ProRodeo Sports News - January 25, 2019

IN HIS OWNWORDS: JESSE PETRI FAST START HAS BULL RIDER EYEINGVEGAS

T exas is a really good place to rodeo from. Texas is a central area, you can get to different places in a good amount of time. From Florida it’s hard to get to places quickly. I think 2018 was an all right year. I got a late start because I broke my leg the summer before that in Hamel, Minn. A bull stepped on me and broke both bones in the lower part of my leg. I had surgery. It took at least five months for me to come back and get on bulls. It took me a while to get my confidence back and to get to riding like I do. I won a couple big rodeos. But this year will be one to remember for sure. I don’t remember what time of year it was, but there was a point in time where I knew I was where I needed to be, the injury was behind me – it happened – and I was ready to move ahead. I think one rodeo that stands out that I won last year is Dodge City, Kan. I was riding everything for those few weeks. I won in Eagle, Colo., then I won Dalhart, Texas, and then Dodge City. It was pretty cool because in the long round in Dodge City I was 84 on this nice bull, then in the short round I was 90 on this bull that really bucks that went to the NFR – Frontier Rodeo’s After With a full season ahead, bull rider Jesse Petri is set on making the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for the first time. The 21-year-old, Florida native is off to a good start. As of Jan. 25, Petri ranked fifth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $16,084. After moving to Texas for school and switching to the Texas Circuit, Petri qualified for the 2019 RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla., about an hour from where he grew up and where his family lives. Petri now lives in Palestine, Texas.

All. It felt really good. I probably won $30,000 in those three weeks. It felt like I was right where I needed to be. I wanted to keep it rolling and try to make a comeback and make the NFR. It didn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to be. This year will be my year. Those weeks were a lot of fun. I think that momentum has carried over. I feel really good, better than I ever have. I started off in Bonifay, Fla., a couple days into the new season. I won $4,000 there. I went to some smaller Texas rodeos and won about $2,500 at those. Then I went into the Texas Circuit Finals and I won about $4,500 and got a spot at the RAM Finals in Kissimmee, Fla. That’ll be a good place to make some money. I’m really excited. That’s going to be a big opportunity for me. It’s a place where I won a lot of money growing up. I know a lot of people around there. It’ll be nice to be down there competing and trying to win some big bucks. It’ll be neat for my family to be there and watch me because they don’t get to go everywhere I get to go. It’s nice for them to go to some of those closer rodeos and especially that big RAM Finals. I think everybody will enjoy it. Being able to qualify for the RAM Finals out of the Texas Circuit really means a lot because it has a lot of the stock that comes straight from the NFR. Everybody calls it the mini-NFR because all the cowboys and stock that are there come from Vegas. It’s kind of the best of the best. My traveling partner Clayton Sellars started at the beginning of the year in 2018 and went to everything he could go to. That’s what we’re doing this year. Like I said, I had a late start last year. But once I got rolling it was a lot of fun. We got to see a lot of places and win some cool rodeos, we both got to be 90 points for the first time, and we met a lot of nice people on the way. I think it’s just getting started for us.

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ProRodeo Sports News 1/25/2019

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