MANCHESTER, N.H. – In front of a raucous, sold-out crowd Saturday night in Manchester, New Hampshire, Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas) and Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil) rode supreme, tying for the Round 1 win at the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast’s Manchester Invitational.
Aparecido surged to the lead early in the evening after making a crucial business decision.
Initially tasked with Hacksaw Ridge (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson), Aparecido reached the requisite 8 but was scored just 79.25 points and earned a re-ride.
Opting to take on a second bovine athlete opponent, Aparecido next found his name across from that of Mr. Winston (Dakota Rodeo/Mark Baker/Clay Struve/Chad Berger). In a decision that paid dividends, the veteran Brazilian matched the bull jump-for-jump en route to a round-best 87.25 points.
Video Courtesy: PBR
Alvidrez then matched the score as one of the final riders out Saturday evening inside SNHU Arena. He earned 87.25 points after making the whistle atop Valentine (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson).
Both Aparecido and Alvidrez earned 23 Unleash The Beast points for the round win.
In the race to be crowned the 2023 PBR World Champion, Alvidrez cracked the Top 10, rising from No. 11 to No. 10. For Aparecido, he surged nine spots from No. 25 to No. 16.
Atop the standings, 2016 PBR World Champion and current No. 2 Cooper Davis (Jasper, Texas) made a significant dent in Daniel Keeping’s (Montague, Texas) lead atop the standings.
As the final two riders out in Round 1, Davis tied for fifth, netting 14.5 points as he conquered Moon Taxi (Blake Sharp/CB & Traci Lee) for 86.25 points. Keeping, however, was unable to keep pace, upended by Smokestack (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson/Knott/C-M) in a quick 2.69 seconds.
Davis now trails Keeping by a mere 13.5 points ahead of Championship Sunday.
Rafael Jose de Brito (Potirendaba, Brazil) was third, netting 17 Unleash The Beast points.
Brito was awarded a re-ride after his showdown with his initial draw Two Socks (Dakota Rodeo/Mark Baker/Clay Struve/Chad Berger).
Next facing Safety Meeting (Hruby/Kainz/Clay Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger), Brito was a near picture of perfection atop the bull, making the 8 for 87 points.
Chasing his first PBR World Championship, Brito is now ranked inside the Top 5 in the early 2023 gold buckle race. After beginning the round No. 8, he is now tied for the No. 5 position, 119 points back of No. 1 Keeping.
Casey Roberts (Munford, Alabama) delivered an 86.5-point ride atop Hammerhead (Cornwell Bucking Bulls) to finish fourth in the opening round and earn 16 Unleash The Beast points.
The surging young Alabaman climbed five positions in the standings from No. 25 to No. 20.
Rounding out the Top 5 and tying for fifth alongside Davis was Tate Pollmeier (Ft. Scott, Kansas).
Pollmeier rode Get Western (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson) for a matching 86.25 points to net 14.5 Unleash The Beast points.
Action for the PBR Manchester Invitational will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Sunday, Dec. 18. Action gets underway at 1:45 p.m. EST.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.
PBR Unleash The Beast PBR Manchester Invitational SNHU Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
11. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 84.75-0-0-84.75-8.5 Points.
(tie). Jesse Petri, 84.75-0-0-84.75-8.5 Points.
13. Luciano De Castro, 84.5-0-0-84.50-8 Points.
14. Koltin Hevalow, 83-0-0-83.00-8 Points.
15. Sandro Batista, 81.25-0-0-81.25-8 Points.
16. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 78-0-0-78.00
Daniel Keeping, 0-0-0-0.00
Thiago Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Colten Fritzlan, 0-0-0-0.00
Chase Outlaw, 0-0-0-0.00
Junior Patrik Souza, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00
Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00
Dalton Kasel, 0-0-0-0.00
João Henrique Lucas, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Jesus, 0-0-0-0.00
Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0.00
Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00
Austin Richardson, 0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Dawson Branton, 0-0-0-0.00
Bruin Bradshaw, 0-0-0-0.00
Trevor Reiste, 0-0-0-0.00
Wellington Ferreira, 0-0-0-0.00
About PBR (Professional Bull Riders):
PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. More than 500 bull riders compete in more than 200 events annually across the televised PBR Unleash The Beast tour (UTB), which features the top bull riders in the world; the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT); the PBR Touring Pro Division (TPD); and the PBR’s international circuits in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico. In 2022, PBR launched the PBR Team Series—eight teams of the world’s best bull riders competing for a new championship—as well as the PBR Challenger Series with more than 60 annual events nationwide. The organization’s digital assets include PBR RidePass on Pluto TV, which is home to Western sports. PBR is a subsidiary of Endeavor, a global sports and entertainment company. For more information, visit PBR.com, or follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/PBR, Twitter at Twitter.com/PBR, and YouTube at YouTube.com/PBR.
