Florida Freedom rides to success at home behind Austin Richardson’s ride, tops New York
· Yahoo Sports
South Florida fans — sporting cowboy hats, boots and their favorite pairs of jeans — returned to Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday night, hoping to see another win for the Florida Freedom on day two of Professional Bull Riding competition in Sunrise.
Standing in their way of another victorious night following the Freedom’s day one win over the Missouri Thunder was the New York Mavericks. Despite occupying the last-place spot in the team standings, the Mavericks may have been the last team the No. 2 Freedom wanted to see based on Friday night’s performance.
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The then-winless Mavericks bested the then-No. 2 Texas Rattlers, and New York was clearly on the hunt to make history repeat — and to win its third straight meeting with the Freedom. However, while both teams were able to put up just one qualified ride, Florida ultimately grabbed its second win of the weekend 89.00-86.80.
Leandro Zampollo kicked things off for the Mavericks, but it was a quick ride for him. He bucked off Bruise Whacked in 3.75 seconds.
Then, it was time for the Freedom, coached by PBR Ring of Honor inductee Paulo Crimber, to start their night. In the leadoff position was Austin Richardson on Blazin Halos Late Night Toss, and he got his team out to an early lead, posting an 89.00. His ride proved a crucial one, as the Dallas native gave Florida its only points of the game and pushed his team past New York.
Looking to close the gap, though, was New York’s Leonardo Castro, who put up a qualified ride on Emmdee, but his 86.80 was not enough for the Mavericks to claim the lead. A 5.38-second run for Florida’s Alex Cerqueira on Boot Barns Hired Gun couldn’t extend the Freedom’s lead, and the door was open for the Mavericks to regain control with three riders left.
Mauricio Gulla Moreira was up next for the visiting squad, but he fell just short on Black Eyes, bucking off in 7.54 seconds, and all eyes were back on the Freedom. Florida’s Boudreaux Campbell was up on Switchblade, but he was also unable to make it to the 8-second buzzer, with his ride coming to an end in 2.50 seconds. The visiting team’s Manoelito de Souza Junior followed suit on Phe-Phe’s Soul Man with a 3.02-second ride.
Florida’s Yan Victor Santos Cunha was the only one to not see action Friday, but he came into the lineup for day two on Oprah hoping to give his team an edge. However, his attempt resulted in a re-ride, and Ethan Winckler took his place on Hoka Hey.
Before the re-ride, though, Marco Rizzo came in as New York’s closer in ride-or-die time for the Mavericks, but his go on Nerve Damage ended in 5.67 seconds, securing the win for Florida.
With a victory locked up, the much-anticipated John Crimber came in to close. The 20-year-old reigning PBR World Champion looked to rebound from a quick ride Friday night at prime time. His first go resulted in a re-ride, and while he prepared for his second ride of the night, Winckler was up. However, the 20-year-old bucked off in 4.30 seconds.
The night then ended with Crimber, but his ride ended in 4.03 seconds and he took some hits from Dirty South before getting off the dirt. While not the strongest of nights for the group, the Freedom, and South Florida fans, left victorious.
While the Freedom were the main event, plenty of competition preceded the anticipated matchup. The Thunder — which Florida bested Friday — faced the Austin Gamblers, the Nashville Stampede saw the Rattlers, the Oklahoma Wildcatters battled the Carolina Cowboys and the Arizona Ridge Riders took on the Kansas City Outlaws.
To kick off the night, Missouri took its second loss of the weekend, falling 178.10-90.60 to Austin. Then, Game 2 got off to an exciting start with both Nashville and Texas booking successful opening rides. However, only No. 1 Nashville was able to follow it up, finishing with 259.45 points on three qualified rides.
Carolina then became the third team to secure a win Saturday night, with three riders posting qualified rides. The Cowboys secured a 261.95-175.45 win behind the efforts of Guilherme Valleiras, Keyshawn Whitehorse and Adriano Salgado. Finally, just before the main event, Arizona and Kansas City each got out to dominant starts. The first two riders for each crew put points up, but with the score at 266.9-174.40 in Arizona’s favor and one rider to go for Kansas City, the Outlaws couldn’t close it out.
The teams return for the last day of competition back in Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday at 1:45 p.m.