St. LOUIS, Mo. – As the second PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event of the 2024 season got underway Saturday night in St. Louis, Missouri, 12 riders delivered scores, but none eclipsed that of Eduardo Aparecido (Gouvelandia, Brazil) who won Round 1 to catapult to an early lead at PBR St. Louis.
Riding inside the home of the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, Aparecido, who represents the Arizona Ridge Riders in the separate PBR Teams League, began his outing in the Show Me State paired up with Risky Business (Hookin’ W Ranch/Diamond L).
Nodding with confidence, Aparecido remained centered aboard the powerful animal athlete, reaching the requisite 8 for an unrivaled 88.25 points as the electric crowd erupted in raucous cheer.
The Round 1 winning score garnered Aparecido 28 Unleash The Beast points. Unranked prior to the event, Aparecido surged to No. 10 in the world, now 97 points back of No. 1 Caden Bunch (Tahlequah, Oklahoma). Bunch failed to convert Saturday evening, unable to extend his lead atop the standings. He was bucked off by Soul King (Blake Sharp/Cody Gill/Marcus Cannon) in a quick 2.53 seconds.
Sage Steele Kimzey (Strong City, Oklahoma) overtook the world No. 2 rank courtesy of what tied for the fourth-best score of Round 1. Kimzey’s 86-point ride on Hillbilly Rock (New Frontier Rodeo) earned him 14.5 Unleash The Beast points. Eclipsing previous No. 2 Joao Ricardo Vieira(Itatinga, Brazil), who was tossed by Pearl Snapped (Blake Sharp) in 3.29 seconds, the Carolina Cowboys’ Kimzey is now within 25 points of No. 1 Bunch.
Missouri’s own Bob Mitchell (Steelville, Missouri), Dener Barbosa (Paulo de Faria, Brazil) and Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia) tied for fourth alongside Kimzey compliments of 86-point rides, each also earning 14.5 Unleash The Beast points.
The Kansas City Outlaws’ Mitchell covered Ah Hell (Cooper/Scruggs Bucking Bulls) to rise from No. 23 to No. 11 in the world, climbing within 103.5 points of No. 1 Bunch. The Nashville Stampede’s Barbosa conquered Nitty Gritty (Dakota Rodeo/Chab Berger) and the reigning Teams Champion Texas Rattlers’ Fielder topped Lost Pearl (Martinez Bucking Bulls, LLC) to rise from unranked to tied for the world No. 17 rank. Both Barbosa and Fielder are now 110.5 points back of No. 1 Bunch.
Returning to the top of the leaderboard, the Outlaws’ Cassio Dias (São F. de Sales, Brazil) was second in Round 1, garnering 18 Unleash The Beast points. Seeking his first World Championship, Dias dominated Buzz (Flinn Cattle Co.) for 87.5 points to rise from No. 6 to No. 5 in the world. He is now within 58.5 points of the top rank.
Rounding out the Top 5 in third was two-time PBR World Champion and the Austin Gamblers’ Jose Vitor Leme (Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil). Leme’s 86.25-point ride on Buffalo Chip (Blake Sharp/Robbie Ray/Doug Wilson) garnered him 17 Unleash The Beast points.
On the hunt for his record-tying third gold buckle, Leme rose from No. 4 to No. 3 in the world. He is now 34 points back of the No. 1 rank. Action for the 2024 PBR St. Louis will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Sunday, Dec. 3. Action gets underway at 1:45 p.m. CST.
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.
Source: PBR
