Nebraskan raises stakes

Dustin Elliott's trophy case has a ton of gold buckles, but he'll eagerly make room for the most prestigious one in his sport.

The 26-year-old bull rider owns state high school and national collegiate titles.

In 2004, he reached the pinnacle of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in his first National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center by winning the world championship.

Elliott is back in Las Vegas going for a bull rider's top prize: the world title in the Professional Bull Riders series.

"The PBR world champion gets $1 million. That pretty much sums it up," he said of why he switched from traditional rodeo to the PBR and is competing in his first PBR World Finals. "I loved going to small-town rodeos. People were so nice.

"But these fans are diehards. The PBR can build you into a superstar."

It's even nicer to be able to be home more, especially since his wife, Cynthia, delivered twins late last year.

The PBR demands far less travel than rodeo, where athletes often rely on campers in pickup beds to save money while cross-crossing the western part of the country.

This year, he has competed in about 40 PBR events compared to the nearly 100 he traveled to last year when he finished the PRCA season with $160,000 and a fourth-place finish.

In his six-year PRCA career, the resident of North Platte, Neb., made about $542,000. Even though he got bucked off Friday night and has covered only one of five bulls in the PBR Finals, he has made $59,812.

"My goal this year was to just qualify for the Finals," he said. "I knew I wasn't going to win the championship, but tonight was still disappointing."

• MCBRIDE WINS -- After going 0-for-3 to start the Finals, regular-season points leader Justin McBride of Elk City, Okla., made it two in a row when he stayed on Berger Bucking Bulls' Walk the Line for 91.25 points to win Friday's round before a crowd of 17,292.

"I still don't have it figured out," he said of reversing his streak. "You make mistakes, and it costs you. When you mess up, it's hard to swallow."

The 2005 PBR champion and former UNLV rodeo athlete moved up to 12th in the Finals average standings, which will pay the winner $225,000 after Sunday's competition.

• FINALS RACE -- Wiley Petersen of Fort Hall, Idaho, covered his fourth bull in five rounds with a total score of 345.75 points to take the Finals average lead. The 28-year-old rider is one of three to cover four of five bulls.

Also completing fourth rides were Brazilian Guilherme Marchi, second in average, and Billy Robinson, who moved up to third.

Eight of 45 riders have reached the whistle three times.

• WORLD TITLE -- McBride needed to complete his ride to keep his hopes alive for holding off the hard-charging Marchi for the season championship.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0247.