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Kennedy wins Tamworth International

11/28/2011

Kennedy wins Tamworth International

A crowd of over 4000 converged on AELEC Arena Saturday night for one of the toughest bull riding competitions of the year as 22 riders went head to head with some of the meanest bulls in the nation.

Section 1 of the competition would see rising PBR Rookie, Jeff Moretto from Narangba take an early lead in the competition with an 89 point ride on the notorious Phantom, however Australian International Brendon Clark was a close second on Get Rich Quick with an 88 point score.

Missouri based bull rider, Luke Snyder had a tough time on the Australian bulls tasting the Tamworth dirt on both of his bulls in this competition, however Ty Patten from Canada would be the only international to make the whistle in section 1 with an 83 point ride.

Section 2 would see the bull power lift a level as Kempsey’s, Pete Farley and USA’s Justin Koon sharing the lead with 89 point scores and Kyogle’s, Dave Kennedy making his move in the competition with an 88 point ride aboard the Trevor and Tony Dunne bull, “Hang Tough”.

After 44 buck-outs only two men had ridden both their bulls, 2 times Australian Champion, Dave Kennedy and World Finals qualifier Brendan Clark, both with total scores of 174 going into the bull draft for the Championship Round.

Kennedy would get to choose first, selecting the 2010 Bucking Bull of the Year, Lab Rat, whilst Clark would select the 2011 Bucking Bull of the year, That’s Gold. The top 8 line up would also feature New South Wales rider, Pete Farley, Queensland’s Jeff Moretto and Sam O’Connor, Northern Territory’s, Sam Larsen and international riders Ty Pozzobon and Justin Koon.

Starting from 8th placed rider to the first, Larsen would be the first rider to experience the extreme bull power of the Championship Round, one by one the bulls continued to win against the riders until the final two, Clark and Kennedy, both of whom had previously ridden two bulls. Clark’s match up on That’s Gold was a smart manoeuvre, however the 2011 Champion Bull would prove to be too strong for Clark on the day. The final match up of the night would be the match up against the Champions, 2010 Bull Riding Champion versus the 2010 Champion Bull. It would be the confident Kennedy’s day marking the highest score of the event with 90 points and the only man to ride all three of his bulls on the night giving him the 2011 Tamworth Invitational Championship win.

The Tamworth Invitational was also broadcasted Live Across the web to PBR Bull Riding fans in Brazil, Canada, USA, New Zealand and throughout Australia, with the trial run going to plan and many great responses being received by happy fans from around the globe.

Plans are already underway to ensure next year’s event is bigger and better with the aim to deliver audiences a whole new bull riding experience.


Tamworth Invitational Results:
1. David Kennedy        Kyogle, NSW                264 Points
2. Brendon Clark         Morpeth, NSW            174 Points
3/4/5 Jeff Moretto        Narangbar, QLD              89 Points
3/4/5 Pete Farley        Kempsey, NSW              89 Points
3/4/5 Justin Koon        Arkansaw, USA              89 Points

Champion Bull:
Zee Force – Owned by Stewart Timms

Classic Bull Champion:
Ruby’s Pet – Owned by Dunne Bulls/Colin Bell

Futurity Bull Champion:
Bull # 913 – Owned by Dunne Bulls

2012 PBR Australia Championship Standings
1.    David Kennedy    Kyogle, NSW                3038.5 points
2.    Lachlan Richardson   Gresford, NSW            2100    points
3.    Chris Lowe        Uralla, NSW                1810.5 points
4.    Fraser Babbington    Gisborne, NZ                1808.5 points
5.    Sam Larsen        Katherine, NT            1462.5 points