Columbia Falls native Matt Triplett, the top-ranked professional bull rider in the world, suffered a knee injury during last weekend’s event in New Mexico.
Triplett, 23, was kicked in the leg after being thrown from the bull he was riding on Saturday at the Ty Murray Invitational, according to a news release from Professional Bull Riders.
He was initially diagnosed with a torn MCL/PCL. After talking with a doctor Tuesday morning, he was informed that it was a complete tear of his left MCL. His PCL tear was from an older injury. He will not need surgery, according to PBR, and could be back in action within a month.
“He said take a couple of weeks off and we can go from there,” Triplett told PBR. “It is good. No surgery.”
Triplett has been the top bull rider in the world standings for eight consecutive weeks. He has a 385-point leader over the next best rider. He is tied for the Built Ford Tough Series lead in event wins with two and round wins with five. He is enjoying a career-best 52.63-percent clip this year. He has won $138,427 at events so far this tour, which is nearly halfway over.
“I worked super hard to get where I am at,” Triplett said. “Now with that whole relief off my shoulders, I can get back to working out in a couple of weeks and really get back to the grind.
“I know that World Championship is not out of reach anymore.”
He told PBR he was relieved to find out he won’t need surgery, which would have ended his riding for a lengthy period of time.
“Well, my first reaction was I still have this year to follow up on my dreams, so I am going to work my hardest and get it back to 100 percent and go from there,” Triplett said. “I am jacked. It is probably the best news ever. The way he was making it sound, it sounded like I was out forever, so I was really bummed out. I kind of felt like the whole year was gone for me.”