MILWAUKEE – Luciano de Castro had to look down at the floor inside Fiserv Forum and take a deep breath to compose himself.
Castro had just ridden Diddy Wa Diddy for 91 points and his first 15/15 Bucking Battle victory in more than three years at the PBR Ariat Invitational on Friday night. It had not escaped his notice that he almost decided to pack up his belongings and return to Brazil in the past two seasons as injuries began to take a toll on him, physically and mentally.
“I feel like all the battles and all the injuries I went through got me stronger because I really thought about going back to Brazil and riding over there and seeing if I could turn it around,” Castro said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “But I also have great family support from my wife, Isabella, and really strong friends like Silvano Alves and Paulo.”
Castro has struggled tremendously with various injuries – hip, knee, groin, ribs, collapsed lungs, you name it – in the past two seasons, and he has finished No. 46 in the world standings in back-to-back years. He had to miss five months last season recovering from reconstructive right knee surgery, and he was mentally broken the past two years because of his laundry list of injuries.
The 2015 PBR Brazil champion only competed in eight UTB events last season before getting his knee surgery.
It was quite the fall of grace for Castro after he had finished 2019 ranked ninth in the world standings and sixth overall in 2018.
Castro’s close confidants all kept telling him the same thing.
“Just believe in yourself. You’re better than you think you are,” Castro recalls of a conversation he had with Alves and Crimber. “To receive something from a guy like Silvano and Paulo, being more experienced and being around longer than me, it’s really giving me strength to believe in myself, because if they can believe in me, why couldn’t I believe in myself?”
Castro had ridden five consecutive bulls, including his 85.25-point ride on Marquis Metal Works Coriolis Effect to end the bull’s streak of 21 straight buckoffs last week, until Red Solo Cup bucked him off in 7.65 seconds in Round 1 of the PBR Ariat Invitational.
The 2015 PBR Brazil champion has drawn Midnight Rain (16-9, UTB) for Round 2 on Saturday night. Fans can watch the conclusion of the PBR Ariat Invitational Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
There were two other qualified rides in the 15/15 Bucking Battle, which airs Sunday at noon ET on CBS national television – Mauricio Moreira (90 points on Big Black) and Eli Vastbinder (88.25 points on Mike’s Motive).
While the physical injuries were obvious last year, Castro has mentally rebuilt himself for the better, it seems, in 2022. That is another factor in him being ranked No. 8 in the world standings in addition to simply his improved health.
“I got more mature, the mindset to get better, and just believing it doesn’t matter where I’m at. I can be good anywhere,” Castro said. “It’s a real blessing to be like it is right now, especially coming off of a rough year last year. I’m trying harder than I ever did to do my best and just get better every time, to show the top of my game here, because I never really got the chance to yet.”
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