January 1, 2025
Cody Coverchuk has been a bull-riding force to be reckoned with for more than decade but rodeo fans might have lost track of the Saskatchewan mega-talent in recent years as he has concentrated, with tremendous success, on PBR Canada events. His last CPRA appearance was in 2022; his last CFR was 2021.
Those rodeo fans received a reminder of just how good Coverchuk is at the Happy Bucking New Years Bull Riding event hosted by the Big Country Ag Society in Oyen, Alberta. The two-time PBR Canada Champion, known as the CC Rider, rode Legend Rodeo’s 064 Joker’s Grin, for 85 points and the win in the long go. Coverchuk then added a 2/3 split in the short round courtesy of an 85.5 point ride on another Legend bull, Bo Diddley, for a 170.5 total to top the average and capture the title at the second edition of the New Year’s eve event.
His total earnings of $8300 – unofficially – shot the 30 year old veteran to the top of the early season Canadian standings. And that fits in perfectly with the plan the Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan cowboy, along with girlfriend Mackenzie Jones, put together during the off-season.
“After I finished second in the PBR last year we went to a CFR performance in Rogers Place and that’s all it took for me to get the bug back,” Coverchuk noted. “I’ll still go to the bigger PBR events, but I’ll definitely be on the rodeo trail this year. I want to ride in the CFR in Rogers Place.”
And part of the motivation for the change in his bull riding schedule is a little unfinished business. ’I was runner-up for the Canadian title in 2018,” the three-time CFR qualifier acknowledged, “so I’ve got a little chip on my shoulder. I want to win a Canadian championship on the rodeo side.”
Factor in as well that Coverchuk has made a full recovery from a groin injury that sidelined him for part of the 2024 season. “I started going to the Acumen Clinic in Edmonton and they changed my whole outlook on everything. I feel like I’m 18 again,” he chuckled.
2016 Canadian Champion Jordan Hansen and the talented Coy Robbins were the only other riders to cover both of their bulls at Oyen and finished second and third respectively.
A big win to kick off his CPRA season, a healthy youthful outlook on career and life and an intense motivation to win a title that has eluded Cody Coverchuk so far—all that spells an added challenge to the coming season for the rest of the bull-riding fraternity.
And rodeo fans? The CC Rider is back on their radar and they’re not likely to lose track of the guy any time soon.
* Unofficial event results here