 Points.
(tie). Dener Barbosa, 83.75-0-0-83.75-10.5 Points.
11. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 83.25-0-0-83.25-8.5 Points.
(tie). Braidy Randolph, 83.25-0-0-83.25-8.5 Points.
13. Jesse Petri, 80.5-0-0-80.50-8 Points.
14. Silvano Alves, 73.5-0-0-73.50
Cooper Davis, 0-0-0-0.00
Brady Oleson, 0-0-0-0.00
Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0-0-0.00
Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Junior Patrik Souza, 0-0-0-0.00
Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
João Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-0.00
Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcus Mast, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00
Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0.00
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0.00
Matt Triplett, 0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Koltin Hevalow, 0-0-0-0.00
Gage Gay, 0-0-0-0.00
Briggs Madsen, 0-0-0-0.00
Nick Tetz, 0-0-0-0.00

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