Florida Freedom’s Caden Bunch Wins PBR Unleash The Beast Event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Going 2-for-3 to clinch his second Unleash The Beast win of the season, Bunch rises from No. 11 to No. 7 in the gold buckle battle

By Kacie Albert

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – When the dust settled inside Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, none were better than Caden Bunch (Tahlequah, Oklahoma), who parlayed a 2-for-3 showing into his second PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event win of the season, victorious at PBR Milwaukee, presented by Cooper Tires. The win allowed Bunch to crack the Top 10 in the heated battle for the 2024 PBR World Championship.

Bunch won the 2024 Unleash The Beast season opener in Tucson, Arizona, but then spiraled into a 2-for-20 slump.

“It feels great to get that second win, move up in the standings, and hopefully be up on this stage a few more times before getting to Fort Worth,” Bunch said after his victory from the dirtinside the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Bunch, who rides for the Florida Freedom in the separate PBR Teams league, was quick to strike, tying for the Round 1 win in front of a sold-out crowd on Saturday night as he coveredCookies & Cream (Nixon Bucking Bulls) for 87 points.

The reserved Oklahoman then overtook sole ownership of the event lead in Round 2 via his 86.75-point ride on Magic Trick (D&H Cattle Co./Buck Cattle Co.).

Bunch not only advanced to the championship round atop the event standings, earning the first selection in the final round’s bull draft, but also had a one-bull lead over the remainder of the field as the lone rider to cover both of his opening round draws.

Quick to draft, Bunch elected to go head-to-head with YETI World Champion Bull contender Ricky Vaughn (WinRock/D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle). As the last man out of the chutes, Bunch clinched the event win before he even nodded, as the other nine bull riders in the championship round had all bucked off.

With the event win in hand, Bunch nodded, and while he was tossed in 1.63 seconds, he had already cemented his second premier series victory of the year.

Bunch’s golden finish earned him a check for $46,163 in addition to a crucial 118 Unleash The Beast points. Eager to reclaim the No. 1 rank in the race for the 2024 World Championship, Bunch rose from No. 11 to No. 7, inching within 481 points of No. 1 Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil).

Atop the standings, No. 1 Dias and No. 2 John Crimber (Decatur, Texas) each went 1-for-3 and finished seventh and sixth, respectively.

The Kansas City Outlaws’ Dias rode Trump Train (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger) for 86.75 points in Round 1 to garner 23 Unleash The Beast points, while Crimber, who is anticipated to be the top pick in the upcoming PBR Teams 2024 New Rider Draft, tied for the Round 1 win, covering ProVantage Night Stalker (Nixon Bucking Bulls) for 87 points to net 35 Unleash The Beast points.

The dynamic rookies left Milwaukee separated by 264.5 points.

Returning to the top of the event leaderboard, the Kansas City Outlaws’ Koltin Hevalow (Smithville, Missouri) was second.

His event-best, 88.75-point ride aboard Boomerang (Blake Sharp/Stacy Utz/Rachel Farris/Tristen Jones/Stacey Rickman) in Round 2 earned him 78 Unleash The Beast points.

Hevalow rose from No. 8 to No. 6 in the standings, now 436.33 points back of No. 1 Dias.

Dalton Kasel (Muleshoe, Texas) and Brady Fielder (Clermont, Queensland, Australia) tied for third, each earning 46 Unleash The Beast points.

Both Kasel and Fielder earned the bronze finish courtesy of crucial 88-point rides in Round 2. The Austin Gamblers’ Kasel conquered The Judge (Blake Sharp/UB Bucking Company), and Fielder, a key member of the 2023 PBR Teams Champion Texas Rattlers, bested Whiplash (Blake Sharp/Floyd Lowry/CB & Traci Lee).

Kasel rose one position in the standings from No. 4 to No. 3, climbing within 318.33 points of No. 1 Dias. Fielder gained two positions, up to No. 10 after traveling to Milwaukee ranked No. 12, now 554.67 points back of the top spot.

