Buttar, who also finished second in the accompanying 5/5 Bucking Battle, now leads No. 2 Cody Coverchuk by 10.84 national points

By Kacie Albert

GRANDE PRAIRE, Alta. – At the seventh PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Canada Cup Series, presented by Wrangler, event of the year in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Dakota Buttar (Eatonia, Saskatchewan) rode a cut above the rest, going a perfect 3-for-3 to win the PBR Peace Country Invitational inside Bonnetts Energy Centre and vault to the No. 1 position in the 2023 PBR Canada Championship race.

Buttar first put points on the board in Round 1 when he delivered the third-best score, marked 84 points aboard War Boy (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock).

In the second round, the 2020 PBR Canada Champion then elected to go head-to-head with Hanna Motors Broken Halo (Skori Bucking Bulls). Remaining in perfect time with the powerful animal athlete, Buttar reached the whistle, awarded 87 points to punch his ticket to the championship round third on the overall event leaderboard.

With an early pick in the championship round bull draft, Buttar architected a showdown with Chico (Vold Rodeo). Bursting from the chutes, Buttar remained centered atop the swift bovine, however, was initially called for a buckoff in arena. PBR’s officials, however, quickly sent the out into review. Upon inspection, Buttar was deemed to have made the 8, awarded an event-best 89.5 points to clinch the victory.

Buttar, who also finished second in the accompanying 5/5 Bucking Battle compliments of an 85.5-point score on Desperado (Vold Rodeo), netted a combined 158 national points. The Saskatchewan man surged from No. 3 to No. 1 in the nation, now 10.84 points ahead of No. 2 Cody Coverchuk (Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan).

Should Buttar remain No. 1 in the nation and be crowned the 2023 PBR Canada Championship, earning the historic $100,000 bonus, he would become just the fourth multi-time Champion in history, joining two-time winners Coverchuk and Zane Lambert (Ponoka, Alberta), and three-time winner Aaron Roy (Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan).

Coverchuk remained No. 2 in the nation via his sixth-place result the netted him 34 national points. After riding Relatively Famous (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) for 60.5 points in Round 1, declining a re-ride, and Emerald Inn (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/B2 Braithwaite Ranches) for 87.5 points in Round 2, Coverchuk was bested in the championship round by Langham Kid (Two Bit Bucking Bulls), hitting the ground in a quick 2.01 seconds.

While reigning PBR Canada Champion Nick Tetz (Calgary, Alberta) began the event No. 1, his absence from the PBR Peace Country Invitational as he rides for the Arizona Ridge Riders stateside in the PBR Teams League led him to slip to No. 3 in the standings. He now trails No. 1 Buttar by 22 national points.

As the only other rider to go a perfect 3-for-3 in the main event, Wyatt Gleeson (Sundre, Alberta) was second.

Gleeson first struck in the opening round when he topped Red Coat (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock) for 82.5 points. His perfect performance rolled on in Round 2 when he conquered Bra (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) for 82 points.

Seeking his second consecutive Cup Series, presented by Wrangler, win, Gleeson settled in atop Whiskey Clouds (Skori Bucking Bulls) as his final animal athlete opponent in the championship round.

Gleeson capped his outing in Grande Prairie with a score, awarded 86 points, but it was not enough to hold off Buttar.

The Albertan, who also won the 5/5 Bucking Battle Saturday evening with a mammoth 89-point ride on Times A Tickin (Thompson Rodeo Livestock), left Bonnetts Energy Centre having earned 118 national points. Gleeson rose two spots in the national standings from No. 8 to No. 6, pulling within 173.17 points of No. 1 Buttar.

Third was 2017 PBR Canada Rookie of the Year Coy Robbins (Camrose, Alberta).

Robbins surged to an early lead in Round 1, delivering the top score when he rode Jail Break (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock) for 87.5 points.

Not looking back, Robbins then delivered his second round winning score when he outlasted Times A Tickin for 88.5 points in the final round.

Leading the event ahead of the final round, Robbins elected to attempt The Remedy (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/B2 Braithwaite Ranches) as he looked to clinch his first Cup Series win. Robbins, however, was no match for the bull, brought down in 4.11 seconds.

Earlier in the event, Robbins was the final ride to convert in the accompanying 5/5 Bucking Battle. He finished third in the special round via an 82-point ride aboard Disco Daze (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock).

Robbins’ 3-for-4 showing earned him 107 national points. Remaining No. 4 in the intense 2023 PBR Canada Championship battle, Robbins is now 63.84 points back of No. 1 Buttar.

Fourth was three-time PBR Canada Champion Roy.

Chasing his unprecedented fourth national title this November, Roy rode Crazy Little Thing (Two Bit Bucking Bulls) for 86 points in Round 1, and Night Stalker (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/B2 Braithwaite Ranches) for 86.5 points in Round 2, before being brought down by Superstition (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Wilson Rodeo) in 5.77 seconds in the championship round.

Roy’s efforts garnered him 55 national points. He remained No. 5 in the nation but closed within 155 points of the top spot.

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Brock Radford (De Winton, Alberta).

The Alberta’s 69-point ride on Hit Man (X6 Ranch Bucking Cattle/Legend Rodeo Stock) and 86-point ride on Black Jack (Skori Bucking Bulls) earned him 36.5 national points.

Radford rose three positions in the nation, climbing from No. 18 to No. 15.

