Triplett 9th at PBR World Finals

LAS VEGAS — Columbia Falls’ Matt Triplett finished in ninth place at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals on Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center, 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.

“I wish I could have done a little better,” Triplett said.

“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.”

Missoula native Jory Markiss rode Red Hot for a score of 82 in Round 5 to earn his way to the short go. There, he drew the world No. 2 bull Asteroid, and was bucked in 4.21 seconds.

Markiss finished 10th in the world standings.

But it was J.B. Mauney who was the star of the show, sealing up both an event win 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.

Two-time defending champion Silvano Alves finished second.

Bushwacker was crowned as the world champion bull.