By AUSTIN SMITH
It was a historic night of bull riding Friday in the Flathead as Brady Oleson claimed victory at the first PBR Challenger Series event to be held in Montana.
The Idaho cowboy covered bucking bull Dr. Campbell(Haverty/Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Berger)for 84.5 points, earning a little over $5K while beating out a field thick with PBR World Finals contenders.
Overall it was a night for the bulls, as Bill Henry’s score of 83 points on High Maintenance(Triplett Bucking Bulls) was the only other qualified ride.
Four bovines notched a nearly perfect bull score at 44 points each: WSM’s Unstoppable (WSMAuctioneers/Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Berger), The Claw (Struve/Dakota Rodeo/Berger), Sam I Am(Heald Pro Bulls/Struve/DakotaRodeo/Berger), and Off Campus (DakotaRodeo/Pintar/Struve/Berger).
The Challenger Series is essentially a proving ground for riders looking to earn a roster spot onone of the eight teams that begin head-to-head competition July 25that Cheyenne FrontierDays.
Typically an individual sport, the PBR turned bull riding upside down with their announcementlast year of the Team Series, drawing in familiar arena sport elements such as rider drafts androster trades while doubling down on the team format introduced at Global Cup 2017.
The Challenger Series will return to Montana three more times before both tours culminate atPBR Finals Week, Nov. 3rd–6thin Las Vegas, Nevada. Bull riding fans can catch the action inLivingston (July 16th), Big Sky (July 21st–23rd), and Eureka (Aug. 27th).
