C-Falls' bull rider Matt Triplett scores 88-point ride at PBR World Finals

LAS VEGAS — Columbia Falls bull rider Matt Triplett got on the board at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals, scoring his first ride of the event on Friday at Thomas & Mack Center.

Triplett scored 88 points on Little Willie to score his first ride in three tries this week. It was the second-best ride of the night, with only three-time world champion Silvano Alves’ 89-point ride on Rebel Yell topping his score. Little Willie was given a 42.75 bull score.

The ride moves Triplett into sixth place for the event, earning 120 world standings points for the second place finish in the third round. He remains in fourth place in the world standings.

Rookie Cooper Davis leads the event after his 87.5-point ride on Compact finished third in the round, earning him 100 points and stretching his total to 300. Alves is in second with 260 points after the third round win.

World standings leader J.B. Mauney finished sixth in the third round, but stands in third place at 200 points for the event.

Mauney holds a commanding lead for the world championship, but hasn’t mathematically elimanated second or third place contenders Joao Ricardo Vieira or Kaique Pacheco. He could have clinched his second world title with a third place finish in the third round.