PRORODEO Sports News February Digital Edition

MONTANA PRO RODEO CIRCUIT TY ERICKSON CLAIMS AGGREGATE, YEAR-END TITLE AT BOOT BARN MON TANA PRO RODEO CIRCUIT FINALS RODEO BIG WINS By Ted Harbin, Special to PRORODEO Sports News T here’s nothing quite like the comforts of home for steer wrestler Ty Erickson. He rode into the Pacific Steel & Recy cling Arena at Montana ExpoPark fifth in the circuit standings. He dominated

His equine partner has been a stand out. Crush has been vital at the NFR, guiding J.D. Struxness to the 2024 world title. Of the $246,000 Erickson won in 2025, most of it came on the athletic gelding, including more than $140,000 during 10 nights in Las Ve gas. Crush was just as valuable in Great Falls. “He makes your job a lot easier, be cause he stands in the box so well and runs so hard,” he said. “He just gives you a great go and gives you a chance to win every time you nod your head.” It happened in Great Falls, and it’s just the thing the big Montana bull dogger needs as he prepares for the remainder of the 2026 PRORODEO campaign. “I love coming to our circuit finals, because it’s one of the biggest rodeos we have in Montana,” Erickson said. “I also love it because you have so much support. If a guy can do good here, it gives you a really good jump for the new year.” Other winners of the Boot Barn Montana Pro Rodeo Cir cuit Finals Rodeo were bull rider Gavin Knutson (170 points on two head), barrel racer Taylor Jane Gardner (39.38 seconds on three head), tie-down roper Dillon Hahnkamp (36.5 seconds on three head), breakaway roper Joey Williams (7.9 seconds on three head), saddle bronc rider Sage Newman (262.5 points on three head), team ropers Dillon Johnson/Colten Fisher (25.2 sec onds on three head), and bare back rider Sam Petersen (250.5 points on three head).

The 2019 world champion has been a dominant force, and he proved it this weekend during the Boot Barn Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals Rodeo at Great Falls, Mont., Jan. 15-17. “I just love the circuit finals up here,” said Erickson, 35, a 10-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Helena, Mont. “I always seem to have some luck, and my horse worked great. Then I had Ryder Gaasch haz ing up there. He’s a younger kid, but he did a phenomenal job.” It all came together well. Erickson won the first round with a 4.7-sec ond run, then placed fourth Jan. 16. He closed with the fastest run of the weekend at 4.3 seconds to not only win the third round but also claim the aggregate title.

three days of competition with two round wins and the average buckle, finishing his three days of work with $11,013. With that, he outlasted Jaden Whitman by less than $300 to win the year-end circuit championship, too. He has now won the circuit eight times and has seven average crowns at the regional finale and 11 qualifications to the national circuit finals, which is now the NFR Open, set for July 14-18 at Colorado Springs, Colo. That’s a week later than has been the case for the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, which offers a reprieve for cowboys like Erickson. He owns Crush, the 2024 Nutrena Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year presented by AQHA. He hopes to ride the champion horse at the Calgary Stampede before heading to Colorado. “That’s great news for me, because it always seems like guys are trying to make it work to where you can go to both of them,” he said. “I can have my own horse down there. With

Calgary and the NFR Open be ing over the top of each other, a guy had to choose. “A guy can win $50,000 at Calgary, so it’s hard not to have my horse up there. It makes me really excited that they’re different weekends now, and I can have my main horse at both of them.”

Erickson put on a show at the Boot Barn Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals Rodeo Jan. 15-17, winning the aggregate and year-end titles. PRCA photo by Clay Guardipee

22 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2026