John Crimber, a Decatur native, took home his first PBR World Championship win over the weekend.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A North Texas bull rider is the best in the world, and he has the trophy to prove it.
John Crimber, a 20-year-old from Decatur, Texas, won his first championship title at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals. It’s a feat made more remarkable by the fact that he had a weak start to the week-long competition, but fought back to earn the title with remarkably high scores in the final two rounds.
On Sunday afternoon in Dickies Arena, he scored a 91.35 aboard What’s Poppin and in the final round, a 92.9 aboard Trigger, according to a press release from Professional Bull Riders.
“This is what I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid playing in the living room pretending I was a bull rider,” Crimber said after a win. “This is what we live for – to become a World Champion and the best bull rider in the world – and I couldn’t do it without my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”
Crimber is the son of former bull rider Paulo Crimber, a native Brazilian who settled his family in Decatur, alongside a large group of other Brazilian bull riders. His father retired from professional bull riding in 2011; now he serves as a mentor for his son and other young riders who make their way to Decatur.
“This world title, it’s not just for myself. This is for my dad, too,” Crimber said. “He’s the one who brought me here and made me who I am. His career was cut short, so this one’s for him, not me.”
Crimber has been winning bull riding competitions since before he was old enough to compete in a PBR event. He previously won the Texas high school championship and the National Junior Rodeo Championship before going pro.
With Sunday night’s win, he will take home $1.37 million in winnings for the season. In all, he ended the season with a 55.17% ride percentage, going 32-for-58.
Crimber beat Australian Brady Fielder by just 187.83 points, the release states. Fielder, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, finished in fourth place on the World Finals leaderboard.
The closeness of the competition was in part due to a slow start for Crimber at the World Finals, where he went 0-4 in Cowtown Coliseum. When the competition shifted to Dickies, he turned up the temperature, going 4-for-4 and ending the competition with his highest score of the week.
“It was a rough start. I didn’t ride the bulls I was supposed to ride, and it was rough,” Crimber said. “I had a lot of critics, lot of people saying stuff I’m not, but I just stayed true to myself and kept trusting God’s plans, because His plans are perfect.”
Ransom, the top bull in the PBR competition, earned $100,000 and a $25,000 bonus for his performance.