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Spring, Utah), collecting 33 Unleash The Beast points.

After missing Round 1 of competition due to travel delays, Whitehorse made the most of Round 2, riding Baldy (Tommy Julian/D&H Cattle) for a commanding 87.5 points.

Whitehorse gained four positions in the standings, rising from No. 27 to No. 23.

In the bull pen, Top Dollar (Hookin’ W Ranch/DeHoff/Beach/McAlsiter) bucked supreme, crowned the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event. Bucking in the championship round, the powerful animal athlete posted an unrivaled 45-point bull score for his 2.12 seconds of work against Jesse Petri (Dublin, Texas).

The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas, for PBR Little Rock. The event is on Friday, March 15, at 7:45 p.m. CDT, and Saturday, March 16, at 6:45 p.m. CDT.

Elsewhere in the PBR, the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour held events in both Bangor, Maine, and Mobile, Alabama.

In Bangor, the Missouri Thunder’s Andrew Alvidrez (Seminole, Texas) stood victorious, going 2-for-4.

Paired with Blaze (J Bar W) in Round 1, the Texan lost the rope after 2.72 seconds. Undeterred, the veteran rider then rebounded in Round 2, thundering out of the chutes on Lil Beagle (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for 82.5 points. Alvidrez was again bucked off in Round 3, this time by Real OG (Dave Martin/Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) in 2.47 seconds. However, he punctuated his outing in Maine in commanding form, winning the championship round and seizing the event lead by topping Pneu-Dart’s Chief Wahoo (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls) for an event-best 88.5 points. The victory netted Alvidrez a critical 146 Velocity Global points.

Inside of Mobile Civic Center, Brazilian cowboy Ederson Santos (Ilha Solteira, Brazil) emerged victorious in-front of a sold-out Alabama crowd for the Velocity Tour’s debut in Mobile.

Santos first converted in Round 1 when he dominated Grey Goose (LH Cattle/ 2T Cattle Co) for 87.5 points. Sitting second on the leaderboard going into the championship round, he was paired with Dirty Sancho (Blake Sharp/ Koe Wetzel/ High Voltage Cattle) as his final animal athlete opponent of the night. Despite a less than ideal 76.50 score, the qualified ride clinched the event win for Santos as the only rider to be a perfect 2-for-2.

He earned 118 Velocity Global points for his efforts in Mobile. 

The PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour next travels to Wheeling, West Virginia, and Palm Springs, California, on March 15-16. PBR Wheeling, brought to you by Oglebay Resort at WesBanco Arena begins on Friday, March 15 at 8 p.m. EDT, and Saturday, March 16 at 7 p.m. EDT. PBR Palm Springs at Acrisure Arena gets underway at 8 p.m. PDT on Friday, March 15 and 7 p.m. PDT on Saturday, March 16.

PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast and Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.

PBR Unleash The Beast
PBR Milwaukee, presented by Cooper Tires
Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Caden Bunch, 87-86.75-0-173.75-118 Points.
2. Koltin Hevalow, 0-88.75-0-88.75-78 Points.
3. Dalton Kasel, 0-88-0-88.00-46 Points.

(tie). Brady Fielder, 0-88-0-88.00-46 Points.

5. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-87.5-0-87.50-33 Points.
6. John Crimber, 87-0-0-87.00-35 Points.
7. Cassio Dias, 86.75-0-0-86.75-23 Points.
8. Cort McFadden, 0-86.25-0-86.25-19 Points.
9. Jesse Petri, 0-86-0-86.00-17 Points.
10. Thiago Salgado, 0-85.5-0-85.50-14 Points.
11. Daylon Swearingen, 85-0-0-85.00-17 Points.
12. Clay Guiton, 84.75-0-0-84.75-15 Points.

