By Kacie Albert

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan. – In front of a loud crowd Friday night in Saskatoon, Sask., a teenage phenom John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) rode in seemingly unstoppable form, tying for the first round and winning the Battle of Bucking 5/5 at the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada Cup event at the SaskTel Centre, moving up from No. ranked 31st in the country.

On the opening night of the competition in Saskatoon, PBR Canada’s best showed up and shot a superb score of 16 out of 33, covering 48.48% of the bull fighting nights.

Crimber, who rides for the Florida Freedom in the PBR teams’ separate league and was crowned the 2024 MVP, got off to a fast start in the opening round, delivering a ride that would earn him the opening round victory when he raced through the distance. Smooth Sailor (Shay Marks) for 86.5 points.

The top marks propelled Crimber to Bucking’s final 5/5 battle of the season where he clashed with Ceili’s pyper (Foley Bucking Bulls). Coming out of the falls, Crimber followed the powerful athlete jump for jump en route to the whistle. As the crowd erupted in cheers, Crimber was awarded a top score of 88.5 in the special round.

Crimber collected a total of 56 national points, moving from unseeded to 31st in the race for the 2024 PBR Canada Championship and the $100,000 bonus that comes with it. Attempting to make a late-season effort to qualify for the 2024 Command Tubular PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Edmonton’s Best Hotels, November 8-9 in Edmonton, Alberta at Rogers Place, Crimber now falls behind from the threshold of the Top 17 by 126 nationals. points.

Gilmar Santana (Ouro Preto, Brazil) also produced a flawless 2-for-2 performance on Friday night, tying for the first-round victory and finishing third in the 5/5 Bucking Battle, to collect 48 national points.

Santana completed his 86.5-point run in the first round aboard Talking is cheap (Eno Bucking Bulls), then went the distance Hanna Motors Broken Halo (Skori Bucking Bulls) for 83.5 points in the 5/5 Bucking Battle.

The Brazilian went from 14th to 12th in Canada.

Missouri Thunder Trace Redd (Malad, Idaho) was the last rider to cover his two animal athlete opponents.

Redd finished tied for third in the first round, defeating Short order (Skori Bucking Bulls) for 85 points, then was runner-up in the 5/5 Bucking Battle, leading Edge of tomorrow (Lazy S Bucking Bulls) for 84 points.

The 19-year-old finished the night with 35.5 national points. Redd went from unranked to 40th in Canada, 146.5 outside the Top 17.

At the top of the race for the 2024 PBR Canada Championship, n°1 Nick Tetz (Calgary, Alberta) increased its lead at the top of the standings by placing tied for eighth in the first round. The 2022 PBR Canada champion collected 13.5 national points with his 84-point haul. Red rust (Vold Rodeo).

Tetz now leads No. 2 Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan) by 45.5 national points. Coverchuk was shut out Friday night in Saskatoon, pushed back by Lil Naughty (Foley Bucking Bulls) in 2.36 seconds.

Elsewhere in the first round of the Saskatoon PBR Classic, Dakota Butter (Eatonia, Saskatchewan), Swiss Song (Hazenmore, Saskatchewan) and Tanner Eno (Coronation, Alberta) finished tied for third alongside Redd, totaling 85 points for a total of 19.5 national points.

Buttar made the 8 on Hammer time (Skori Bucking Bulls), Switzerland in the lead Wild weather (Vold Rodeo) and Eno survived Mogley (Lazy Bulls S Bucking).

Buttar, a two-time PBR Canada champion, remained No. 3 in Canada, now 574.5 points behind No. 1 Tetz.

Switzer moved up one position from No. 8 to No. 7 in Canada, moving 691.67 points closer to first place.

Eno also moved up one position, from #35 to #24.

Colten Fritzlan (Rifle, Colorado), Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan), Dawson Shannon (Drayton Valley, Alberta), Stefan Tonita (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), Jordan Hansen (Amisk, Alberta) and Garrett Green (Meeting Creek, Alberta) also advance to the second round with a qualifying race.

The PBR Saskatoon Classic, presented by Redhead Equipment and CASE IH, concludes Saturday, October 26 with the second round and championship round. The action begins at 7:00 p.m. CST.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.ca.

Stay tuned PBRCanada.com and follow the visit on Facebook (PBR Canada),@PBRCanada) and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the latest results, news, statistics and much more.

PBR Canada Cup Series
PBR Saskatoon Classic, presented by Redhead Equipment and CASE IH
SaskTel Center – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
(Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Cumulative Points)

1. Gilmar Santana, 86.5-0-0-86.50-33 points.

(tie). John Crimber, 86.5-0-0-86.50-33 points.

3. Dakota Buttar, 85-0-0-85.00-19.5 points.

(tie). Chanse Suisse, 85-0-0-85.00-19.5 Points.

(tie). Tanner Eno, 85-0-0-85.00-19.5 Points.

(tie). Trace Redd, 85-0-0-85.00-19.5 points.

7. Colten Fritzlan, 84.5-0-0-84.50-16 points.
8. Nick Tetz, 84-0-0-84.00-13.5 points.

(tie). Aaron Roy, 84-0-0-84.00-13.5 points.

10. Dawson Shannon, 83.5-0-0-83.50-11 points.
11. Stefan Tonita, 82-0-0-82.00-10 points.
12. Jordan Hansen, 81-0-0-81.00-1 points.
13. Garrett Green, 78-0-0-78.00

Cody Coverchuk, 0-0-0-0.00

Robbins Co., 0-0-0-0.00

Weston Davidson, 0-0-0-0.00

Tyler Craig, 0-0-0-0.00

Wyatt Gleeson, 0-0-0-0.00

Cody Fraser, 0-0-0-0.00

Cauy Schmidt, 0-0-0-0.00

Dixon Tattrie, 0-0-0-0.00

Chad Hartman, 0-0-0-0.00

William Barrows, 0-0-0-0.00

Griffin Koester, 0-0-0-0.00

Daylon swearing, 0-0-0-0.00

Cole Young, 0-0-0-0.00

Koltin Hevalow, 0-0-0-0.00

Brayden Shore, 0-0-0-0.00

PBR Canada Cup Series
PBR Saskatoon Classic, presented by Redhead Equipment and CASE IH – 5/5 Bucking Battle
SaskTel Center – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
(Round 1 – Event Cumulative Points)

1. John Crimber, 88.5-88.50-23 points.
2. Trace Redd, 84-84.00-16 points.
3. Gilmar Santana, 83.5-83.50-15 points.

Swiss Song, 0-0.00

Tanner Eno, 0-0.00