FORT WORTH, Texas — It took three years, four games, a busted knee or two, and one professor’s chalkboard session, but the Austin Gamblers finally cracked the code at Dickies Arena.
The reigning champs rode into Fort Worth for the finale of the 2025 Land.com Texas Cup and did what no one else in the PBR Camping World Team Series had ever managed: they sent the Texas Rattlers packing from their own dirt, scoreboard unlit, Cup surrendered.
The 177.25-0 shutout was less a game than a statement — the PBR’s own version of a backyard brawl, the kind of in-state clash you get when Texas and Texas A&M or Alabama and Auburn collide — where bragging rights stretch far beyond the arena, bleeding into pride, tradition and identity, and this one quite literally rained on the Rattlers’ homecoming parade during Rattler Days.
Enter the Professor
“To come into their home turf and get a win, it means a lot,” Sage Steele Kimzey said, dealing with a partial MCL tear from March and a meniscus tear just six weeks ago, after previously tearing his PCL in 2020. “Especially to break their unbeaten streak, and the Land.com Texas Cup— that’s the first step on the mountain we want to climb.”
Kimzey, they call him The Professor, held a masterclass on Saturday. His 88.75-point ride on Greasy Bend not only snapped the Rattlers’ perfection at home, but also snapped the chalk across his metaphorical blackboard: this rivalry was no longer a one-way lecture.
Alongside him was Kaique Pacheco, back riding in the green, after a stint on injured reserve for a head injury. Pacheco is no stranger to pain either. In 2018, World leader Pacheco and Dr. Tandy Freeman confirmed that an MRI revealed he had torn his PCL and MCL in his left knee after bucking off at the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Finals. Despite the injury, Pacheco made the decision to compete. He fought through intense pain during the event to secure enough points to win the 2018 PBR World Championship.
While his recent time away came from concussion protocol, the truth is both Pacheco and Kimzey have carried knees that would have ended a football season years ago. In the NFL, those injuries would earn a surgeon’s visit and a season-long seat on the bench. In PBR, they earn eight seconds on Snap Chatter and 88.5 points to double down on Austin’s lead.
By the second frame, Austin had cashed its chips. Texas never even got a seat at the table.
Just the gritty Gamblers in green, two knees fit for an orthopedist’s case study, and one rivalry-changing night.
Missing José, Still Finding Wins
The elephant in every Gambler’s locker has been José Vitor Leme’s nameplate, gathering dust on injured reserve. A three-time PBR World Champion, two-time league MVP, and eternal heartbeat of this roster, Leme’s absence is like leaving your ace high card in the deck.
Head coach Michael Gaffney didn’t sugarcoat the void:
“Anytime you lose a guy like José, it’s a loss and a miss. He’s an integral part of this team,” Gaffney said. “But we’re fortunate — it’s a luxury that we have the depth that we have. These guys, they don’t win by mistake — they win because they’re winners, and they love what they do.”
That “luxury” looked plenty plush when Kimzey and Pacheco went back-to-back Saturday. And for all the star power missing, Gaffney’s message stayed the same:
“I just tell them to go be themselves. These guys love the game, they love nodding their heads on rank bulls, and it’s really about getting out of their way. They know what they’ve got to do.”
Texas Toast
On the other side? A Rattlers’ lineup that’s been dependable as a feed truck on the ranch finally broke down in the pasture.
Brady Fielder, Daniel Keeping, Braidy Randolph, Ezekiel Mitchell and Claudio Montanha Jr. each got dusted off before the whistle. Texas finished 0-for-5, their house finally breached.
The zero on the scoreboard felt heavier than the bull ropes. This wasn’t just a loss; it was the first home loss in franchise history — and it came with the Cup on the line.
Numbers on the Chalkboard
Austin Gamblers: 2-for-5 (177.25 points)
Texas Rattlers: 0-for-5 (0 points)
High Score: Kimzey, 88.75 pts on Greasy Bend
Rivalry, Reset
The Land.com Texas Cup rivalry has always been billed as a clash of champions. Texas hoisted the league trophy in 2023. Austin answered with the Cup and the league crown in 2024.
This year, the Gamblers win the Land.com Texas Cup 3–1, finally conquering Fort Worth.
For the Rattlers, Saturday was about defending pride on their own dirt. For the Gamblers, it was about supremacy. And when the dust settled, Austin proved they could win without José, with Sage teaching, Kaique returning, and both men showing that banged-up knees that would sideline football players for the year won’t stop a bull rider from climbing in the chutes and walking out like a cowboy.
The thing about rivalries, though, is they never end with one game or one Cup. There’s always the next meeting — whether it’s on home dirt or under the bright lights of Las Vegas — and that one is always circled in red ink on the calendar. Because in rivalries, teams and fans alike bleed the colors of their crew.
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media