What to Watch For: World Champion Contenders Kasel & Castro Debuting in St. Louis

By: Justin Felisko

PUEBLO, Colo. – Dalton Kasel started his 2023 season on fire, going 2-for-2 to win the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour season-opener’s Ouncie Mitchell Memorial in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 19.

Kasel’s anticipated Unleash The Beast season debut was then delayed last week after he woke up with a stomach bug hours before his flight took off for Tucson, Arizona.

“My daughter Willow got the flu starting Wednesday morning, then I started feeling bad Friday,” Kasel said earlier this week. “Then Saturday morning when I woke up to catch my flight, I felt absolutely horrible. Felt bad until (this Wednesday) with a headache, but getting better.”

Kasel now is set to begin his 2023 pursuit of a World Championship Saturday night at the PBR St. Louis Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, when he takes on Firetime (6-0 all levels) in Round 1 (7:45 p.m. ET RidePass on Pluto TV).

Kasel most recently finished a career-best No. 6 in the 2022 world standings with three 15/15 Bucking Battle wins on the Unleash The Beast. The 23-year-old was traded by the Kansas City Outlaws to the Austin Gamblers during a trade deadline deal amidst the PBR Team Series, and Kasel helped the Gamblers earn the top seed for the PBR Team Series Championship. Kasel went a combined 11-for-26 (42.31%) for Kansas City and Austin with four 90-point rides.

Meanwhile, another PBR Teams and 2022 World Champion contender is ready to make his 2023 season debut. Luciano de Castro, who finished fourth in the 2022 title race, has returned from a brief vacation in Brazil and will be in the draw on Saturday night. Castro takes on Crime Time (0-2, UTB) and could become a title contender in 2023 if he rides like he did for the Arizona Ridge Riders (51.4%).

Three-time World Champion Silvano Alves will also be making his season debut following his 2-for-4 performance in Las Vegas to help the Nashville Stampede win the inaugural PBR Team Series Championship. Alves, who also went 1-for-2 at the PBR Canada Finals, faces Savage (0-1, UTB) Saturday inside the Enterprise Center.

Sandro Batista is also returning from Brazil and is in the draw courtesy of his 2022 Challenger Series Finals event victory. Batista is making his career UTB debut against Tiger (5-2, UTB).

WHO IS IN FOR ST. LOUIS

Daylon Swearingen (World Champion)
Cooper Davis (World Champion)
Ednei Caminhas (World Champion)
Silvano Alves (World Champion)
Marcus Mast (Team Standings)
Luciano de Castro (Team Standings)
Derek Kolbaba (Team Standings)
Mason Taylor (Team Standings)
Eduardo Aparecido (Team Standings)
Dalton Kasel (Team Standings)
Daniel Keeping (Team Standings)
Boudreaux Campbell (Team Standings)
Keyshawn Whitehorse (Challenger Series Championship Standings)
Sandro Batista (Challenger Series Championship Standings)
Wyatt Rogers (Challenger Series Championship Standings)
Jesse Petri (Challenger Series Championship Standings)
Mauricio Moreira (Top-2 from 2022 world standings not qualified)
Eli Vastbinder (Top-2 from 2022 world standings not qualified)
Joao Henrique Lucas (Nashville Stampede)
Braidy Randolph (Texas Rattlers)
Briggs Madsen (Oklahoma Freedom)
Colten Fritzlan (Missouri Thunder)
Koltin Hevalow (Kansas City Outlaws)
Wingson da Silva (Carolina Cowboys)
Bob Mitchell (Up to an additional 10 Team Standings)
Ezekiel Mitchell (Up to an additional 10 Team Standings)
Rafael Henrique dos Santos (Up to an additional 10 Team Standings)
Chase Outlaw (Injury Exemption)
Brady Oleson (Injury Exemption)
Marcelo Procopio Pereira (Injury Exemption)
Junior Patrik Souza (Injury Exemption)
Manoelito de Souza (Injury Exemption)
Matt Triplett (Alternate)
Casey Roberts (Alternate)
Thiago Salgado (Alternate)
Gage Gay (Alternate)

OUT BECAUSE OF INJURY/OTHER

Jose Vitor Leme
Jess Lockwood
Alisson de Souza
Joao Ricardo Vieira
Lucas Divino
Clayton Sellars
Dener Barbosa
Chase Dougherty
Cole Melancon
Adriano Salgado
Ramon de Lima
Rafael Jose de Brito
Cody Jesus (groin/wrist)
Dakota Louis (groin)
Kyler Oliver (broken ribs)
Kaique Pacheco
Andrew Alvidrez
Vitor Losnake

INJURY NEWS & NOTES: The PBR has given riders who earned guaranteed exemptions to begin the 2023 season the opportunity to skip two of the first five UTB events with no penalty because of the physical demands of the new event schedule. This also allows international riders to visit their families at home or return to their native countries to renew visas, etc.

2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco has a good reason to be home in Brazil this week, as he proposed to his long-time girlfriend Juliana. Pacheco is expected to be back next week for the PBR Minneapolis Invitational, as is UTB No. 4 Andrew Alvidrez, who is taking this weekend off to be a groomsman in a childhood friend’s wedding.

Four riders are out of competition in St. Louis after getting injured in Tucson – Dakota Louis (right groin), Cody Jesus (groin/wrist) and Kyler Oliver (broken ribs)…Oliver said he was told by doctors it could take six weeks for his ribs to heal, but he wants to try to be cleared for a return in Minneapolis next week or in two weeks for the PBR Manchester Invitational…Meanwhile Vitor Losnake is expected to be out a couple weeks after injuring his wrist in the practice pen this week.

OLESON TAKES 32.5-POINT LEAD INTO ST. LOUIS

Tucson winner Brady Oleson will head into his first UTB event atop the world title race standings. Oleson leads No. 2 Thiago Salgado by 32.5 points and will face Chief (1-4, UTB) in Round 1. Chief has been ridden in his last four outs on the PBR Team Series for an average score of 86.94 points.

Salgado squares off against Street Fighter (0-1, UTB).

SWEARINGEN HIGHLIGHTS ROUND 1 REMATCHES

2022 World Champion Daylon Swearingen has won/tied the last two premier series events in St. Louis and he has a chance to get off to a good start Saturday night. Swearingen has a rematch against Apper’s Mind Freak, a bull he rode two times during the PBR Team Series for the Carolina Cowboys.

Daylon Swearingen vs. Apper’s Mind Freak (2-for-2; 85.75 points against Oklahoma in Kansas City)
Eduardo Aparecido vs. Tested’s Viper (88.75 points against Kansas City in Nashville)
Junior Patrik Souza vs. WSM’s Time In a Bottle (4.21 seconds in 2021 in Sacramento, California)
Sandro Batista vs. Tiger (85.25 poiitns vs. Austin in Nashville)

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer/Bull Stock Media

© 2022 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.