Triplett takes 9th in world bull riding finals

Columbia Falls professional bull rider Matt Triplett finished in ninth place at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals on Oct. 27 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., getting bucked in each of his two attempts on the last day.

Triplett was knocked off Cowboy’s Dance Hall’s Panda Trax in 4.7 seconds on his first attempt and Mississippi Hippy in 2.92 seconds on his second to finish ninth in the event.

His fantastic finish to the season left him in 32nd place in the world standings.

Triplett had a great outing on Saturday to put him in contention for the championship. Triplett rode Hot & Juicy, a bull that hadn’t been ridden in more than two years, to a score of 88.25, the fourth best of the round.

“I wish I could have done a little better,” Triplett said after Sunday’s competition.

“I can’t complain about it. Just getting in the top 10 was pretty special for me.”

Over the course of five days, Triplett drew six bulls and rode three.

“The bulls were pretty phenomenal,” he said.

The only bad part about the whole experience was that Triplett was ill for much of the competition. This was his first trip to the World Finals.

“I got sick Monday night,” he said.

“I was all stuffy, (had) a bad cough. It didn’t help at all, not feeling 100 percent, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse.”

J.B. Mauney won the event — and a world championship — with two gigantic rides on Sunday. Mauney rode Ford Hammer Down for a score of 91 and Wipeout for a 93 in the championship round to ride away with his first gold buckle.

Mauney is only the third rider to win both the world finals and world championship in the same season and the first to win four straight events in the PBR.