Joao Ricardo Vieira continues quest to become oldest PBR World Champion in history with Top-5 effort in opening round of competition from Allstate Arena

CHICAGO – On a snowy Friday evening in the greater Chicago area, Ezekiel Mitchell (Rockdale, Texas) was red-hot as the 12th PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Unleash The Beast event in the Windy City got underway. As one of 13 riders to cover their opening-round draw, Mitchell won Round 1 of the tour stop inside Allstate Arena, surging to an early lead at the PBR Tractor Supply Co. Invitational.

“I’m going to try to win this thing tomorrow and then win the world,” Mitchell said moments after the win atop the Can-Am Cage. “I thank all the fans for being here and God for allowing me to be on the stage.”
Mitchell earned his first round win of the 2022 season when he outlasted Crime Time (C Check Bucking Bulls). Reaching the requisite 8, Mitchell was marked an unrivaled 88.5 points.
He earned 28 world points for the score and leads the No. 2 contender in the aggregate by 0.5 points.
Joao Ricardo Vieira’s (Itatinga, Brazil) quest to become the oldest PBR World Champion in history continued in Round 1 as the stoic Brazilian tied for fifth. Should the 37-year-old earn his first gold buckle at season’s end, he would surpass Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil), who won his third title in 2006 at age 36.
One of three contenders to earn an 86.25-point score, Vieira covered Midnight Rain (Staci Wilks/N Bar Ranch/Clay Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger).
Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) and Joao Henrique Lucas (Bastos, Brazil) also registered 86.25-point rides to split fifth, riding Poncho Villa (K-C Bucking Bulls/Bull Creek Bucking Bulls) and The Hard Stuff (K-C Bucking Bulls/Bull Creek Bucking Bulls), respectively.
Vieira, Swearingen and Lucas each left Allstate Arena with 14 world points. 
Continuing his resurgent 2022 campaign, Cole Melancon (Sour Lake, Texas), who entered the year with a dismal buckoff streak of 35 bulls, was second in Round 1.
Melancon was sensational atop Short Stuff (C Check Bucking Bulls), matching the bovine athlete jump-for-jump en route to an 88-point score.
Now 3-for-6 thus far in 2022, Melancon’s latest score earned him 18 world points.
Third was Manoelito de Souza Junior (Itamira, Brazil), netting 17 world points.
The 26-year-old’s bronze showing was earned courtesy of his 87-point score atop God’s Plan (C Check Bucking Bulls).
Rounding out the Top 5 in fourth was Chase Dougherty (Decatur, Texas).
Dougherty rode Lil Hott (Stinger/Brunner/Clay Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger) for 86.5 points to net 16 points in the early 2022 PBR World Championship race.
Action for the 2022 PBR Tractor Supply Co. Invitational will conclude with Round 2 and the championship round on Saturday, January 15. Action gets underway at 6:45 p.m. CST.
PBR RidePass on PlutoTV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Tune to channel 720 for the latest programming schedule, and click here for on-demand PBR programming.

PBR Unleash The Beast


PBR Tractor Supply Co. Invitational


Allstate Arena – Chicago, Illinois 
Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Ezekiel Mitchell, 88.5-0-0-88.50-28 Points.
2. Cole Melancon, 88-0-0-88.00-18 Points.
3. Manoelito de Souza Junior, 87-0-0-87.00-17 Points.
4. Chase Dougherty, 86.5-0-0-86.50-16 Points.
5. João Ricardo Vieira, 86.25-0-0-86.25-14 Points.
(tie). Daylon Swearingen, 86.25-0-0-86.25-14 Points.
(tie). João Henrique Lucas, 86.25-0-0-86.25-14 Points.
8. Stetson Lawrence, 86-0-0-86.00-12 Points.
9. Eli Vastbinder, 85.5-0-0-85.50-11 Points.
10. Silvano Alves, 85.25-0-0-85.25-10 Points.
11. Dalton Kasel, 85-0-0-85.00-8.5 Points.
(tie). Keyshawn Whitehorse, 85-0-0-85.00-8.5 Points.
13. Dener Barbosa, 82.25-0-0-82.25-8 Points.
Kyler Oliver, 0-0-0-0.00
Mason Taylor, 0-0-0-0.00
Andrew Alvidrez, 0-0-0-0.00
Claudio Montanha Jr., 0-0-0-0.00
Adriano Salgado, 0-0-0-0.00
Jesse Petri, 0-0-0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0-0-0.00
Cody Teel, 0-0-0-0.00
Jess Lockwood, 0-0-0-0.00
Marcelo Procopio Pereira, 0-0-0-0.00
Tye Chandler, 0-0-0-0.00
Kaique Pacheco, 0-0-0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0-0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0-0-0.00
 
Kacie Albert
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