As the first PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast (UTB) event in Salt Lake City, Utah, since 2020 rolled to a close on Saturday night, a sold-out crowd inside Delta Center was at full volume as Koltin Hevalow (Smithville, Missouri) went 2-for-3 to win his first premier series event of the 2024 season and jump to No. 3 in the standings.
Earlier on Saturday night, Hevalow was paired with Baldy (Tommy Julian/ D&H Cattle), recording the 86.5-point score he needed to creep upward in the event standings.
Going into the championship round, Hevalow, who rides for the Kansas City Outlaws in the separate PBR Teams league, was the No. 1 man on the leaderboard. As he prepared to ride as the very last rider of the round, he had already clinched the event win.
Paired with Chateau Montelena’s Montana Jacket (Vella/ Coleman/Ogden/ Hart.), Hevalow climbed atop the muscular animal to finish the night strong. Firing from the chutes, he swung to the side of his powerful counterpart at 2.82 and went head to horn, helmet flying through the air as he hit the dirt.
Despite the collision, the 20-year-old Missouri man moved from No. 12 into the upper standings at No. 3 on the hunt for his very first world title.
In addition to a check for $43,055, Hevalow also earned 106 Unleash The Beast points.
After missing eight events sidelined with a lower-body injury, two-time PBR World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil) returned for a less than ideal weekend.
On Friday night, DirtyBru (D&H Cattle Co/ Gordon/ OK Corralis) tossed the world champ to the ground after 1.91 seconds, which earned the powerful animal the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event with a 44.5-point bull score.
After bucking off on Friday night, he came back with a vengeance in Round 2, riding Pam’s Dream (Bar A Bucking Bulls) for 86.5 points.
Opting to doctor out of the championship round as a precaution to maintain his recovery, he finished eleventh in the event to move from No. 35 to No. 31 in the standings.
Florida Freedom rider Alex Cerqueira (Iguatemi, Brazil) kept the 2-for-3 streak going to be the runner-up of the two-day weekend.
On Friday night, Cerqueira fell within the Top 10 of Round 1 after besting Bouchon (Phenom Genetics/ Dragonetics/ Sankey/ Basham) for 83.25 points and coming in eighth place.
Matched with Bugatti (Phenom Genetics/ Dragonetics /Sankey/ Wallace) in Round 2 on Championship Saturday, he recorded a solid 86.75-point ride to tie for third place in the round.
Selecting DirtyBruas his final round partner, his hopes of advancing on the leaderboard were dashed when the formidable bovine launched him to the ground after 4.33 seconds.
The 30-year-old Brazilian cowboy leaves Salt Lake City as the No. 14 man in the standings, up from No. 19 courtesy of netting 78.5 Unleash The Beast points.
After going 2-for-4 last week in Sacramento to finish in sixth place, 19-year-old Austin Gamblers rookie Cort McFadden (Novice, Texas) finished in third place, moving from No. 26 to No. 19 in the standings.
Starting the weekend aboard Desperado (Braun Bucking Bulls/ D&H Cattle Co) for 83 points, he sat within the Top 10 coming into Saturday.
Bringing the rowdy Utah crowd to a roar, his picture-perfect pairing with Pearl’s Ghost (Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) was scored 85.25 points to head into the championship round.
Manaba (Joe & Nina Webb/ Julian/ D&H Cattle Co) then dispatched him in 4.16 seconds during his final ride.
Despite the final-round setback, McFadden’s 2-for-3 weekend netted him 57 Unleash The Beast points.
Hevalow’s Kansas City Outlaws teammate Kyler Oliver (Roy, Utah) ended his weekend as the No. 39 man, jumping 10 spots in the world standings after going 2-for-3 for a fourth-place finish in front of his home-state crowd.
Having arrived in Utah as the No. 49 man in the world, Oliver hit the ground running with qualified rides in both Friday and Saturday’s opening rounds. The 24-year-old Utah man conquered High Plains Drifter (Flying C/ Tom Baker) for 83 points and Cocky (Ben Lofthouse) for 80.75 points, respectively.
His weekend then came to a sudden halt, tossed by Brusta (Joe & Nina Webb/ Julian/ D&H Cattle Co) after 5.6 seconds in the championship round. With a smile and a wave to his fellow Utah neighbors, he walked out of the arena.
Although his weekend didn’t end on the same positive note on which it began, Oliver garnered 39.5 Unleash The Beast points.
