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Iron Cowboy will be a grueling test of endurance    

ARLINGTON, Texas (February 9, 2010) - The winner of the upcoming Iron Cowboy Invitational will take home over a quarter-million dollars.

Getting there won’t be easy. But according to last weekend’s event winner Austin Meier, the approach should be.

“Shoot, just keep your hand closed,” he said, “a leg on each side and your butt in the middle. Just stay focused on one bull at a time, and do your job.”

“It’s going to take everything you (have) inside,” Ryan McConnel said. “There can’t be one piece of you missing (to) get this won.”

While many riders have gotten on three, sometimes four bulls in one night because of re-ride options, no one has ever attempted four bulls of this caliber in one night. In fact, most riders said they’ve only attempted up to four bulls in a practice pen, with a handful saying that they might have gotten on 10 to 12 over the course of an entire day.

But Renato Nunes and Cody Nance topped all those who were asked. When Nunes was 18 years old, he rode 20 practice bulls in Brazil, and later that same day rode again in an event. Nance rode 24 at a bull sale a few years back.

Everyone seems to agree that in order to be successful in this type of format, the winner will have to be at his best both mentally and physically.

“It’s a stamina event,” said Dustin Elliott. “Guys are going to get sore and everything, but you shouldn’t be sore that night. Maybe the next day you’ll be feeling it, but that night, if you win it, $260,000 will ease a lot of pain.”

Depending on where in the bracket they qualified – the Top 8 riders from last year receive a bye in the opening round, with the remaining 16 going head-to-head from the beginning – they will have to ride either four or five bulls, the likes of Code Blue, Voodoo Child and Big Tex. Other top-ranked bulls include Bones, Chicken on a Chain, Major Payne, RFD-TV, Uncle Buck, Crosswired, Black Pearl and Spit Fire.

In each of the five rounds, two riders are matched up in a single-elimination competition, which is the first of its kind in professional bull riding.

“I think it’s awesome,” McConnel said. “I think it’s giving everybody a chance to go head-to-head and maybe more incentive to go try to win – try to beat a competitor instead of just trying to beat the bull.”

The initial bracket was announced a week ago after the final 16 riders qualified based on the world standings following the Tampa Invitational. In case of any unforeseen injuries that might occur, the bracket will be finalized on Sunday evening at the conclusion of this weekend’s Express Classic.

Currently there are four riders on the injury report who have qualified for the event – Kody Lostroh, Guilherme Marchi, Robson Palermo and Dustin Elliott.

Palermo and Elliott are expected to return to competition this weekend in Oklahoma City, while the past two World Champions – Lostroh and Marchi – are slated to return in Arlington for the Iron Cowboy.

Wiley Petersen, who tore his left ACL this past weekend, is expected to be officially added to the injury report. At this time, he is the only qualifier who will not compete at Cowboys Stadium.

In addition to the $260,000 paid out to the winner, there will be $40,000 to the second-place finisher, and an additional $25,000 paid to the average winner over the last four rounds.

Like a regular BFTS event, each round will also award bonus points for the top scores.

For the opening round, the Top 8 qualifiers, each of whom receive a bye, will be awarded bonus points in increments of 2 ranging from 100 points for Lostroh to 86 points for Zach Brown.

The awarding of bonus points for each round, along with a payout for the average winner will assure fans that the second rider out in each matchup will be working just as hard to make the whistle, whether or not his competitor bucks off short of the whistle.

“Personally, in the over 15 years that I’ve been here, it will by far be the biggest event in the history of this sport,” said Randy Bernard, the outgoing CEO of the PBR, “and it will be a format that will lend itself so well to our sport that possibly, in five years, half our tour could be like this.”

NEWS and NOTES

Petersen optimistic: Three days after tearing his left ACL, Wiley Petersen said his knee is swollen and stiff but “is not real painful.” The Idaho native had an MRI taken Monday evening and will learn the extent of his injury in the next few days.

He hopes to hear from a local doctor later today or first thing Wednesday, but it could take until Thursday before he consults with Dr. Tandy Freeman.

He remains “optimistic” that if the meniscus ligament is not torn, he won’t need surgery, and could return to competition with a knee brace after three to six weeks of rehab. If the meniscus is torn and the knee is unstable, surgery would keep him out for the next four to five months.

In a phone conversation earlier today, Petersen said the knee injury he suffered in 2004 “was a lot worse” than his current injury.

PBR NOW on RFD-TV: Hosted by J.W. Hart and Justin McBride, “PBR NOW” is a weekly live one-hour TV series that airs every Thursday on RFD-TV at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to call in with questions at 866-547-9696, or email them to pbr@rfdtv.com.

Event Center: Follow all the action from Oklahoma City, by logging on to www.pbr.com and entering the “Event Center,” which is accessible from the tab located at the top of the main Web page. The Event Center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related Podcasts and interviews.

—by Keith Ryan Cartwright, PBR.com