By Alex Lowe
Correspondent
The top seed and 23 regular-season victories couldn’t keep the the Florida Freedom from getting upset and eliminated in the Professional Bull Riding Teams Championship on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
After a first-round bye on Friday, the Freedom, whose home base is Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, started Saturday with an upset loss to the Missouri Thunder (349.25-268.75) in their opening game. That threw Florida into a Last Chance game against defending champion Austin Gamblers and No. 3 Texas Rattlers.
When the Freedom failed to win, it ended their season.
Against Missouri, the Freedom logged three qualified rides, which included John Crimber’s 92-point ride against the highly rated bull, Man Hater. Thiago Salgado rode Night Agent (89.50), and Joao Lucas Campos rode Noslaw Extrasauce (87.25).
On most nights, 268.75 points win a game. But Missouri, No. 7 seed, was spectacular, riding four of four bulls to start the game.
“It just wasn’t meant to be,” Freedom head coach Paolo Crimber said afterward.
“Everyone tried their best and did what they could do. Just wasn’t meant to
be.
“It was a day when some of the guys that I expected to be able to do some
things for us, didn’t. We fell short on some of them. We changed some guys
for the second game to fit the best pen, and that didn’t work either.”
The upset put Florida in a Last Chance game against two legendary teams. The
second-seeded Austin Gamblers lost their opener to the blistering hot Carolina
Cowboys (258.75-86.50), while 2023 champ Texas Rattlers lost to the Arizona
Ridge Riders (330.75-261.50). This was the first time in PBR Team Series history
that the top three seeds all lost their openers.
In the Last Chance round, Austin leadoff rider Dalton Kasel was bucked off by
Slick Rick (5.80). Texas got a qualified leadoff ride from Claudio Montanha Jr.
aboard Simple Man, good for 87.25. But Freedom leadoff rider Elizmar Jeremias
lasted only 7.61 seconds aboard Good Riddance.
In round two, Austin’s Callum Miller scored 89 points on The Player. Rattler
superstar Brady Fielder turned in a 90-point ride on Blonde Bomber, leaving John
Crimber in a near must-ride situation. Crimber covered King Tut for a score of
88.75. After two rounds, Texas led with 177.25 over Austin (89) and Florida
(88.75).
In round three, riders for Austin and Texas failed to score. With a chance to move
up, Florida’s Alex Cerqueira failed to cover Socks In A Box, bucking off in 2.58
seconds.
In round four, Rattler Daniel Keeping’s qualified ride aboard Always Been Crazy
(88.5 points) put both Florida and Austin in positions where they had to ride every
bull. Austin’s Kaique Pacheco successfully rode his bull, The Empire, for 74 points,
but given the low score head coach Michael Gaffney opted for a re-ride. Florida’s
standout rider Thiago Salgado was also offered a re-ride which was accepted, but
neither got the chance to try again.
In round five, Austin was eliminated when Dener Barbosa was bucked off by
Lieutenant Dan (4.61), leaving Florida’s Joao Ricardo Viera in a must-ride
situation. But Viera bucked off of American Hustle in 7.83 seconds, just short of
the eight second mark required for a score. Florida will watch Sunday as the two
teams which defeated them, Missouri and Texas, square off in one semi and
Carolina and Arizona face off in the other.
Florida’s John Crimber, the reigning PBR Team Series MVP, extended his streak to
10 straight qualified rides, tying the record set by Texas Rattler Daniel Keeping in
2024. That, combined with his 92-point ride aboard Man Hater, earned him the
title of MVP for Saturday’s competition.
“I’ve got to give all the glory to God,” said Crimber of Decatur, Texas. “He
blessed me with this ability to ride bulls. I am so thankful I get to ride so many
great bulls here at the finals. This is a dream come true for sure.”
The Florida Freedom is owned by Heath Freeman, chairman of Tribune Publishing, the parent company of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
