Dream come true for rookie
19-year-old bareback rider Petersen advances to finals after winning second wild card round
Bareback rider Sam Petersen is pretty sure he broke his right hand toward the end of his ride. Fortunately, that’s his free hand — and it hurt a little less after a victory.
The 19-year-old rookie rider from Montana is heading to the RodeoHouston finals in his first appearance here after winning the second wildcard round Saturday at NRG Stadium with an 87point ride on Topped Off.
“I’m so excited,” Petersen said. “This is a dream come true.
“And if I’m able to win this thing (on Sunday), it will set me up for the whole summer — and going into the (National Finals Rodeo).”
Petersen’s super series performance set up his wild-card win.
He went first in the round, and the second man out, Kody Lamb, also registered 87 points on Uncapped. But Petersen entered with $4,000 won — $750 more than Lamb — so he advanced to the finals on a tiebreaker.
The top four athletes in each championship event compete in the $50,000 Shootout.
“(Topped off) is an amazing horse,” said Petersen, who has won $6,500. “I was super excited to see my name next to him, and obviously it worked out.”
One wrap around the hind legs worked out for Beau Cooper.
The Canadian tie-down roper survived his sixman wild card — where only the winners rejoined the finalists — by tying his calf in 9.0 seconds. “She stepped left real hard, and tried to get by me, so I knew I was a little behind and I was going to have to put a hooey on her. Two wraps, and I probably would have ended up tying (Macon Murphy, who went 9.2) — or he would have gotten me by a tenth of a second,” Cooper said.
Going to one wrap and a hooey is risky, nervewracking business.
Cooper put two wraps on his calf in the semis, and she still kicked free before the 6-second mark, sending him to the wild card. But after Murphy set the bar high on the first go, Petersen, who went last, had to go fast. “I knew what I had to do, I knew I had a good calf, and when they only take one, you’ve got to be the best,” he said.
Now he’s moving on to championship Sunday in his second trip to Houston.
Cooper ($7,000) didn’t survive his super series last year.
“This is the coolest thing I’ve done,” he said. “It’s exciting. I’ve never made the finals at a big winter rodeo like this down in Texas, so it’s a special moment for me.”
Ross Griffin ($7,500) emerged in saddle bronc.
The New Mexico native scored 89 points on Watch the Night, then weathered four more rides, and a reride by Rusty Wright.
Only Tristin Parker ($5,500) lasted 8 seconds in bull riding. Now he’s moving on.
The Texan scored 80 points on Wild Side, giving $5,500 in winnings at this year’s rodeo.
Three barrel racers broke the 15-second barrier Saturday, but Jessica
Routier ($6,750) did it the fastest, recording a time of 14.76 seconds. Stevi Hillman, a seven-time NFR qualifier who entered with 8,000 won, posted a 14.97.
Erin Johnson ($8,000) redeemed herself in the wild card.
After finishing fifth in her semifinal, the defending Houston breakaway champion won her wildcard round in 3 seconds flat.
Team ropers Cory Kidd V and Lane Mitchell ($12,500), and Bubba Buckaloo and Cole Davison posted identical times of 5.6 seconds, and Kidd and Mitchell advanced on super series money won.