In the bull pen, Built Tough (Thompson Rodeo Livestock) bucked a cut above the rest, crowned the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event. Bucking in the championship round, Built Tough was marked an unrivaled 45 points for his 2.75 seconds of work against Jake Maher (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia).

 The 2023 PBR Canada Sup Series, presented by Wrangler, will next travel to Medicine Hat, Alberta, and Co-op Place for the PBR Medicine Hat Classic, presented Art’s Excavating, on Saturday, October 14. Action will get underway at 7 p.m. MT.

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, presented by Wrangler
PBR Peace Country Invitational

Bonnetts Energy Centre – Grande Prairie, Alberta
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Dakota Buttar, 84-87-89.5-260.50-142 Points.
2. Wyatt Gleeson, 82.5-82-86-250.50-95 Points.
3. Coy Robbins, 87.5-88.5-0-176.00-92 Points.
4. Aaron Roy, 86-86.5-0-172.50-55 Points.
5. Brock Radford, 69-86-0-155.00-36.5 Points.
6. Cody Coverchuk, 60.5-87.5-0-148.00-34 Points.
7. Jordan Hansen, 0-86-0-86.00-20.5 Points.
8. Chad Hartman, 0-84-0-84.00-18 Points.
9. Jared Parsonage, 83.5-0-0-83.50-20 Points.
10. Cauy Schmidt, 82-0-0-82.00-16 Points.

Garrett Green, 0-0-0-0.00

Tyler Craig, 0-0-0-0.00

Stefan Tonita, 0-0-0-0.00

Weston Davidson, 0-0-0-0.00

Jake Gardner, 0-0-0-0.00

Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0.00

Cody Fraser, 0-0-0-0.00

Cole Brewer, 0-0-0-0.00

Jake Dunham, 0-0-0-0.00

Jake Maher, 0-0-0-0.00

Cole Young, 0-0-0-0.00

Kade McDonald, 0-0-0-0.00

2023 PBR Canada National Standings

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

1. Dakota Buttar, 27, 4, 11, 614.50, $50,531.52
2. Cody Coverchuk, 39, 3, 16, 603.66, $45,407.54
3. Nick Tetz, 24, 4, 16, 592.50, $50,807.19
4. Coy Robbins, 20, 5, 11, 550.66, $43,440.69
5. Aaron Roy, 37, 6, 13, 459.50, $38,758.33
6. Wyatt Gleeson, 26, 2, 9, 441.33, $33,505.31
7. Chad Hartman, 39, 1, 8, 356.83, $22,197.69
8. Garrett Green, 12, 2, 5, 328.00, $23,761.17
9. Tyler Craig, 26, 1, 10, 312.00, $17,734.54
10. Jared Parsonage, 7, 2, 3, 311.00, $20,095.83
11. Ashton Sahli, 25, 1, 8, 308.50, $23,608.68
12. Stefan Tonita, 33, 2, 7, 285.50, $18,635.55
13. Jordan Hansen, 4, 1, 2, 249.50, $15,762.50
14. Blake Smith, 21, 1, 7, 225.50, $20,769.83
15. Brock Radford, 22, 0, 4, 180.50, $10,621.75
16. Weston Davidson, 39, 0, 5, 172.50, $13,269.39
17. Jake Gardner, 16, 0, 3, 165.00, $10,486.38
18. Griffin Smeltzer, 11, 2, 5, 150.00, $14,586.75
19. Callum Miller, 25, 0, 3, 132.00, $10,351.63
20. Cody Fraser, 24, 1, 5, 130.50, $8,328.75
21. Cauy Schmidt, 25, 0, 3, 126.33, $7,782.81
22. Daylon Swearingen, 5, 1, 1, 125.00, $8,562.50
23. Cole Brewer, 13, 1, 4, 123.00, $14,785.75
24. William Barrows, 10, 0, 2, 118.50, $6,388.75
25. Fabian Dueck, 18, 0, 2, 111.00, $7,887.50
26. Conner Halverson, 6, 0, 2, 91.50, $7,076.96
27. Jake Dunham, 19, 1, 3, 78.00, $7,846.75
28. Boudreaux Campbell, 4, 0, 3, 68.00, $4,675.00
29. Gage Gay, 4, 0, 1, 42.00, $3,098.25
30. Kobe Whitford, 4, 0, 1, 40.50, $1,615.00
31. Cole Wagner, 5, 1, 1, 36.50, $3,479.69
32. Wade Marshall, 11, 0, 1, 29.00, $875.00
33. Jake Maher, 24, 0, 1, 28.00, $2,337.50
34. Micheal Ostashek, 19, 0, 2, 23.50, $2,916.03
35. Tim Lipsett, 9, 0, 0, 22.50, $496.33
36. Kelsey Pavlou, 10, 0, 1, 21.00, $610.94
37. Joe Alejos, 1, 0, 0, 20.66, $446.25
38. Carter Sahli, 7, 0, 1, 17.00, $1,115.63
39. Tanner Skene, 10, 0, 1, 17.00, $1,568.25
40. Zane Hall, 10, 0, 1, 15.00, $1,739.84
41. Cole Young, 7, 0, 0, 14.00, $0.00
42. Jett Lambert, 5, 0, 0, 13.50, $0.00
43. Tyson Thue, 4, 0, 1, 13.00, $918.00
44. Orrin Marshall, 4, 0, 0, 10.00, $178.50
45. Kade McDonald, 6, 0, 0, 10.00, $267.75