Missouri Iron Man Wins Bull Riding World Challenge Final

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2010 PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDERS WORLD CHALLENGE SERIES
TOWNSVILLE, BRISBANE, SYDNEY
MAY/JUNE, 2010
Missouri Iron Man Wins Bull Riding
World Challenge Final
Titanium-tough Luke Snyder completed the perfect comeback from a broken neck, by riding
three monstrous Aussie bovines to take out the 2010 Professional Bull Riders World
Challenge Final at Sydney’s Acer Arena on Saturday, June 5.
The third and final stop on in the three-event 2010 PBR World Challenge Series, the show
packed more than 8500 screaming bull riding fans into Sydney’s premier entertainment venue
for a night of thrills, spills and bull busting skills.
For twenty-seven-year-old Snyder from Raymour, Missouri in the USA, the victory was a
fairytale finish to his eighth trip down-under and proof that he is well and truly recovered
from the neck injury that could so easily have ended his riding career. Snyder rode three bulls
from three attempts in Sydney, starting with an 86-pointer on Ron Woodall’s Mood Swings,
followed by 85 on Gary McPhee’s Copy Wright and concluding in the championship round
with 82.5 points on Ron Woodall’s Look A Like.
“This is why I love to play this game – it has its ups and downs,” an excited Snyder
exclaimed in his post event interview. “This win really helps after having three months out
with the neck injury.”
Fellow American Skeeter Kingsolver wrapped up the 2010 PBR World Challenge Series with
three solid rides in the Sydney final, to go along with strong performances in the previous two
rounds in Townsville and Brisbane. Kingsolver finished the series with 587.5 points, to win
ahead of Australian crowd favourite Ben Jones on 582.5 points and US rider Ned Cross on
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510.5. Skeeter Kingsolver rode through the pain barrier in the championship round to clinch
series victory, having his leg stood on by a bull following his second ride of the night.
“The ankle is fine now – everything is better when you win,” the young Kansas bull rider
enthused. “I just hope I can carry this form back home to the US and keep it going for the rest
of the year.”
Goulburn’s Ben Jones kept the crowd on its feet with his three gutsy rides and his over-thetop celebrations. The New South Welshman is known across the planet for his famous
chicken dance and didn’t let the fans down throughout the three events, busting out the crazy
moves despite falling agonizingly short of a series victory.
Veteran stock contractors JP Gill and Sons from The Rock, NSW took home the prize buckle
for 2010 PBR World Challenge Final Champion Bucking Bull for the ferocious effort of their
beast, Buck Owens. The big brown and white bull made incredibly short work of Uralla’s
Chris Lowe, before flipping the young cowboy in the air with his horn for good measure!
Stock contracting father and son team Trevor and Tony Dunne from Duaringa, Queensland
picked up the prestigious event champion bucking bull buckles at both the 2010 PBR Troy
Dunn International and the 2010 PBR World Challenge (Brisbane) for the supreme efforts of
their massive white bull That’s Gold. Although huge in stature That’s Gold proved his
amazing athleticism, making incredibly short work of world top 50 ranked riders Caleb
Sanderson, Cody Campbell and Brendon Clark. The Dunne’s now have their sights set firmly
on the PBR Champion Bucking Bull of the Year buckle as long as That’s Gold can maintain
his stellar early season form.
Goondiwindi cowboy Jim Rowsell was the Aussie success story of the 2010 PBR World
Challenge Series, taking out the Brisbane leg of the tour and finishing atop the money earners
at the end of the three events. At the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on May 29, Rowsell put
on a dominant display of bull riding prowess to blitz a world-class field and take out his first
ever PBR Cup event.
Brisbane fans and fellow riders alike looked on in awe as Rowsell pulled out all stops to
notch up his debut cup win, lasting the required eight seconds on all three of his attempted
bulls – the only man to do so on the night.
A magnificent 92-point ride in the championship round on Buck Owens from contractors JP
Gill and Sons sealed the deal for Rowsell and saw him leave the series almost $20,000 richer.
Twenty-three-year-old Rowsell attributes his 2010 success to a more relaxed approach to bull
riding and now has his sights set on both a stint in the US and a full-scale assault on the PBR
Australia title.
With $150,000 won and almost 25,000 fans attending across three action-packed weekends,
the 2010 Professional Bull Riders World Challenge Series has been a tremendous success and
augurs well for the burgeoning future of the sport in Australia.
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2010 PBR World Challenge Series Results:
NAME
HOME STATE
Skeeter Kingsolver
Ben Jones
Ned Cross
Luke Snyder
Cody Campbell
Kansas, USA
Goulburn, NSW
Oregon, USA
Missouri, USA
Oregon, USA
POINTS
587.5
582.5
510.5
428.5
420.0
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ABOUT PBR AUSTRALIA
Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) was founded in 1992 by 20 accomplished bull riders who decided to develop bull riding –
the most popular event in traditional rodeo – into a stand-alone sport. Today more than 1,200 bull riders hold PBR
memberships and compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions around the globe for a total prize pool exceeding
US$13 million. In November 2005, PBR announced their plans for worldwide expansion. Since then, PBR has opened offices
in Canada, Mexico, Australia and Brazil and is rolling out major live events in key cities in each of these countries. PBR
Australia is a partnership between the PBR and Dainty Consolidated Entertainment (one of Australia’s major concert
promoters) and will stage major bull riding events in key cities in Australia and New Zealand – kicking off with the inaugural
PBR World Cup on the Gold Coast in 2007. Due to the high demand for more bull riding across Australia, PBR has now
established the PBR Challenger Series as a feeder into the Australian premier league of bull riding – the Bundaberg Rum
PBR Touring Pro. Prize money won at these events counts toward qualification to PBR Cup Events in Australia and to the
annual PBR World Finals in Las Vegas. So the Professional Bull Riders offer a genuine pathway for Australian bull riders to
earn substantial prize money in Australia and to compete on the world stage.
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