Arkansas' Reese Cates shook off a frustrating 2014 season, capturing his first-career Built Ford Tough Series event win Saturday at the Professional Bull Riders Baltimore Invitational at Royal Farms Arena.
The 2008 PBR Rookie of the Year went 3-for-3 for the Friday-Saturday event to earn 540 PBR world points and stand atop the PBR world standings after the first event of the season.
"It's great to be back," said Cates, who was injured at the 2014 Phoenix event and underwent shoulder stabilization surgery, which sidelined him for nearly six months. He returned to action in Nashville, Tenn., but a groin injury further limited him during the season.
"At first I felt like getting hurt was a curse, then I looked at it as an opportunity to work on the mental part of bull riding," Cates said. "Everyone says bull riding is 90 percent mental if you're healthy, so I focused on that aspect of the sport."
Cates was one of five men to go 3-for-3 for the event. Ten-year veteran Kasey Hayes captured second place, helped by his Built Ford Tough Championship Round win with a 89.25-point ride aboard Fire & Smoke (Dakota Rodeo/Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Julie Rosen). It was the high-marked ride of the event. For his second-place finish, he received 400 PBR world points and sits in the No. 2 position in the PBR world standings.
Three-time PBR world champion Silvano Alves not only rode all three of the bulls he faced this weekend, but he also extended his consecutive-rides streak to tie 2013 PBR world champion J.B. Mauney atop the all-time leaderboard at 16 rides. The defending world champion's streak began at the PBR BFTS event in Biloxi, Miss., and extended through the 2014 PBR world finals to the Baltimore Invitational. He is poised to break the record next weekend during Round 1 of the Chicago Invitational at Allstate Arena. Alves finished third in Baltimore, receiving 270 PBR world points.
Cody Nance and Ryan Dirteater rounded out the Top 5 for the event, earning 155 and 135 PBR world points, respectively, for their efforts.
Another 3-for-3 performance came from Shane Proctor. Proctor competed in only one BFTS event in 2014, then spent the rest of the year undergoing and recovering from shoulder surgery. The Baltimore Invitational was his return to BFTS competition after a yearlong absence. He finished in the Top 10 for the event at No. 8.
With a bull score of 45 points each, Mississippi Hippy (K-C Bucking Bulls/Sparklin Acres/Blythe Cattle) and Beaver Creek Beau (Chad Berger/Clay Struve/Jonathan Fine) tied for the Salem Nationalease High-marked Bull award in Baltimore.
Next on the 2015 BFTS is a stop at Chicago's Allstate Arena on Saturday and Sunday. It will be televised on CBS Sports Network at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday and at 8 p.m. Sunday.
The Baltimore Invitational was the first of 27 cities on the 2015 PBR Built Ford Tough Series schedule. The 18-state tour will culminate with the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals in Las Vegas on Oct. 21-25, when the 2015 PBR world champion, the bull rider who earns the most PBR world points during the 2015 season, will be crowned and receive the $10,000 world championship belt buckle and $1 million bonus.