Kaique Pacheco wins Last Cowboy Standing for 2nd straight year

Seven riders had the opportunity to force the competition to an extra round. None succeeded. The Brazilian bull rider was the only competitor at the Professional Bull Riders’ major Saturday to complete two rides and won the event for the second straight year.

The event was part of Helldorado Days. The final day of competition begins at 5 p.m. Sunday with the PRCA Rodeo.

“I’m very happy,” Pacheco said through a translator. “I just had to focus and ride my bulls.”

Pacheco, who entered the event second in the world rankings, won $100,000 and 625 points in the standings by taking home the title. After getting bucked off in the first round Friday, he trailed world leader Eduardo Aparecido by 945 points, but following his win, the race for the championship will be much tighter heading out of the Built Ford Tough Series’ break.

The 22-year-old successfully rode Machinery Auctioneer’s Little Joe for 88 points in the second round and Spotted Demon, the fourth-ranked bull in the world, for 90 points in the third.

The ranked bull presented an extra challenge because Pacheco never had been on him. He had only seen him on video.

“(Spotted Demon is) really difficult,” Pacheco said. “A lot of times he’s bucked riders and not given them an opportunity for a ride.”

Pacheco finished runner-up in the event’s second round behind Marco Antonio Eguchi, who rode the bull Crazy Horse for 88.25 points. Out of the 23 other competitors in the second round, only six advanced to the third.

Then when it came down to it, none could ride his bull and force a fourth round with Pacheco. Aparecido, fourth-ranked Derek Kolbaba and sixth-ranked Jess Lockwood hit the dirt as Pacheco patiently watched.

Aparecido had the chance to push his lead out to an almost unreachable distance with another major win Saturday. Instead, Pacheco’s performance could mean the two Brazilians will push each other until the PBR returns to Las Vegas for the World Finals in November.

“I don’t think about that,” Pacheco said. “I’m just focused on riding my bulls. I’m not focused on other bull riders.”

Ben Gotz can be reached at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.

Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series

Last Cowboy Standing at Helldorado Days

At Las Vegas Village

Event Leaders (Round 1-Round 2-Round 3-Round 4-Round 5-Event Aggregate-Event Points)

1. Kaique Pacheco, 0-88-90-0-0-178.00-825 Points.

2. Marco Antonio Eguchi, 84.75-88.25-0-0-0-173.00-130 Points.

3. Stormy Wing, 87.25-0-0-0-0-87.25-125 Points.

4. Eduardo Aparecido, 86.75-87.75-0-0-0-174.50-120 Points.

5. Brennon Eldred, 87-0-0-0-0-87.00-75 Points.

6. Silvano Alves, 0-86.75-0-0-0-86.75-50 Points.

(tie). Gage Gay, 86.25-0-0-0-0-86.25-50 Points.

8. Claudio Montanha Jr., 86-0-0-0-0-86.00-40 Points.

(tie). Cody Nance, 0-85.5-0-0-0-85.50-40 Points.

10. J.B. Mauney, 85.75-0-0-0-0-85.75-20 Points.

(tie). Joao Ricardo Vieira, 0-85-0-0-0-85.00-20 Points.

12. Jess Lockwood, 0-84.75-0-0-0-84.75-10 Points.

13. Fabiano Vieira, 85.25-0-0-0-0-85.25-7.5 Points.

(tie). Koal Livingston, 85.25-0-0-0-0-85.25-7.5 Points.

15. Derek Kolbaba, 0-81.25-0-0-0-81.25-5 Points.

(tie). Cody Teel, 81.25-0-0-0-0-81.25-5 Points.

(tie). Guilherme Marchi, 84.5-0-0-0-0-84.50-5 Points.

(tie). Cody Rodeo Tyler, 83.5-0-0-0-0-83.50-5 Points.

(tie). Reese Cates, 81.25-0-0-0-0-81.25-5 Points.

