Dakota Buttar Remains No. 1 in the 2021 PBR Canada Championship Race

Todd Chotowetz goes a perfect 2-for-2 to lead the heated battle for the PBR Canada National Finals event win

By Kacie Albert

EDMONTON, Alta. – As action got underway for the first-ever PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada National Finals, presented by Command Tubular Products, in Edmonton, Alberta, at Rogers Place, the world’s best bull riders showed up and showed out as the historic battle for the 2021 PBR Canada Championship and accompanying $50,000 further intensified.

Competing with a groin injury, reigning PBR Canada Champion Dakota Buttar (Kindersley, Saskatchewan) battled through the pain, going 1-for-2 to remain the No. 1-ranked rider in the national standings ahead of the final day of the season.

Should Buttar repeat as the Canadian Champion, he would not only become the third multi-time title holder in league history, but he would become the first rider to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons.

Buttar was quick to strike in Round 1 of the first PBR Canada Finals held in Edmonton, making the 8 seconds aboard Look Alive (Flying Four Bucking Bulls) for 79.5 points.

While he was bested in Round 2, sent to the ground in 2.92 seconds by Devil’s Advocate (Chase Kesler Bucking Bulls), his opening-round score inside the home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers was enough to maintain his No. 1 rank in the national standings.

Buttar, who is 14^th on the event leaderboard, collected 2 national points for his efforts, extending his lead over No. 2 Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan) to 55.66 points.

Coverchuk was unable to convert on Friday evening in front of the raucous Edmonton crowd. The 2018 PBR Canada Champion was bucked off byTractorland.ca (Wild Hoggs/Trevor Williams) in 3.31 seconds in Round 1 and Ripped at the Seams (Vold Rodeo/Rafter G Cattle Co.) in a swift 1.66 seconds in Round 2.

Elsewhere in the Top 5, No. 3 Jordan Hansen (Okotoks, Alberta) and No. 4 Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta) remained in contention for the 2021 PBR Canada Championship by going 1-for-2, while Jake Gardner (Fort St. John, British Columbia) delivered the high-marked ride of the event to surge to No. 5 in the standings.

Hansen had his nine-out ride streak come to an end in the opening round of the 2021 PBR Canada National Finals, bucked off by All Access (Vold Rodeo) in 3.31 seconds. The reserved Albertan, however, rebounded in Round 2, covering Speak of the Devil (Chase Kesler Bucking Bulls) for 82 points.

The 28-year-old earned 1 national point and will begin the last day of the 2021 season 69.66 points behind No. 1 Buttar. Hansen is also tied for 10^th in the event standings, with the victor of the year-end event guaranteed to collect a minimum $30,000.

For two-time PBR Canada Champion Lambert, his quest for his third national title, which would tie him with Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan) as the winningest bull rider in Canada’s history, began in less-than-ideal fashion as he was bested by Kool Aid (R Saga Ranch Ltd.) in a hard-fought 7.52 seconds.

Marking the duo’s rubber-match, the trip allowed Kool Aid to take the lead in his rivalry with the veteran rider, having now bucked off Lambert in three of their five meetings.

Lambert, however, righted course in Round 2, making the 8 aboard Mogely (Lazy S Bucking Bulls) for 84.5 points, catapulting him to sixth in the event aggregate.

He exited Rogers Place having earned a critical 12.5 national points to close within 89.66 points of the top position.

Gardner gained the most ground in the title race Friday evening, winning Round 2 to surge from No. 7 to No. 5 in the national standings. He closed to within 132.83 points of No. 1 Buttar to remain in the hunt for his first PBR Canada Championship.

On the heels of a 5.96-second buckoff dealt to him by Tractorland’s Pound Sand (Wild Hoggs/Corey Chmelnyk) in Round 1, Gardner was electric in the second round, delivering the top score of the night when he rode Altitude Adjustment (Vold Rodeo) for 86.5 points.

Also now fifth in the event standings, Gardner’s 1-for-2 showing earned him a much needed 20 national points.

In the contentious race for the 2021 PBR Canada National Finals event win, four riders were flawless Friday evening.

Atop the leaderboard is Todd Chotowetz (Major, Saskatchewan), earning 20.5 national points.

Chotowetz first made the 8 aboard Irish Rebel (Wilson Rodeo) for 83.5 points in Round 1, which he followed with an 84.5-point effort atop Razor (Vold Rodeo) in Round 2.

The Saskatchewan cowboy is followed closely by 2019 PBR Canada Champion Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) who trails the event lead by a mere 0.5 points in the aggregate.

Fresh off his third career appearance at the PBR World Finals, Swearingen was perfect in the opening two rounds. He rode Bob Rock (Skori Bucking Bulls) for 83.5 points and Al Capone (Wild Hoggs/Sure Fire) for 84 points.

Micheal Ostashek (Edson, Alberta) and Tim Lipsett (Lumsden, Saskatchewan) are the remaining two riders to have covered both of their draws. They are tied for third on the event leaderboard.

