Whitehorse Dominant in Deadwood Touring Pro Division Victory
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Keyshawn Whitehorse thrived during the team formatted Monster Energy Team Challenge this summer as a member of Team Cooper Tires, and now the 2018 Rookie of the Year is transitioning that success to his individual goals for 2020.
Whitehorse capped off a 3-for-3 performance at the Deadwood PBR, presented by #DoDeadwood, with the second 90-point ride of his career at all levels – 90 points on Ink Spot – to earn an important Touring Pro Division victory.
The 23-year-old was the only bull rider to ride all of his bulls in Deadwood, and the 15 world points he earned via the victory moved him to the cusp of the Top 35. Whitehorse jumped seven spots in the world standings and is now the No. 41 ranked bull rider. He is only 11.66 points behind No. 35 Brock Radford, and he is in a strong position to possibly receive an alternate spot for the Unleash The Beast second half opener next weekend in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Whitehorse started his first event since the METC, where he went 6-for-9 and helped Team Cooper Tires win a championship, with a bang on Friday night, tying for the Round 1 victory with an 87-point effort aboard Red Redemption. He then continued his momentum Saturday by converting on Cigaretts & Beauty Queens for 88 points.
The McCracken Springs, Utah, native then clinched the victory in the championship round when Sam I Am bucked Ezekiel Mitchell off in 5.59 seconds shortly after Whitehorse had taken the lead with his 90-point ride.
This weekend is Whitehorse’s first win since claiming the March 30, 2019 Velocity Tour event in Casper, Wyoming.
Whitehorse’s confidence was brimming in Las Vegas during the METC, and it continued through Sioux Falls and now into August.
“When you are around some of the best guys in the world, they don’t have to say anything to make you ride better,” Whitehorse said in June. “You just look at them and you kind of learn from them, just from watching. I have always been that person to observe and see that. Being around them makes you want to step up more.”
Mitchell was stellar through the first two rounds of competition, tying for the Round 1 win with 87 points on Free Wiskey and winning Round 2 with 89 points on Keno.
The 23-year-old is the No. 22 ranked bull rider after earning 8 world points.
World No. 5 Colten Jesse bounced back from a Round 1 buckoff to ride each of his bulls on Saturday night, netting a third-place finish and seven world points. Jesse rode Shake ‘n Bake for 86.5 points in Round 2 before notching an 89-point ride on Short Night in the championship round.
Jesse heads into Bismarck with Top-3 finishes in three consecutive events, and he trails world leader Jose Vitor Leme by 439.5 points.
2018 National Finals Rodeo event winner Chase Dougherty (2-for-3, 171.5 points, 4 world points) and Dalton Rudman (2-for-3, 167 points, 3 world points) rounded out the Top 5. Dougherty and Rudman both were a perfect 2-for-2 heading into the championship round, but neither could handle Humdinger (5.39 seconds) or Switchback (4.78 seconds), respectively.
Professional Bull Riders – Deadwood PBR Presented by #DoDeadwood
Deadwood, SD, 2020 – Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 87-88-90-265.00-15 Points.
2. Ezekiel Mitchell, 87-89-0-176.00-8 Points.
3. Colten Jesse, 0-86.5-89-175.50-7 Points.
4. Chase Dougherty, 83.5-88-0-171.50-4 Points.
5. Dalton Rudman, 80-87-0-167.00-3 Points.
6. Koal Livingston, 0-88-0-88.00-2 Points.
7. Kyler Oliver, 0-87.5-0-87.50-1 Points.
8. Jake Lockwood, 87-0-0-87.00
(tie). Cannon Cravens, 0-87-0-87.00
10. Stetson Lawrence, 0-86-0-86.00
(tie). Cole Skender [2], 86-0-0-86.00
12. Andrew Alvidrez, 85.5-0-0-85.50
(tie). Riker Carter, 85.5-0-0-85.50
14. Gage Gay, 85-0-0-85.00
15. Cody Hudson, 0-84-0-84.00
16. Austin Richardson, 0-83.5-0-83.50
17. Joao Henrique Lucas, 83-0-0-83.00
(tie). Cody Casper, 83-0-0-83.00
(tie). Cole Skender [1], 0-83-0-83.00
(tie). Conner Halverson, 83-0-0-83.00
21. Matt Triplett, 81-0-0-81.00
22. Kyle Jones, 78-0-0-78.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcus Mast, 0-0-0-0.00
Dakota Louis, 0-0-0-0.00
Keith Hall, 0-0-0-0.00
Tyler Werner, 0-0-0-0.00
Venn Johns, 0-0-0-0.00
Ouncie Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Andre da Cruz de Souza, 0-0-0-0.00
Kache Moosman, 0-0-0-0.00
Austin Covington, 0-0-0-0.00
Lucas Phipps, 0-0-0-0.00
Dylan Madsen, 0-0-0-0.00
Jake Gowdy, 0-0-0-0.00
Bryce Barrios, 0-0-0-0.00
Weston Hartman, 0-0-0-0.00
Zac Osborne, 0-0-0-0.00
Dylan Rice, 0-0-0-0.00
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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