For the16th time in history, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Canada will buck into Saskatoon for two nights, Oct. 25-26, at SaskTel Centre.
Sweet 16.
For the16th time in history, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Canada will buck into Saskatoon for two nights, Oct. 25-26, at SaskTel Centre.
Here are five things to know about the PBR Saskatoon classic:
1. FINAL EVENT OF REGULAR SASON
Canada’s premier bull riding tour rides into town as the final PBR Canada Cup Series event for the 2024 regular season.
Riders will be vying for crucial points in the race for the 2024 PBR Canada championship and the accompanying $100,000 bonus. At present, the Top 10 riders in Canada are separated by less than 730 points.
Riders will do their best to hang onto 2,000-pound bulls for eight seconds in the SaskTel Centre arena, which will be filled with 750 tons of dirt to be trucked in and set up with steel totalling a length of six football fields.
2. COVERCHUCK HEADLINES FIELD
Saskatchewan’s own Cody Coverchuk will be seeking history this November.
The Meadow Lake product is currently ranked No. 1 in the PBR Canada national standings and leads No. 2 Nick Tetz by 105 points.
Coverchuk, who has been dominant since the start of the season, is one of just two riders to have won multiple Cup Series events this season.
He leads the PBR Canada Cup with six series-round wins and has the second most of all riders on the Touring Pro Division with seven.
Coverchuk also boasts the top riding percentage in PBR Canada among riders with more than 10 outings. He’s gone 28-for-49, covering 57.14 per cent of the bulls that he’s drawn.
Should Coverchuk conclude the season with the 2024 PBR Canada championship, he would further etch his name in the record books. The title would mark his third, tying fellow Saskatchewan rider Aaron Roy for most national titles won by one rider.
3. OTHER SASK. RIDERS TO WATCH
Strongfield’s Weston Davidson and Eatonia’s Dakota Buttar will ride during their home province event stop, sitting atop the PBR Canada Cup standings; they’re ranked No. 3 and No. 4 respectively.
Yellow Grass’s Roy also remains in the hunt for 2024, presently ranked No. 10.
4. DEFENDING CHAMP JOHN CRIMBER
The defending PBR Saskatoon champion is young bull-riding phenom John Crimber.
The 2024 PBR Teams MVP, Crimber will be joined by 2022 PBR world champion Daylon Swearingen and two-time PBR World Finals qualifier Koltin Hevalow in Saskatoon after standout seasons in the United States on both the premier Unleash The Beast and within the PBR Teams League.
Swearingen holds the distinction of winning the final PBR Canada championship awarded in Saskatoon back in 2019, when he won both the year-end title and National Finals.
Hevalow will be making his Canadian debut at the Saskatoon event. He made waves by winning his first PBR event in 2022.
5. DAVIDSON, SWITZER SELECTED FOR PBR OZ
Davidson and Chanse Switzer (Hazenmore, Sask.) have been selected to ride at the PBR Australia Grand Finals Nov. 1-2 in Townsville, Queensland.
Davidson and Switzer will travel to Australia for the first time ranked firmly inside the Top 10 in the race for the 2024 PBR Canada Championship and accompanying $100,000 bonus. Davidson leads the duo, presently ranked No. 3, followed closely by No. 7 Switzer.
The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.
With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.