Austin Richardson underwent surgery to repair his broken collarbone this past Wednesday morning. The surgery was a success, and he has a follow up appointment with Dr. Freemen May 4th for X – Rays and stitches removal. All signs point to Austin being ready for World Finals which begin Friday May 13th. He is currently 8th in the PBR world standings with 549.50 points.
Kaique Pacheco went 2 for 3 and finished 3rd overall in the event, his 6th top five finish of the season. Kaique won round 1, his league leading 7th round win of the season and was leading the event going into the event championship round. He earned 81 world points and he remains 3rd in the PBR world standings with 741 points, 121 points from the leader.
Kaique failed to convert on his 15 / 15 Bucking Battle round attempt Friday night.
Jess Lockwood has yet to be cleared to ride a practice bull. While we anticipate this to happen sometime soon, he needs to wait for that clearance from Dr. Freemen. Dr. Freeman remains positive and maintains that the shoulder fracture is healing as needed.
Cole Melancon is going to ride practice bulls this week, with the intention of being ready for Billings in two weeks’ time. Cole is attempting to qualify for the World Finals but he needs more points to secure that spot, and he is running out of events to do so. He is currently 39th in the PBR world standings with 114.16 points.
Austin Richardson was 2 for 2 and leading the event when a collarbone injury sidelined him and ended his weekend. In what was assumed and reported to be a break Saturday night, X – Rays confirmed this morning and Austin will undergo surgery Wednesday to repair the fracture. Dr. Tandy Freeman will perform the surgery, and he is confident that Austin will be ready to compete at the World finals. The event began with him winning round one on the back of 2021 World Champion bull WooPaa with a career best 94.50 points. He followed that up with a 6th place finish in round 2 and the event lead. But it was the awkward dismount from that 2nd round bull and his contact with the ground which caused the fracture. Austin finished 3rd in the event and earned 78.50 world points. He is currently 7th in the PBR world standings with 549.50 points.
Kaique Pacheco went 1 for 3 and finished 9th overall in the event, his 7th top ten finish of the season. He earned 17.5 world points and he remains 3rd in the PBR world standings with 660 points. This was the 8th event championship round qualification.
Jess Lockwood has yet to be cleared to ride a practice bull. While we anticipate this to happen sometime soon, he needs to wait for that clearance from Dr. Freemen. I was told that this isn’t a setback as much as we are proceeding with an abundance of caution not to return too early. Dr. Freeman remains positive and maintains that the shoulder fracture is healing as needed.
Cole Melancon continues to rehabilitate his injury, with a renewed focus on the large hematoma that resulted from it. Dr. Freeman told him at an appointment this past week that he needs to wait / aim for a potential return to riding at the PBR World Finals mid-May. Cole has been given the go ahead to get on some practice bulls in the next couple of weeks in preparation for that return timeline. He hasn’t suffered any setbacks in his work outs which includes horse back riding. At this time, it’s not clear if Cole will be able to use his injury exemptions to qualify for the finals event. He has a call into the PBR competition committee to work through those logistics. Cole is currently 39th in the PBR world standings with 114.16 points.
Austin Richardson went 3 for 4 and for the second time this season, it was good enough to win the event. Austin rode to a 5th place finish in round one, won round 2 (his 3rd round win of the year) and placed 3rd in round three. He had the event won before he attempted his last bull, and he bucked off his championship round bull at 7.99 seconds, painfully shy of the required 8! He earned 160 world points and is now tied for 6th in the PBR world standings with 471 points. Sixth place is his highest ranking of the season, and highest world ranking of his young career. He is currently riding at a career best 35% and his yearly earnings just topped $114,483.33, surpassing his previous best year.
Round 1; 5th place finish
Round 2; round wining ride
Round 3; 3rd place finish ride