COURTESY OF PBR | PHOTO CREDIT: JOSH HOMER/BULL STOCK MEDIA
MANCHESTER, N.H. – In front of a sold-out Saturday night crowd inside SNHU Arena in New Hampshire, Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington) went a perfect 3-for-3 to win his first PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event since 2017 at PBR Manchester, vaulting to No. 4 in the race for the 2025 World Championship.
“This sport’s such a grind. There are days you scratch your head, asking what the heck’s going on, and you stay the course and good things happen,” Kolbaba said moments after the win. “I’ve got a little girl at home and an amazing wife. That makes these wins so much sweeter.”
Kolbaba made the journey to the Granite State ranked No. 33 in the world, on the bubble of being cut from the elite tour.
A member of the Carolina Cowboys in the separate PBR Teams league, Kolbaba first put points on the board in Round 1, delivering Friday night’s second-best score when he topped Chupacabra (Blake Sharp/UB Bucking Company) for 87.5 points.
The reserved Washingtonian then overtook the top spot on the leaderboard by winning Round 2 on Saturday. He outlasted First Class (Dave Martin/Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 87.5 points.
With the first pick in the championship round bull draft, Kolbaba elected to go head-to-head with Feeds Red River (Blake Sharp/Huff Bulls). As the last man to nod in New Hampshire, Kolbaba burst from the chutes and fought off being jerked down early in the ride to stay on board his powerful animal athlete counterpart. Reaching the whistle, Kolbaba was marked a monstrous 90 points to cement the event win.
Courtesy of the victory, Kolbaba earned a check for $49,390 in addition to a crucial 143 Unleash The Beast points. He vaulted to No. 4 in the world and is now within 154 points of No. 1 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas), who was 0-for-2 in Manchester.
Second was the Nashville Stampede’s Kaiden Loud (Kaufman, Texas), the only other rider to go a perfect 3-for-3, collecting 92.5 Unleash The Beast points.
The soft-spoken Texan rode Pneu-Dart’s Gold Standard (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 87 points in Round 1, Don’t Come Easy (Blake Sharp/Chris Utz/Carey Brothers) for 84.25 points in Round 2 and Buffalo Heifer (Sterk Bucking Bulls) for 88.75 points in the championship round.
Loud rose from No. 24 to No. 6 in the World Championship race and is now within 183 points of No. 1 Crimber.
Bookending his outing inside SNHU Arena with round wins was the Carolina Cowboys’ Adriano Salgado (Batatais, Brazil).
Salgado was unmatched as competition got underway on a snowy Friday night in New England, riding Lights Out (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson) for 89 points. However, he stumbled in Round 2, bested by King Pin (Dave Martin/Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) in a close 6.19 seconds.
Quick to rebound, Salgado punctuated his outing by delivering the high-marked ride of the event, winning the championship round with a mammoth 91.5-point ride on Rockville (Blake Sharp/Koe Wetzel/Giovanni/Morris).
Leaving SNHU Arena with a critical 93 Unleash The Beast points, Salgado catapulted from No. 30 to No. 8 in the world. He is now 198.67 points back of the top spot.
Claudio Montanha Jr. (Ribeirao dos Indios, Brazil) was fourth, earning 57 Unleash the Beast points.
Montanha got off to a fast start, tying for second in Round 1 when he covered Kodiac (Blake Sharp/UB Bucking Company) for 87.5 points. His momentum came to an end in the second round when he was whipped to the ground by Bomb Diggity (Davis Rodeo Ranch) in 6.83 seconds.
The affable Brazilian returned with newfound confidence in the championship round, dominating Mike’s Motive (Blake Sharp/High Voltage/Wetzel/Knott) for a monster 90.5 points.
Chasing his first World Championship this May, Montanha climbed from No. 19 to No. 10. He is now 202 points behind No. 1 Crimber.
Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Vinicius Pinheiro Correa (Aimores, Brazil).
Marking his premier series debut, Correa rode lights out through the opening two rounds, topping Trump (Sterk Bucking Bulls) for 84.5 points and Velvet Revolver (Blake Sharp/Henry Wilson) for 87.25 points. His quest to win his first outing on bull riding’s top tour, however, came to an end in the championship round when he was upended by UTZ BesTex Smokestack (Blake Sharp/Chris Utz/Carey Brothers) in a heartbreaking 7.08 seconds.
Earning 43 Unleash The Beast points, Correa rose from unranked to No. 30 in the standings.
In the bull pen, Workin’ Man (Davis Rodeo Ranch) and UTZ BesTex Smokestack tied for the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event honor, both marked a commanding 45 points. Workin’ Man delivered the points in Round 1 when he tossed Thiago Salgado (Navirai, Brazil) in 3.65 seconds, while UTZ BesTex Smokestack earned the marks against Correa in the championship round.
Both days of action from Manchester were available LIVE and FREE on RidePass on Pluto TV, PBR’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@pbr), PBR’s mobile app (https://qrco.de/bdtdKp), and PBR’s app on connected TVs, including Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku and Google TV.
The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to MVP Arena in Albany, New York, for PBR Albany. The event will be at 7:45 p.m. ET on Friday, December 27 and Saturday, December 28.
PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of PBR Unleash The Beast events and is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv.
PBR Unleash The Beast PBR Manchester SNHU Arena – Manchester, New Hampshire Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
