By Brandon Walker EBS STAFF
OKLAHOMA – The Professional Bull Riders tour held its final event at the Lazy E arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, May 16-17, with Lucas Divino besting the competition in a highly-competitive final round. Divino beat out Alex Cerqueira by less than three event aggregate points to claim the victory.
Both Divino and Cerqueira completed all three of their rides over the course of the weekend; the duo were the only competitors to do so. Divino captured the victory, following a seventh place finish the previous weekend, by scoring 257.25 event aggregate points as opposed to Cerqueira’s 254.75.
Cerqueira shared the highest scoring ride honors from the weekend’s competition with North Dakota native, Stetson Lawrence, with both riders cashing in rides of 91.25 in the championship round. Lawrence continued a streak of strong showings placing third after coming in fourth the weekend prior, with an event aggregate score of 179.25.
“I’m feeling good. Just finally stringing some rides together and just mentally focused on what I need to do,” Lawrence said of his recent performances.
35 competitors hopped onto the back of a bull in PBR’s third event since its return from the COVID-19 shutdown. Divino earned $18,250 for his performance with Cerqueira and Lawrence raking in $14,625 and $12,125, respectively.
“PBR’s three weekends of closed events at the Lazy E Arena went about as smoothly as we could have ever imagined in an unimaginable situation,” said PBR Commissioner Sean Gleason. “We got people in and out safely, culminating with a very exciting broadcast on CBS to finish the first half of the Unleash The Beast schedule. I want to thank the riders, stock contractors and crew who put their faith and personal discipline into a process that is showing the entire country how we can get back to work again.”
PBR will next host events in Las Vegas for the majority of June with no spectators in attendance, but the sport continues to pioneer strategies for returning to competition, announcing they will welcome fans on July 10-12 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“It’ll be a blast to be finally back to normal and actually hear the crowd roaring and get behind you.” Lawrence said as competitors anticipate the return of spectators. “It’ll mean a lot more now that we haven’t had it for a while.”
