By Kacie Albert
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – SPORTS – At the first-ever PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada Cup Series event in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Saturday evening, the already ferocious battle for the 2021 PBR Canada Championship further intensified. As one of four riders to go a perfect 2-for-2, veteran rider Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta) won the PBR Thunderbuck in the Badlands, presented by Robertson Implements and New Holland, to surge to No. 2 in the national standings.
Lambert, who won the season-launch Cup Series event in Lethbridge, Alberta, in late August, began his outing inside Co-op Place in successful fashion, recording the sixth-best score of Round 1 when he covered Bob Rock (Skori Bucking Bulls) for 83 points.
The qualified ride avenged Lambert’s lone buckoff from his victory in Lethbridge earlier this season, when the Skori Bucking Bulls’ bovine athlete got the better of him in a swift 1.84 seconds during Round 2 inside ENMAX Centre.
In the championship round bull draft on Saturday night, Lambert once again elected to go head-to-head against a familiar opponent, drafting Lil’ Hooch (Flying High Rodeo Co.). The Ponoka-native covered the bull for 87.5 points in mid-August en route to a runner-up finish at the Touring Pro Division event in Coronation, Alberta.
Fast forward three months, and Lambert once again made the requisite 8, this time marked a championship round-best, and event victory-clinching, 86.5 points.
Lambert’s flawless finish earned him a crucial 68 national points. After travelling to Medicine Hat ranked No. 4 in the nation, the 35-year-old is now No. 2 in the race for the 2021 PBR Canada Championship and accompanying $50,000 bonus, a mere 23.66 points removed from the top spot.
???? Comeback Alert ????
Returning from injury, Brock Radford made his way to the top of the Round 1 leaderboard in Medicine Hat with this impressive 85.5-point ride atop Skori Bucking Bulls’ Sure Shot to earn the @FordCanada Ride of the Night. pic.twitter.com/ML04Xu4bgE— PBR Canada (@PBRCanada) October 17, 2021
In 2021, Lambert is chasing history. Should he be crowned this year’s national champion, he would tie Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan) for most PBR Canada titles in PBR history. Three-time Champion Roy topped Canada in 2008, 2010 and 2012, while Lambert won his two titles in 2013 and 2017.
Reigning PBR Canada Champion and current No. 1-ranked rider Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) fended off a hard-charging Lambert, retaining his position atop the national standings compliments of a fourth-place effort in Medicine Hat.
Buttar punched his ticket to the championship round after riding Devils Boy (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) for 79.5 points.
The Saskatchewan man then punctuated his efforts at the third Cup Series event of 2021 when he became the first rider in PBR competition to cover Black Dust (Vold Rodeo), scoring 84.5 points in the final round of the PBR Thunderbuck in the Badlands.
Buttar left Co-op place having earned 27.5 national points.
Should Buttar repeat as the national champion in 2021, he would become the first rider in league history to win the prestigious honor in back-to-back seasons. Further, he would join Roy and Lambert as just the third multi-time PBR Canada Champion in the record books.
Todd Chotowetz (Major, Saskatchewan) finished a season-best second in Medicine Hat, collecting 53.5 national points.
In Round 1, Chotowetz covered Chairmand Frank (Lazy S Bucking Bulls) for 81.5 points, which he followed with an 86-point trip on Wood Chuck (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Lazy S Bucking Bulls) in the championship round.
Ranked No. 23 in the standings prior to the premier series event, Chotowetz is now No. 14. He trails No. 1 Buttar by 176.16 points.
Ashton Sahli (Red Deer, Alberta) finished in third as the final rider to go a perfect 2-for-2.
Sahli began the electric evening of competition with an 81.5-point ride aboard Broken Trigger (Skori Bucking Bulls). He remained perfect at the Alberta competition when he covered Hanna Motors Wilford (Skori Bucking Bulls) for 84.5 points in the championship round.
The bronze showing is the best of Sahli’s career on the elite PBR Canada Cup Series. He is now the No. 12 ranked rider in the 2021 standings, trailing the Top 10 by a mere 17 points.
Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Round 1 winner Brock Radford (De Winton, Alberta).
Radford returned from injury in momentous fashion when he delivered the top score of the opening round, marked 85.5 points on Sure Shot (Skori Bucking Bulls). The annual title contender, however, was unable to retain his position atop the event leaderboard when he was bested by Trump Card (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Lazy S Bucking Bulls) in the final round.
The two-time PBR World Finals competitor earned 25 national points, rising one position in the standings from No. 19 to No. 18.
In the bull pen, 2018 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Happy Camper (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) was unrivaled, collecting his league-leading fifth Bull of the Event honor. The striking bovine athlete was marked an event-best 45 points when he bucked off Jordan Hansen (Okotoks, Alberta) in a hard-fought 6.09 seconds in the championship round.
