Rough Riding. Carolina wraps up a playoff spot despite being tossed around during Cowboy Days.

Rough Riding. Carolina wraps up a playoff spot despite being tossed around during Cowboy Days.

Cowboys fall twice during their only home game in Greensboro. However, Carolina punches their ticket to Team Championship finale in Las Vegas.

During the 2024 Professional Bull Riders Team Series, the Carolina Cowboys have been the biggest, baddest, bulls on the block. This weekend in Greensboro, they got the horns. Entering this weekend, optimism enveloped the team. The team spent the week engaging in civic outreach and education. Cowboys’ riders and management could be found all around Guilford County greeting fans. During the weekend there were multiple Fan Fest activities. It is debatable if those events served as a distraction. What is not subject to debate was that the Greensboro crowd witnessed a pair of unprecedented events this season, the Cowboys dropping two games in a weekend, and suffering their first shutout. Despite the less than desired outcomes, the Cowboys did achieve their primary goal. They became the first team to qualify for the season concluding event, the Camping World Teams Championship in Las Vegas, NV, on October 18-20.

The competition weekend began promisingly enough with a 349.75-260.50 win over archrival Kansas City Outlaws. The outlaws have been one of the hottest teams in the PBR as of late. They have sliced into the Cowboys number one ranking and this game would go a long way in determining the regular season champion. The Cowboys took control of the game in the first rides out of the chute. Cooper Davis posted an 88.75 while the Outlaws Sandro Batista fell and did not register a qualified ride. The teams swapped nearly identical scores over the next three bulls. Newly acquired Cowboys’ rider Trey Benton III made his debut in the bottom of the third. He fell and did not register a qualifying score, the only zero posted by the team. Despite the fall, Cowboys’ management is extremely high on Benton. Head Coach Jerome Davis mentioned on a recent Draft Carolina podcast that he first noticed Benton during the pre-draft combine held at his ranch. 

The Outlaws needed 91.00 from MVP candidate Cassio Davis to have any hope of achieving a tie. Davis gave his team his usual solid ride, but it was only good for a score of 88.25. With the victory in the bag, Davis sent out reserve rider Dawson Branton for the re-ride awarded to Cowboys’ number one draft pick Ethan Winckler from earlier in the session. Branton did not disappoint and ended the evening by delivering a score of 87.00, sending the crowd home happy. Night One also provided fans with their first glimpse of PBR overall top draft pick and leading MVP rider, John Crimber, of the Florida Freedom. Crimber led the Freedom with a 87.50 score that was tops in the team’s 262.00-86.75 victory over the expansion New York Mavericks.

Any momentum gained from Friday quickly evaporated Saturday night. For the first time this season, the Cowboys were shutout and lost to the sixth place Nashville Stampede, 86.25-00.00. Stampede rider Anderson de Oliveira was the only one of ten riders from both squads to post a qualifying ride. The usually reliable quartet of Cooper Davis, Derek Kolbaba, Daylon Swearingen, and Sage Kimzey all suffered buck offs. Branton was unable to duplicate his success from the previous night and found the dirt before the required eight seconds had elapsed. 

The highlight of the evening for the local contingent occurred in the opening contest when Cherryville, NC native and PBR second overall selection, Clay Guiton, scored an 88.25 as part of his expansion team Oklahoma Wildcatters’ exciting 259.75-259.00 win over the Missouri Thunder. Crimber’s 86.75 score was one of three successful rides for the Freedom as they downed the Austin Gamblers, 240.75-173.00. History was made by the Texas Rattlers who recorded only the fifth perfect game in league history. Riders Brady Fielder, Daniel Keeping, Claudio Montanha Jr, Marcelo Procopio, and Joao Ricardo Veira, all made qualifying rides in the team’s dominant win over the Missouri Thunder, 427.50-175.75. It was the Rattlers second perfect game in team history. It tied them with the Cowboys who also have two perfect games to their credit, both this season.

The Cowboys entered Sunday afternoon’s contest with redemption and revenge on their minds. They were facing the Thunder, one of only four teams to previously defeat them in 2024. The Thunder were also looking to erase a bad performance from their minds after the beating the took the previous night from the Rattlers. The disappointing weekend continued for the Cowboys as they fell to the Thunder, 257.75-174.00. Only Swearingen and Branton successfully recorded qualified rides. Davis and Kimzey were shut out and newcomer Benton suffered another fall to go 0 for 2 in front of the Greensboro crowd. Crimber finished his impressive three for three series with an 89.25 ride that was tops among Freedom riders in their annihilation of the Wildcatters, 347.50-00.00. Guyton was bucked off and was joined in the dust by teammate Tate Pollmeier, who was recently acquired from the Cowboys.

The 1-2 record for the weekend was not part of Jerome Davis’s plan. However, by securing a spot in the championships and moving onto Fort Worth, TX still in first place should provide sufficient consolation. The scoreboard did not provide a positive result, but the fan excitement generated, and the community engagement established, made for solid building blocks for a more successful Cowboy Days next year and the seasons to follow. In the grand scheme of things, Cowboy Days 2024 might be viewed in hindsight as a hiccup in a special season. The fun and excitement are memories that will last for years and allow the Cowboys to continue to be one of the fastest growing teams in terms of popularity in the Carolinas.