Triplett suffers knee injury

Columbia Falls bull rider Matt Triplett suffered a knee injury on March 20 that could sideline the young rider until at least this summer.

Triplett, 23, was kicked in the left leg by Coyote after being thrown from the bull at the 3.69-second mark during the second round at the Ty Murray Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. Triplett is ranked No. 1 in the world by the Professional Bull Riders.

Triplett immediately grasped at his left knee once he hit the ground and had to be helped out of the arena by the PBR sports medicine staff, according to a press release.

PBR’s medical professional at the scene, Dr. Tandy Freeman, said Triplett tore two tendons in his knee and will be out for the foreseeable future.

“He was kicked by the bull and he has torn the posterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament of his left knee,” Freeman told PBR.

Triplett was set to undergo more tests, but the outlook didn’t look good.

“We will have a long talk about what his options are, but the history with trying to go back with this injury too quickly isn’t very good, so he is likely out until the summer break. But that decision hasn’t been made yet,” Freeman said on PBR’s Web site.

Triplett has won $138,827 this season and was having the best year of his young career.