The 2021 PBR Canada Sup Series will next travel to Calgary, Alberta and the Nutrien Western Event Centre for the PBR Pendleton Whisky Classic on October 23. Action will get underway at 7:00 p.m. MDT.
Stay tuned in to PBRCanada.com and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Canada), Twitter (@PBRCanada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the latest results, news, stats and more.
PBR Canada Cup Series
PBR Thuderbuck in the Badlands, presented by Robertson Implements and New Holland
Co-op Place – Medicine Hat, Alberta
(Round 1-Round 2-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
- Zane Lambert, 83-86.5-169.50-68 Points.
- Todd Chotowetz, 81.5-86-167.50-53.5 Points.
- Ashton Sahli, 81.5-84.5-166.00-39 Points.
- Dakota Buttar, 79.5-84.5-164.00-27.5 Points.
- Brock Radford, 85.5-0-85.50-25 Points.
- Garrett Green, 84.5-0-84.50-15 Points.
(tie). Coy Robbins, 84.5-0-84.50-15 Points.
- Jordan Hansen, 83.5-0-83.50-7.5 Points.
(tie). Tim Lipsett, 83.5-0-83.50-7.5 Points.
- Lonnie West, 80.5-0-80.50-1 Points.
- Jared Parsonage, 79.5-0-79.50
(tie). Aaron Roy, 79.5-0-79.50
Logan Biever, 0-0-0.00
Cody Coverchuk, 0-0-0.00
Callum Miller, 0-0-0.00
Jake Gardner, 0-0-0.00
Griffin Smeltzer, 0-0-0.00
Micheal Ostashek, 0-0-0.00
Tyler Craig, 0-0-0.00
Chad Hartman, 0-0-0.00
Wacey Finkbeiner, 0-0-0.00
Dawson Shannon, 0-0-0.00
Weston Davidson, 0-0-0.00
Riley Gagnon, 0-0-0.00
Fabian Dueck, 0-0-0.00
Nicholas Klinck, 0-0-0.00
2021 PBR Canada National Standings
(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)
- Dakota Buttar, 23, 4, 13, 237.66, $27,225.98
- Zane Lambert, 14, 1, 7, 214.00, $13,878.04
- Cody Coverchuk, 21, 2, 9, 169.50, $13,491.53
- Callum Miller, 19, 1, 6, 155.50, $11,383.90
- Griffin Smeltzer, 21, 1, 7, 135.50, $12,462.25
- Nick Tetz, 17, 2, 7, 120.66, $12,710.48
- Lonnie West, 12, 2, 5, 116.00, $9,533.01
- Garrett Green, 7, 1, 3, 114.00, $5,893.49
- Jared Parsonage, 20, 3, 4, 105.50, $10,979.66
- Jordan Hansen, 4, 0, 2, 104.50, $5,862.07
- Jake Gardner, 5, 1, 2, 100.33, $5,149.81
- Ashton Sahli, 23, 0, 2, 87.50, $8,305.79
- Aaron Roy, 17, 0, 2, 78.83, $3,620.24
- Todd Chotowetz, 10, 0, 2, 61.50, $3,194.29
- Tanner Eno, 10, 1, 3, 57.50, $5,518.36
- Logan Biever, 13, 0, 2, 54.50, $2,937.76
- Micheal Ostashek, 19, 0, 3, 49.50, $3,394.28
- Brock Radford, 12, 0, 0, 40.00, $1,570.00
- Tyler Craig, 21, 0, 2, 34.83, $4,094.90
- Chad Hartman, 10, 0, 2, 31.00, $3,800.19
- Cole Young, 4, 0, 1, 28.33, $2,635.74
- Coy Robbins, 14, 0, 1, 22.00, $1,797.23
- Edgar Durazo, 1, 0, 1, 15.00, $2,078.04
- Wacey Finkbeiner, 12, 0, 1, 8.00, $1,151.47
- Tim Lipsett, 16, 0, 0, 7.83, $145.00
- Dawson Shannon, 19, 0, 1, 7.00, $929.88
- Daylon Swearingen, 1, 0, 1, 7.00, $1,079.50
- Weston Davidson, 11, 0, 1, 4.00, $482.46
- Dakota Louis, 2, 0, 0, 0.50, $188.91
- Dayton Johnston, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Shay Marks, 12, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Fabian Dueck, 14, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Wyatt Gleeson, 6, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Rosendo Ramirez, 4, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Riley Gagnon, 6, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Cawl Braithwaite, 4, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Marcos Gloria, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Zachery King, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Blake Smith, 13, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Nicholas Klinck, 15, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Landon Schmidt, 8, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Ethan Schultz, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Wyatt Laughlin, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Cooper Zur, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Tanner Skene, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Eric O’Flynn, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- William Barrows, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Zane Tully, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Lonnie Phillips, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Austen Watier, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Coy Doore, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Travis Maguire, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
- Billy West, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00