ProRodeo Sports News - September 16, 2022

XTREME BULLS ELLENSBURG, WASH.

Bull rider gets huge victory BY BRADY RENCK, Special to ProRodeo Sports News M averick Potter rodeos. It is what he does. So, it was a rarity in August, with the season ticking toward an expiration date, that Potter was back home. He needed treatment for a groin injury. Injuries have sabotaged recent seasons – he had his spleen removed last year and developed compartment syndrome from a femur fracture before that – but Potter believed this pause would be different. This was a prescription for success. “I just took 10 days off and went home to see the doctor. I got it all broke loose and it started to feel better,” Potter said of the hematoma. “So, the plan was to come back to Ellensburg (Wash.), win, get that money and get me off that bubble. For that to happen, this has got to be one of my biggest wins yet, honestly.” Context matters. Even at 21, Potter boasts impressive victories, including four this season. But he arrived inWashington teetering on the edge of the standings, tucked barely inside the top 15. It’s one thing to say that time off will provide rocket fuel for the stretch run. It’s another thing to do it. Potter produced, then held his breath. The Waxahachie, Texas, native had an 88.5-point ride onWayne Vold Rodeo’s By the Batch in the first round of the Ellensburg Rodeo Xtreme Bulls. It held up. No one stayed aboard in the second round, leaving Potter to net $27,693 in prize money at the most pivotal time. “I had a re-ride after me, so I was freaked out,” Potter said. “It feels great to win. Being 13th on the bubble, a win like this really takes the pressure off your chest quite a bit. Man, it was an awesome bull. It was an awesome ride all out through it, just an awesome bull. He kind of beat me right out of there. I didn’t panic or anything. He came around the right and he was sweet as can be and I met him there. It was a day off from there on out.” Potter credits his friends for pushing him this season. He travels with Creek Young and Trey Kimzey, young bull riders who are making names for themselves in the sport. The competition and friendship make the travel and the aches and pains worth it. “Man, I am just blessed to be out here on the road with all these boys. All these bull riders are phenomenal,” Potter said. “They are great guys to be out here with the way we support each other and help each other out.” Potter grew up around the rodeo. He followed his father T.K. Potter into the sport, but it was his uncle Russell Sheehan who channeled him into riding bulls. Potter joined the PRCA in 2019, and experienced modest success, finishing 29th in the world standings with $30,829 in 2020. However, the past two seasons unraveled because of injuries. He had his spleen removed last summer after his season began to gain traction. He wasn’t about to let his latest ailment derail him. “Those injuries were putting me out everywhere. But I was staying on top of it this year,” Potter said. “I wasn’t getting discouraged.” The motivation comes easily now. His first NFR qualification, his first chance on the sport’s biggest stage, remains firmly within reach. He is ready to trade MRIs for his most memorable rides. “It would mean everything. I have been dreaming of this ever since I was a little kid. My uncle used to push us to do the greatest that we could,” Potter said. “Now, I am just living it.” Potter Power

Complete results/Page 62

Kent Soule photo

Maverick Potter had an 88.5-point ride on Wayne Vold Rodeo’s By the Batch to win the Xtreme Bulls event in Ellensburg.

ProRodeo Sports News 9/16/2022

ProRodeo Sports News 9/16/2022

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