NIPAWIN — A Prince Albert bull rider was the winner of the Professional Bull Riders in Nipawin.
In his first PBR event on Canadian soil May 11, Tanner Byrne earned a total of 169.5 points. He got 83 with the first ride and 86.5 with the second.
“I was coming in fifth into the short round, so I didn’t think I had a very legitimate shot at winning. I knew those guys in front of me, how well they ride, I figured all I could do is ride my bull and hope for the best,” he said. “When that last guy got bumped off there, I knew I got the win and it felt really great.”
His first bull, Plenty Cool, was owned by a friend of his from Archerwill. Since Byrne often bucks bulls together with him, he thought it was cool to draw that particular bull.
“I knew he was a really good bull and if I stubbed my toes he was going to buck me off, but if I did things right I was going to place good on him,” he said.
“It felt really good. The bull swung to the right and I did my job and we got the whistle.”
The second bull was named Venom.
“He was kind of an intimidating bull. He was really mean and wanting to go in the chutes, trying to get some fear in me, I think,” Byrne said. “He was all fired up and I just went about it, doing my job.”
The bull almost fell down, but he picked himself up and Byrne was in the right spot to stay down the entire time.
Byrne said it felt really good to get the win.
The bull rider earned $3,160.94 in addition to receiving 260 Canadian and 60 world points.
This is the third event for Byrne since he recovered from a torn groin, broken shoulder blade, broken collarbone, broken wrist and broken ankle.
“2017 was just full of bad times for me,” he said. “This year, I got back on the Premier Tour down in the U.S. and won an event down there and set myself good for the year. It felt good again coming back home, only an hour away from here, so it’s pretty awesome to get over here and win. It was a big relief to get a win again.”
Byrne got into the sport because of his father Ryan, who was the first Canadian bull fighter to work the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
“Me and my brother just followed him in his footsteps and bull riding, rodeo has been in my blood since Day 1.”
Byrne is planning to go to Ottawa, Québec City, Halifax and New Brunswick to compete in Canadian PBR events before returning to the Premier Tour.