A trio of cowboys rounded out the Top 5 in Salt Lake City. Julio Cesar Marques (Tatui, Brazil), Clay Guiton (Cherryville, North Carolina) and home-state man Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah) split the PBR Salt Lake City Round 1 win in front of a full house on Friday night and then again were perfectly aligned to share a fifth-place finish as the event finished.
First out of the chutes on Friday was Utah’s own Whitehorse aboard Lapua (Phenom Genetics/ Sankey/ Ready Team). As the Arizona Ridge Riders athlete fired out into the arena aboard his bovine partner, fans inside Delta Center reached a deafening volume as the clock approached 8 and he earned the first of three matching 88.25-point scores.
His Saturday night was not successful as he was dispatched by both his Round 2 bull and his championship round pick, Hell Right (D&H Cattle Co/ Buck CattleCo)
Eighteen-year-old Guiton, despite an incoming hot streak of double Top-5 finishes, went 2-for-4 to finish in ninth place last weekend in Sacramento. The rising talent was paired with Blackstone (Clay Struve/ Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger) on Friday night, soaring through the air as the buzzer sounded for the matching 88.25 score.
The trouble began in Round 2 as Guiton was unseated by Electric Kitty (Moore Cattle/ D&H Cattle Co) after 6.11 seconds.
Originally selecting Johnny Smooth (D&H Cattle Co/ Buck Cattle Co) in the championship round, the rising rookie was awarded a re-ride aboard Ricky Vaughn (D&H Cattle Co/ Buck Cattle Co) after judges deemed his first out had a technical error. Despite his delight, his hopes were dashed after a mere 5.83 seconds.
Rounding out the three-way-tie was Kansas City Outlaws man Marques. In a battle of athleticism down to the wire in Round 1, he bested Devil’s Revenge (Dakota Rodeo/ Chad Berger/ Lucky Blue/ Crab Bucking Bulls) for 88.25 points.
The same as Guiton and Whitehorse, Marques faltered on Saturday, bucking off of both his Round 2 and championship-round bulls.
All three cowboys earned 32.7 Unleash The Beast points.
Whitehorse, who began the night at No. 47, now sits at No. 40 in the race for the 2024 PBR World Championship, while Guiton moved up from No. 24 to No. 20. Marques held strong at No. 15.
The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for the Michelob ULTRA PBR Los Angeles, presented by Ariat, the 12th event of the 2024 season, on Friday, February 16, at 7:45 p.m. PST and Saturday, February 17, at 6:45 p.m. PST.
PBR Unleash The Beast– PBR Salt Lake City
Delata Center –Salt Lake City, Utah
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Koltin Hevalow, 85.5-85.25-0-170.75-106 Points.
2. Alex Cerqueira, 83.25-86.75-0-170.00-78.5 Points.
3. Cort McFadden, 83-85.25-0-168.25-57 Points.
4. Kyler Oliver, 83-80.75-0-163.75-39.5 Points.
5. Julio Cesar Marques, 88.25-0-0-88.25-32.66 Points.
(tie). Clay Guiton, 88.25-0-0-88.25-32.66 Points.
(tie). Keyshawn Whitehorse, 88.25-0-0-88.25-32.66 Points.
8. Kaiden Loud, 0-87.5-0-87.50-33 Points.
9. Cassio Dias, 0-87-0-87.00-22 Points.
10. Alan de Souza, 0-86.75-0-86.75-18.5 Points.
11. Jose Vitor Leme, 0-86.5-0-86.50-16 Points.
12. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-86-0-86.00-14 Points.
13. Wingson Henrique da Silva, 0-85.75-0-85.75-12.5 Points.
(tie). Caden Bunch, 0-85.75-0-85.75-12.5 Points.
15. Leonardo Castro, 85.5-0-0-85.50-15.5 Points.
16. Vitor Losnake, 85.25-0-0-85.25-13.5 Points.
(tie). Bob Mitchell, 85.25-0-0-85.25-13.5 Points.
18. Jake Gardner, 0-83.75-0-83.75-9 Points.
Eduardo Aparecido, 0-0-0-0.00
John Crimber, 0-0-0-0.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00
Dalton Kasel, 0-0-0-0.00
Brady Fielder, 0-0-0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00
Felipe Furlan, 0-0-0-0.00
Daylon Swearingen, 0-0-0-0.00
Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00
Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 0-0-0-0.00
Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0.00
Eli Vastbinder, 0-0-0-0.00
Brady Oleson, 0-0-0-0.00
Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00
Marco Rizzo, 0-0-0-0.00
Daniel Keeping, 0-0-0-0.00
Nick Tetz, 0-0-0-0.00
