Columbia Falls cowboy Matt Triplett wrapped up an impressive comeback season with a fifth-place finish at the Professional Bull Riders: Unleash the Beast World Finals, Nov. 7-11 in Las Vegas.
Triplett, 27, won the first round at the event with an 89.25-point ride on Little Tucker to earn 300 event points and take the early lead. He finished with 787.5 total event points and posted four successful rides in six tries. Triplett took home $106,500 for his efforts.
Marco Eguchi won the season-ending competition with 2,050 points to earn $372,000.
Triplett ends the season ranked 13th in the world, his best year since back-to-back top five finishes in 2014 and 2015. The Columbia Falls High School graduate was 17th in the world a year ago before missing the early part of this season while recovering from shoulder surgery. According to his biography on the PBR website, Triplett has netted just over $1 million in prize money since his professional career began in 2011.