We once again had five Australian riders competing in action at PBR events across the Pacific over the weekend. Aaron Kleier, Brady Fielder and Lawson Nobbs headed east for the premier series event in New Hampshire.
Lane Mellers was joined in the Pacific North West by Nathan Burtenshaw for the Velocity Tour stop in Portland.
2020 PBR Unleash The Beast Tour – Manchester, NH.
Round 1
Brady Fielder faced Lab Rat from Cornwell Bucking Bulls, Circle G and Coleman in the opening round and he came away with 85.5 points. The veteran bull turned back into his hand, and Fielder had next to no issues reaching the whistle. The ride was good enough to finish seventh in the round, and he collected 5 points towards the 2020 PBR World Standings.
Things didn’t go as planned for Aaron Kleier who failed to capitalise on a re-ride option. His initial draw, Little Acres Ranch’s Juvenile Delinquent under-performed, and Kleier turned down a 71.5 point score.
The dual Aussie Champions second bull was Going Broke from Mike Miller. The bull turned back to the right and didn’t have the smoothest action. Kleier hung with him but appeared to slap right on the bell. The judges sent the ride to a review, and the touch was ruled to occur at 7.95 seconds.
Moura’s Lawson Nobbs took on Sippin Sauce who made his PBR debut for Cowtown Rodeo. The bull turned back into this hand and kept going left as he added some forward movement. Nobbs had a great seat but got tipped to the outside and can’t recover and was out the back at 6.5 seconds.
Round 2
Aaron Kleier added the first score to the leaderboard in the second round, marked 84.25 points aboard Blake Sharp’s One Hung Low. The 21-year old called for the gate, and the bull decided to take a left turn. There was a lot of up and down in his action, and Kleier avoided the well to finish the round in eleventh place and picked up 1 world point.
Clermont’s Brady Fielder remained perfect after he posted 83.25 points aboard Mike Miller’s Blonde Blizzard. The bull turned back into his hand and kept moving forward. Fielder stuck like glue and handled the late direction change with ease. The 20-year-old finished twelfth in the Round 2.
Lawson Nobbs‘s weekend ended at the hands of Yelawolf from Black Sharp and Talley Ho Bucking Bulls. The bull turned back to the right, and away from Nobbs’ hand. The 22-year-old was stretched to the limit, and he flew out the back for a 3.15-second buck off.
Championship Round
Brady Fielder entered the Championship Round draft in sixth place, and he selected Arctic Assassin from Phenom Genetics, Swalin and Sankey Pro Rodeo.
Aaron Kleier‘s single score was enough to make it back for an extra bull after Ryan Dirteater was ruled out with injury, and he was left with Preacher’s Kid from RD Cattle and K-C Bucking Bulls. The pair did battle in last weekend’s final round in Chicago with the bull winning in 3.5 seconds.
Kleier was first to ride, and Preacher’s Kid turned left as expected but straightened out shortly after. He was kicking high and reversed direction which forced the Clermont cowboy to makes some great moves, but he ends up out the back late at 7.64 seconds.
Arctic Assassin turned back to the right and into Fielder‘s hand, and he looked in great shape. The bull stalled mid-ride and took a significant effort jump forward on the change of direction. It lifted Fielder up and dislodged him to the outside.
Fielder recorded his first career Top-10 on the Unleash The Beast. His aggregate total of 168.5 points was good enough for a seventh-place, and he picked up a total of 11 world points.
Kleier added a 16th place finish to his record, earning just the single world point from his Round 2 finish.
Montana’s Jess Lockwood won the event after he posted 92.25 points aboard Big Black in the Championship Round.
Here are the full results from Manchester.
2020 PBR Velocity Tour – Portland, OR.
Round 1
Nathan Burtenshaw was the first rider out, and he put together a great 83.5 point ride on Scrawny Ronny from Howell Rodeo Company. The bull started off to the right and into Burtenshaw’s hand. He added a slight stall in around the 3-second mark, but the Coonamble talent stayed in good shape to complete the ride. The score held on for a third-place finish in the round.
No luck for Lane Mellers who tipped into the well at 2.18 seconds courtesy of Howell Rodeo Company’s Black Point. The bull turned back into his hand, but he couldn’t avoid being dragged down.
Championship Round
Pat’s Dream from Big Bend and Flying Five awaited Nathan Burtenshaw in the final round, and after some issues in the chute and some frustration with the gateman, the result was a 6.44 second buck off. The 25-year-old called for the gate a third time after being put on the clock and the bull turned back to the right. He looked to have a great seat but lost his feet on a sharp turn and made the slap.
The third-place finish earned Burtenshaw a total of 13 points towards the 2020 PBR World Standings.
Washington’s Cody Casper picked up his first win on the Velocity Tour after the bulls pitched a shut out in the Championship Round.
Here are the full results from Portland.
World Standings Update
We are now three weekends into the 2020 PBR season proper, and with the Unleash The Beast cut approaching after eight events, several Australian’s look in good shape to earn a spot, but there is still plenty of work to do.
Jess Lockwood is the new No. 1 ranked bull rider in the PBR following his win in Manchester. He has 275.5 points with Joao Ricardo Vieira and Kaique Pacheco both also north of 250 points.
The best ranked Aussie is Aaron Kleier, who sits 12th in the standings on 75 points. Lachlan Richardson is close behind in 14th on 73 points.
A strong finish in Portland pushed Nathan Burtenshaw into the Top-20. He sits 19th on 57.5 points. Troy Wilkinson holds down the 25th spot with 47 points. Brady Fielder is the only other Aussie inside the Top-40, holding down the 39th spot in the standings with 24 points.
Check out the full 2020 PBR World Standings here.
Check back on Wednesday for a full rundown of what is coming up this week in the PBR!