RODEO: Matt Triplett picks up first win of season
<p>Matt Triplett of Columbia Falls stands among bulls on his family’s property south of Columbia Falls in this file photo. (Daily Inter Lake, file)</p>
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Columbia Falls bull rider Matt Triplett went 2-for-2 at the Professional Bull Riders AutoZone Challenge BlueDEF Tour event on Tuesday to win his first event of the season in only his third stop after recovering from a shoulder injury earlier in the year.
Triplett had been sidelined since undergoing reconstructive shoulder surgery in early April. He returned to competition at the PBR Monster Energy Canada Tour event in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Sept. 17 and finished fourth on Saturday at a Canada Tour event in Calgary.
Competing in the States for the first time in more than five months, Triplett rode Gut Punch for 83.5 points in the first round and Blue Gangster for 87.5 points in the second to easily outpace second-place finisher Josh Faircloth, the only other rider to go 2-for-2 at the event.
The win earned Triplett 80 points towards the world standings, where he is 72nd after finishing each of the last two seasons in the top five.
Volborg, Montana bull rider Jess Lockwood is currently sixth in the world standings with four events remaining on the Built Ford Tough series schedule before the PBR World Finals on Nov. 2-6 in Las Vegas. Lockwood, who at 19 years old just finished his final high school rodeo season this spring, is in his first season on the PBR’s top circuit.
Along with Melstone’s Nevada Newman, ranked 30th, the three Montana bull riders make up a strong contingent of the PBR’s top talent under the age of 25.