Chase Outlaw, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Matt Triplett, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Cooper Davis, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Rubens Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Mason Lowe, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Shane Proctor, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Dener Barbosa, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Ryan Dirteater, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Luciano De Castro, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Luis Blanco, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Emilio Resende, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

J.W. Harris, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Robson Aragao, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Alex Marcilio, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Cody Heffernan, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Jake Gowdy, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Alex Cardozo, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Cody Campbell, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Skeeter Kingsolver, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Jesse Tillman, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Michael Lane, 0-0-0-0-0-0.00

Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series World Finals Standings

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

1. Eduardo Aparecido, 21, 4, 8, 3,015.00, $270,002.30

2. Kaique Pacheco, 27, 5, 10, 2,835.00, $304,364.60

3. J.B. Mauney, 20, 1, 4, 1,886.24, $102,842.77

4. Derek Kolbaba, 28, 3, 7, 1,800.00, $128,836.47

5. Chase Outlaw, 20, 1, 8, 1,784.16, $98,802.08

6. Jess Lockwood, 18, 2, 4, 1,777.50, $175,802.11

7. Stormy Wing, 18, 2, 4, 1,645.00, $104,705.64

8. Joao Ricardo Vieira, 24, 1, 9, 1,520.00, $89,962.21

8. Matt Triplett, 25, 3, 7, 1,520.00, $91,448.15

10. Cooper Davis, 22, 0, 5, 1,513.33, $91,670.31

11. Rubens Barbosa, 26, 1, 3, 1,372.50, $85,902.83

12. Mason Lowe, 21, 0, 4, 1,333.33, $100,182.31

13. Shane Proctor, 19, 2, 4, 1,267.50, $79,823.33

14. Cody Teel, 16, 2, 4, 1,155.83, $72,464.44

15. Marco Antonio Eguchi, 26, 0, 6, 1,087.50, $68,206.67

16. Claudio Montanha Jr., 22, 2, 8, 1,079.16, $77,490.24

17. Cody Nance, 24, 2, 6, 1,057.50, $68,813.57

18. Silvano Alves, 22, 0, 3, 883.33, $45,366.83

19. Dener Barbosa, 24, 1, 5, 850.83, $52,097.60

20. Ryan Dirteater, 20, 0, 1, 805.83, $47,835.67

21. Fabiano Vieira, 24, 1, 5, 768.33, $59,163.96

22. Guilherme Marchi, 21, 0, 4, 767.49, $37,712.14

23. Luciano De Castro, 26, 0, 6, 712.50, $42,376.99

24. Stetson Lawrence, 21, 0, 2, 645.00, $32,466.67

25. Mike Lee, 26, 3, 5, 568.33, $41,956.36

26. Gage Gay, 20, 0, 0, 473.33, $27,086.67

27. Koal Livingston, 22, 1, 5, 385.00, $30,931.19

28. Dakota Buttar, 12, 0, 0, 375.83, $25,282.16

29. Brady Sims, 15, 0, 1, 345.00, $20,467.31

30. Troy Wilkinson, 10, 1, 3, 328.75, $27,900.23

31. Luis Blanco, 19, 0, 2, 324.58, $22,682.24

32. Emilio Resende, 18, 1, 4, 324.16, $28,330.51

33. Cody Rodeo Tyler, 24, 1, 4, 290.41, $25,028.33

34. J.W. Harris, 17, 1, 3, 280.41, $24,583.75

35. Brennon Eldred, 15, 2, 6, 279.16, $26,872.13

36. Reese Cates, 21, 1, 3, 275.00, $28,650.00

37. Robson Aragao, 24, 1, 4, 240.00, $21,263.33

38. Alex Marcilio, 18, 0, 4, 225.00, $21,718.57

39. Nevada Newman, 8, 0, 2, 215.00, $15,850.25

40. Cody Heffernan, 28, 1, 3, 212.50, $23,825.71

41. Jake Gowdy, 19, 1, 2, 205.00, $29,747.71

42. Kurt Shephard, 21, 0, 6, 195.00, $26,007.25

42. Sonny Schafferius, 15, 1, 5, 195.00, $17,019.65

44. Alex Cardozo, 26, 1, 2, 182.50, $18,286.64

45. Cody Campbell, 22, 1, 4, 181.65, $16,945