Reigning Professional Bull Riding champ going for repeat at first-ever finals in Edmonton

EDMONTON –

Action got underway Friday evening at the first-ever Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Canada National Finals in Edmonton.

The world’s best bull riders are competing at Rogers Place for the 2021 championship and $50,000 prize. The event features four rounds of bull riding, with the first two taking place on Friday and the final rounds on Saturday.

Reigning PBR Canada Champion Dakota Buttar from Kindersley, Sask., battled through a groin injury to remain the top ranking rider in national standings after a 1-for-2 effort, collecting two national points.

If Buttar wins the national title again this year, he would become the first rider to earn the honour in back-to-back seasons.

Cody Coverchuk, from Meadow Lake, Sask., is currently in second place after not being able to convert on Friday, being buck off in 3.31 seconds in the first round and in 1.66 seconds in the second round.

Okotoks, Alta., native Jordan Hansen holds third place while Zane Lambert from Ponoka, Alta., follows in fourth.

Rounding off the top five riders remaining in contention for the championship is Jake Gardner from Fort St. John, B.C.

Gardner gained the most ground in the title race Friday after winning the second round. He leapt from seventh in the national standings to fifth and closed to within 132.83 points of Buttar.

Only four riders were flawless on Friday, including Daylon Swearingen from Piffard, N.Y., and Todd Chotowetz from Major, Sask.

The event leaderboard top three riders so far are Chotowetz, Swearingen, and Michael Ostashek from Edson, Alta.