João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0-0-0.00

Alan de Souza, 0-0-0-0.00

Julio Cesar Marques, 0-0-0-0.00

Kaiden Loud, 0-0-0-0.00

Vitor Losnake, 0-0-0-0.00

Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0-0-0.00

Ednélio Almeida, 0-0-0-0.00

Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00

Conner Halverson, 0-0-0-0.00

Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 0-0-0-0.00

Bob Mitchell, 0-0-0-0.00

Callum Miller, 0-0-0-0.00

Silvano Alves, 0-0-0-0.00

Marco Eguchi, 0-0-0-0.00

Jake Gardner, 0-0-0-0.00

Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0.00

Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0.00

Hunter Ball, 0-0-0-0.00

João Paulo Fernandes, 0-0-0-0.00

2024 PBR Unleash The Beast Standings

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

1. Cassio Dias, 15, 4, 5, 881.83, $235,932.67
2. John Crimber, 13, 1, 5, 617.33, $163,383.00
3. Dalton Kasel, 13, 1, 5, 563.50, $136,275.33
4. Austin Richardson, 8, 2, 3, 533.50, $188,437.00
5. Eduardo Aparecido, 13, 0, 3, 447.00, $77,521.67
6. Koltin Hevalow, 16, 1, 5, 445.50, $92,458.67
7. Caden Bunch, 14, 2, 3, 400.83, $105,718.17
8. João Ricardo Vieira, 13, 1, 3, 380.00, $88,701.67
9. Alan de Souza, 13, 0, 3, 372.00, $58,326.33
10. Brady Fielder, 15, 2, 4, 327.16, $72,640.33
11. Cody Jesus, 10, 0, 3, 327.00, $59,803.00
12. Julio Cesar Marques, 15, 0, 3, 323.32, $44,076.33
13. Kaiden Loud, 14, 0, 2, 264.50, $41,359.00
14. Wingson Henrique da Silva, 12, 1, 3, 263.83, $61,151.00
15. Leonardo Castro, 4, 1, 1, 257.50, $121,005.00
16. Alex Cerqueira, 14, 0, 2, 245.00, $34,528.00
17. Clay Guiton, 10, 0, 3, 238.66, $32,232.33
18. Daylon Swearingen, 15, 0, 1, 237.50, $26,627.00
19. Cort McFadden, 9, 0, 2, 234.00, $25,610.00
20. Vitor Losnake, 13, 0, 2, 223.50, $23,457.67
21. Boudreaux Campbell, 15, 0, 1, 217.00, $20,543.00
22. Felipe Furlan, 12, 0, 2, 197.50, $31,429.00
23. Keyshawn Whitehorse, 9, 0, 3, 179.66, $25,994.33
24. Ednélio Almeida, 14, 0, 2, 177.00, $17,679.50
25. Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 12, 0, 0, 176.00, $21,488.33
26. Kaique Pacheco, 9, 0, 1, 166.33, $24,783.33
27. Jose Vitor Leme, 4, 0, 1, 147.00, $19,903.67
28. Conner Halverson, 14, 0, 1, 144.50, $12,010.00
29. Paulo Eduardo Rossetto, 15, 0, 1, 143.50, $10,832.83
30. Bob Mitchell, 15, 0, 1, 135.50, $8,915.00
31. Sage Steele Kimzey, 7, 0, 1, 132.00, $18,569.17
32. Jesse Petri, 13, 0, 0, 130.50, $10,050.00
33. Luciano De Castro, 10, 0, 0, 125.33, $13,953.33
34. Callum Miller, 7, 0, 1, 115.00, $16,400.00
35. Silvano Alves, 12, 0, 0, 112.50, $7,275.00
36. Eli Vastbinder, 12, 0, 0, 105.83, $4,550.00
37. Braidy Randolph, 5, 0, 0, 92.50, $10,321.33
38. Marco Rizzo, 4, 0, 1, 83.83, $13,010.00
39. Mason Taylor, 6, 0, 0, 75.00, $5,780.00
40. Kyler Oliver, 5, 0, 1, 72.33, $8,634.00
41. Wyatt Rogers, 10, 0, 0, 69.50, $3,505.00
42. Ezekiel Mitchell, 8, 0, 0, 66.00, $6,450.00
43. Dawson Branton, 4, 0, 0, 65.00, $6,410.00
44. Lucas Divino, 10, 0, 0, 56.00, $2,660.00
45. Brady Oleson, 9, 0, 0, 55.83, $3,025.00

PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour

PBR Bangor
Cross Insurance Center – Bangor, Maine
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Andrew Alvidrez, 0-82.5-0-88.5-171.00-146 Points.
2. Mason Taylor, 77.5-0-86.5-0-164.00-99 Points.
3. Lucas Felix, 82.5-68-0-0-150.50-69 Points.
4. Eli Vastbinder, 86-0-0-0-86.00-55 Points.
5. Nick Tetz, 0-84.5-0-0-84.50-51 Points.
6. Grayson Cole, 0-0-84-0-84.00-36 Points.
7. Kane Taylor, 83-0-0-0-83.00-30 Points.
8. Wyatt Rogers, 0-0-82.5-0-82.50-25 Points.
9. Ueberson Duarte, 0-0-81-0-81.00-21 Points.
10. Zane Cook, 0-79.5-0-0-79.50-19 Points.
11. Tyler Manor, 0-73-0-0-73.00-10 Points.

Dustin Herman, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Ezekiel Mitchell, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Brandon Chambers, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Matt Allgood, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Matt Hennelly, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Trace Redd, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Josh Stepp, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Jake Morinec, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Eder Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Dustin Martinez, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Dalton Rudman, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Bryan Titman, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Bennie Shetler, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Colt Robinson, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Vinicius Rainer, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Walter Oliveira, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Michael Phillips, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Winston Speicher, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Wengleiman Peres, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Kyle Toth, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Marco Anthonio Silva Santos, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Dakota Johnson, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Douglas da Silva Barreto, 0-0-0-0-0.00

Hagen Braswell, 0-0-0-0-0.00

PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour

PBR Mobile
Mobile Civic Center – Mobile, Alabama
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Ederson Santos, 87.5-76.5-164.00-118 Points.
2. Marco Rizzo, 88.5-0-88.50-78 Points.
3. Alvaro Ariel, 86.5-0-86.50-53 Points.
4. Lane Lasley, 85.5-0-85.50-37 Points.
5. Leandro Machado, 85-0-85.00-29 Points.

(tie). Leonardo Lima, 85-0-85.00-29 Points.

7. Elizmar Jeremias [1], 84.5-0-84.50-19 Points.
8. Daniel Keeping, 84-0-84.00-17 Points.

Andy Bohl, 0-0-0.00

Ramon de Lima, 0-0-0.00

Jean Fernandes Pereira, 0-0-0.00

Ednei Caminhas, 0-0-0.00

Quincey McDonald, 0-0-0.00

Leandro Zampollo, 0-0-0.00

Thor Hoefer II, 0-0-0.00

Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0.00

Paulo Ferreira Lima, 0-0-0.00

Caleb Cantrell, 0-0-0.00

Max Castro, 0-0-0.00

Guilherme Valleiras, 0-0-0.00

Elijah Mora, 0-0-0.00

Dakota Louis, 0-0-0.00

Dawson Gleaves, 0-0-0.00

Jason Landing, 0-0-0.00

Zach Miles, 0-0-0.00

Elizmar Jeremias [2], 0-0-0.00

Alecio Ferreira da Costa, 0-0-0.00

Lucas Fideles Souza, 0-0-0.00

Dakota Cornelius, 0-0-0.00

Adilson Junior, 0-0-0.00

Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, 0-0-0.00

Cole Trivette, 0-0-0.00

AJ Gamboa, 0-0-0.00

Alex Junior da Silva, 0-0-0.00

Douglas Franco, 0-0-0.00

Elvin Oliveira, 0-0-0.00