The Carolina Cowboys secured a final ride comeback to close out PBR Teams Cowboy Days with a dramatic win Sept. 20, defeating the Arizona Ridge Riders 88.70-88.35 at First Horizon Coliseum.
The three-day event, held Sept. 18-20, brought all 10 Professional Bull Riding teams to Greensboro for a five-on-five bull riding competition. The Cowboys entered the weekend as the defending PBR Teams champions and ranked third in the league standings at 12-8.
Carolina opened its weekend Friday with a dominant 261.3-87.6 victory over the Oklahoma Wildcatters. Thiago Salgado posted an 87.65-point ride, and Adriano Salgado added an 87.25-point ride to help Carolina secure the win.
The Cowboys struggled Saturday against the Nashville Stampede, falling 260.75-88.75. Guilherme Valleiras provided Carolina's lone qualified ride, scoring 88.75 points on the bull Rocket Man.
The team returned Sunday looking to finish its homestand on a high note. Against Arizona, Carolina was shut out on its first four rides before Adriano Salgado took the final out. After taking a re-ride, Salgado scored 88.7 points on bull UB Smooth, giving the Cowboys the narrow victory.
The win moved Carolina to 14-9 on the season. The Cowboys finished the weekend 2-1.
For some fans in the stands, the weekend was as much about the atmosphere as the competition, bringing fans from across North Carolina to Greensboro for the experience.
Samatha Anderson from Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, said she returned to Cowboy Days for the second year after attending the event with a friend last year. She said the experience has made her appreciate the state's western culture.
“I really like the southern pride and everything being super southern and cowboy,” Anderson said.
Anderson and her friend Andrea Camargo traveled about three hours from the coast for the weekend. Anderson said the group planned to attend Friday and Saturday before leaving Monday.
Anderson said the atmosphere, including the opening prayer, helped make the event feel distinctly North Carolinian. She also described the crowd as welcoming.
“This is definitely what kind of made me take pride in the country aspect of North Carolina,” Anderson said.
Another fan, Ben Roth, traveled from Durham after friends invited him to the event. Roth, an EMT, said he had never attended a PBR event before. Although he had watched bull riding on television, seeing it in person gave him a different perspective.
“To actually come, it's way more intense than I thought it would,” Roth said.
Roth said spending time with his friends was his favorite part of the experience and said he could see himself returning to another event.
For Anderson, the combination of competition and community was what stood out most.
“I really like the adrenaline and then seeing everyone's outfits,” she said, describing the event as a “nice community” that felt “very welcoming.”
The Cowboys' final-round comeback gave those fans a memorable ending to the Greensboro weekend with a close victory and plenty of excitement to carry into the rest of the season.
PBR Teams Cowboy Days will return to the First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro from Sept. 17–19, 2027.