The world’s best bull riding teams converged in Arlington. Here’s who came out on top.
The Team USA Eagles, which included two-time Professional Bull Riders world champion Jess Lockwood who is from Montana and has a home near Stephenville, clinched the title at the PBR Global Cup on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
The title victory was based on an aggregate score from rides throughout the two-day show. The Team USA Eagles finished No. 1 in the title race with 523.75 points.
Australia came in second with 514.5 points. Australia’s coach was Troy Dunn, the 1998 world champion who lived in the Stephenville area when he competed in North America in the 1990s.
Brazil finished third with 435.75. The team consisted of world class riders such as 2018 world champion Kaique Pacheco who lives in the Decatur area when he competes in North America.
More than 45,000 fans combined attended the two-day show, a PBR media official said.
Team USA Eagles coach Justin McBride, a two-time world champion, praised his team for staying focused.
“It takes a whole team — you need every guy there, not only physically, but mentally,” McBride said. “You have to have your big names step us and Jess Lockwood did that [on Saturday night]. He made some huge rides when we really needed them. Then you have to have that wild card and we have that in Cole Melancon, he stepped up huge. Matt Triplett stepped up huge [on Sunday afternoon]. These boys come to compete. They don’t mind competition.”
In addition to Lockwood, Melancon and Triplett, the six-member Team USA Eagles also consisted of Cody Teel, Daylon Swearingen and Boudreaux Campbell.
J.W. Hart, Team USA Eagles assistant coach and a former PBR World Finals average winner who lives near Gainesville, said the U.S. team overcame the pressure of competing as the home country.
“It makes you bear down a little bit harder,” Hart said. “Never once did these guys drop their head. They kept their chin up.”
PBR UTB update
On the Professional Bull Riders Unleash The Beast, the association’s top-tier tour, rookie Cole Melancon, who is from the East Texas town of Paris, clinched the Iron Cowboy title on Feb. 6-7 in Los Angeles. Melancon pocketed $123,407.
The Los Angeles-based Iron Cowboy at the Staples Center was a major stop on the Unleash The Beast tour. Melancon is the second rookie to win a PBR major. The other rookie was Kaique Pacheco who clinched the title at Nashville in 2015.
Joao Ricardo Vieira, a Brazilian who lives in Decatur, finished second in Los Angeles. Vieira moved up to the No. 1 ranking in the 2020 world title race. He leads with 442.5 points. Jose Vitor Leme, another Brazilian who lives in Decatur, is ranked No. 2 with 425. Jess Lockwood is ranked No. 3 with 393.
The PBR world champion will receive a $1 million bonus at the conclusion of the Nov. 4-8 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.
Historic bareback ride
The Cowboy Channel, which is based in the Fort Worth Stockyards, has been broadcasting the performances of sizable PRCA shows the past month. Rodeo fans who watched the San Angelo Cinch Chute-Out Rodeo live broadcast on Saturday witnessed a historic bareback riding performance during the final round.
Three-time world champion Tim O’Connell, an Iowa cowboy, clinched the bareback riding title with a PRCA world record-tying score of 94.
According to prorodeo.com, O’Connell shares the world record with Wes Stevenson (Kesler Rodeo’s Cover Girl, Dallas, 2002); Will Lowe (Kesler Rodeo’s Sky Reach, Omaha. Neb., 2003; Ryan Gray (Carr Pro Rodeo’s Grass Dancer, Eagle, Colo., 2009); and Tilden Hooper (Classic Pro Rodeo’s Big Tex, Silver City, N.M., 2010). Hooper is from Carthage and currently lives in the north Fort Worth and Saginaw area.
Cutting horse update
Rollz Royce and veteran trainer/rider Beau Galyean of Fort Worth clinched the 2020 Ike 5/6 Classic division title with a score of 229 on Feb. 3 in West Monroe, La., according to longtime equine writer Sally Harrison and nchacutting.com.
Defending 2019 Classic champion Blackish and rider Lloyd Cox finished second with 226, while the 6-year-old gelding Hott Nu Cowboy, ridden by Cullen Chartier, took third with 224.5 points.
The win was worth $12,000 for 6-year-old Rollz Royce ($264,479 in lifetime earnings) and was his seventh major career title. The horse has also earned six major reserve championships, including the 2018 Ike Derby, where he was second to Blackish and Cox.
American update
The RFD-TV’s The American, a major PRCA show, is scheduled for March 7-8 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The American Semifinals is Feb. 24-March 1 at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 6:56 PM.