Tetz rides to a sixth consecutive victory

By Lethbridge Herald on March 10, 2026.

Herald photo by JOE MANIO CalgaryÕs Nick Tetz goes the distance on Pyper during the championship round at the South Country Co-op Showdown Saturday at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

By Joe Manio

Lethbridge Herald

Nick Tetz has turned Lethbridge into his personal rodeo.

For the sixth straight time, the Calgary bull rider walked out of VisitLethbridge.com Arena with the buckle, capping a dominant weekend with an event-best 89.9-point championship round ride to win the sold-out South Country Co-op Showdown on Saturday night.

With thousands of fans packed into the arena and the energy building with every ride, Tetz once again proved unbeatable in southern Alberta — extending one of the most remarkable streaks on the Professional Bull Riders Canada Cup Series.

“It’s crazy — even just when they announce it, you can hear how much louder the crowd gets,” Tetz said moments after accepting the championship buckle. “I’ve had so much fun here, and it’s always a pleasure to be here in Lethbridge.”

The two-time PBR Canada champion was steady from the start of the weekend, opening with an 85.7-point ride aboard Counting Sheep in Round 1. He followed it up with 85.8 points on Linebacker in Round 2, securing the event lead and the first pick in the championship round draft.

Tetz made that pick count.

Choosing Pyper, the Calgary rider stayed centred through the bull’s explosive bursts, riding out the eight-second whistle and posting the top score of the event — 89.9 points — to clinch the victory before an energized championship-round crowd.

“I figured if I could get him covered, I should be able to get the job done,” Tetz said of the matchup. “So I was just going to keep going and give it everything I had.”

The South Country Co-op Showdown marked the second stop of the 2026 PBR Canada Cup Series season, the organization’s premier tour featuring Canada’s top riders alongside international competitors facing some of the ranked bucking bulls in the country.

Over two nights in Lethbridge fans were treated to the full spectacle of professional bull riding — the adrenaline rush of eight-second rides and the unpredictable wrecks that come when riders and 2,000-pound animal athletes collide.

By the time the championship round began Saturday night, the sold-out arena had grown into a full-throated roar, with fans reacting to every ride as the event’s top riders tried to catch the red-hot Albertan.

None could.

Still, several riders delivered strong performances over the two-day event.

Griffin Koester of Rockyford, Alberta finished second with an impressive 3-for-3 showing, recording rides of 83.6 points on Kish Me Again, 81.5 points on Woozy, and 86.8 points aboard Shockazoola in the championship round. The performance vaulted Koester from No. 19 to No. 4 in the national standings.

Veteran rider Garrett Green of Meeting Creek, Alberta finished third after making the whistle on Magic Jam for 84.5 points in the championship round.

Jake Gardner of Fort St. John, B.C. placed fourth after converting his opening two rides before being bucked off in the final round, while two-time PBR Canada champion Cody Coverchuk of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan rounded out the top five.

In the bull pen, Get Rhythm of Skori Bucking Bulls earned top animal honours as the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event, posting a commanding 44.7-point score during a powerful buckoff of Dalton Allred.

With the victory, Tetz collected 158.5 national points, extending his lead atop the standings as he pursues a record-tying third PBR Canada championship later this year.

The strong start comes after a challenging stretch that included recovering from a broken leg — something Tetz says has reshaped his approach to the sport.

“I was coming back from a broken leg, and I wasn’t trying to come back as a completely different version of myself. This is kind of version 2.0 for me, and hopefully I can keep riding at this level the rest of the season,” said Tetz.

For now, though, the Cup Series story once again ran through Lethbridge — where the arena was full, the bulls brought the thunder, and Nick Tetz added another buckle to a streak that just keeps growing.