The 2021 PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Command Tubular Products, will conclude in Edmonton, Alberta, and Rogers Place on Saturday, November 13 with Round 3 and the championship round. Action will get underway at 7:30 p.m. MST.

PBR Canada Cup Series
PBR Canada National Finals, presented by Command Tubular Products
Rogers Place – Edmonton, Alberta
(Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Todd Chotowetz, 83.5-84.5-0-0-168.00-20.5 Points.
2. Daylon Swearingen, 83.5-84-0-0-167.50-16 Points.
3. Micheal Ostashek, 83.5-83.5-0-0-167.00-13 Points.

(tie). Tim Lipsett, 84-83-0-0-167.00-20.5 Points.

5. Jake Gardner, 0-86.5-0-0-86.50-20 Points.
6. Zane Lambert, 0-84.5-0-0-84.50-12.5 Points.
7. Coy Robbins, 84-0-0-0-84.00-17.5 Points.
8. Chad Hartman, 0-83.5-0-0-83.50-5 Points.
9. Ashton Sahli, 83-0-0-0-83.00-4 Points.
10. Jordan Hansen, 0-82-0-0-82.00-1 Points.

(tie). Tyler Craig, 0-82-0-0-82.00-1 Points.

12. Jared Parsonage, 81.5-0-0-0-81.50-3 Points.
13. Aaron Roy, 0-80.5-0-0-80.50
14. Dakota Buttar, 79.5-0-0-0-79.50-2 Points.

Cody Coverchuk, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Lonnie West, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Nick Tetz, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Griffin Smeltzer, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Garrett Green, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Tanner Eno, 0-0-0-0-0.00

2021 PBR Canada National Standings

(Place, Rider, Events, Wins, Top 5’s, Points, Total Winnings)

1. Dakota Buttar, 27, 5, 15, 316.16, $30,500.98
2. Cody Coverchuk, 25, 3, 11, 260.50, $17,991.53
3. Jordan Hansen, 9, 1, 6, 246.50, $13,388.57
4. Zane Lambert, 17, 2, 8, 226.50, $13,878.04
5. Jake Gardner, 11, 1, 4, 183.33, $7,581.54
6. Lonnie West, 14, 2, 6, 173.00, $11,808.01
7. Callum Miller, 23, 1, 6, 170.50, $11,883.90
8. Aaron Roy, 22, 1, 4, 150.33, $7,561.25
9. Griffin Smeltzer, 22, 1, 7, 135.50, $12,462.25
10. Ashton Sahli, 28, 1, 4, 133.00, $11,278.94
11. Nick Tetz, 19, 2, 7, 124.16, $12,710.48
12. Jared Parsonage, 23, 3, 4, 122.00, $11,329.66
13. Garrett Green, 9, 1, 3, 114.00, $5,893.49
14. Coy Robbins, 19, 0, 3, 95.00, $4,673.23
15. Tim Lipsett, 21, 0, 2, 93.33, $2,571.81
16. Micheal Ostashek, 24, 0, 4, 82.50, $4,281.10
17. Todd Chotowetz, 13, 0, 3, 82.00, $3,194.29
18. Tanner Eno, 11, 1, 3, 57.50, $5,518.36
19. Logan Biever, 13, 0, 2, 54.50, $2,937.76
20. Tyler Craig, 27, 0, 3, 46.83, $4,624.45
21. Brock Radford, 12, 0, 1, 40.00, $1,570.00
22. Chad Hartman, 15, 0, 3, 39.00, $4,117.92
23. Dakota Louis, 3, 0, 1, 29.50, $838.91
24. Blake Smith, 18, 0, 1, 29.50, $2,420.59
25. Cole Young, 4, 0, 1, 28.33, $2,635.74
26. Dawson Shannon, 25, 0, 1, 23.00, $1,471.53
27. Daylon Swearingen, 2, 0, 1, 23.00, $1,079.50
28. Weston Davidson, 15, 0, 2, 16.00, $1,638.46
29. Edgar Durazo, 1, 0, 1, 15.00, $2,078.04
30. Riley Gagnon, 9, 0, 0, 9.00, $665.72
31. Wacey Finkbeiner, 14, 0, 1, 8.00, $1,151.47
32. Jaden Ozirney, 2, 0, 0, 1.50, $56.74
33. Dayton Johnston, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
34. Shay Marks, 12, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
35. Fabian Dueck, 16, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
36. Wyatt Gleeson, 6, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
37. Rosendo Ramirez, 4, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
38. Cawl Braithwaite, 4, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
39. Marcos Gloria, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
40. Zachery King, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
41. Nicholas Klinck, 17, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
42. Landon Schmidt, 10, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
43. Ethan Schultz, 3, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
44. Wyatt Laughlin, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
45. Cooper Zur, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
46. William Barrows, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
47. Zane Tully, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
48. Tanner Skene, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
49. Eric O’Flynn, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
50. Lonnie Phillips, 2, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
51. Travis Maguire, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
52. Coy Doore, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
53. Austen Watier, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
54. Dylan Somerville, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00
55. Billy West, 1, 0, 0, 0.00, $0.00