by NEW YORK CITY – With the first-ever PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Global Cup on U.S. soil less than a month away, 2 new riders for Team USA-Wolves All-Native team are set to compete for host nation’s two teams.
The PBR Global Cup, the only nation vs. nation bull riding competition, will make its U.S. debut, and third stop, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on February 9-10, 2019 with the 2019 WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA. The new team tournament debuted in Edmonton, Alberta in November 2017 and then visited Sydney, Australia in June 2018.
Team USA-Wolves’ coach Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho; Shoshone Bannock) also selected two new competitors for his squad: Cannon Cravens (Porum Oklahoma; Cherokee) and Justin Granger (Tuba City, Arizona; Navajo).
Cravens and Granger join Ryan Dirteater (Hulbert, Oklahoma; Cherokee), Stetson Lawrence (Williston, North Dakota; Chippewa and Sioux), Keyshawn Whitehorse (McCracken Springs, Utah; Navajo) and Cody Jesus (Window Rock, Arizona; Navajo). These athletes are set to ride on a team poised to make modern sports history as the first all-Native American team competing at a major league sporting event.
Via his selection to Team USA-Wolves, 18-year-old Cravens is now the youngest rider set to compete at the PBR Global Cup.
Making his PBR debut in May on the Touring Pro Division (TPD), Cravens began to catch the eye of fans when he earned three runner-up finishes on the TPD during his summer campaign. Competing at his first Velocity Tour event in Salinas, California in August, Cravens quickly found his groove, finishing second in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at his third event on the league’s premier expansion series.
After winning the stop in Huntington, West Virginia, Cravens made his PBR Unleash The Beast debut in Greensboro, North Carolina, finishing second.
He qualified to the 2018 PBR World Finals as an alternate, making his debut at the most prestigious event in bull riding in Round 4.
Ten-plus year PBR veteran Granger’s 2018 season was highlighted by a win on the Velocity Tour in March in Fresno, California. The 27-year-old also competed in five elite tour events, his first appearances on the Unleash The Beast since last reaching the premier series in 2014.
Tickets for the WinStar World Casino and Resort Global Cup USA are on sale now and start at just $10. They can be purchased at SeatGeek.com, PBR.com, or by calling PBRDirect at (800)732-1727.
Full release at: https://www.pbr.com/en/news/press-releases/2019/1/2017-pbr-world-champion-jess-lockwood-selected-to-team-usa-eagles-at-2019-pbr-global-cup-usa.aspx
