PUEBLO, Colo. – A selfless Jesse Petri let a sly grin cross his face on opening night of the PBR Team Series season-opener in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
A few days earlier, Petri was the big winner – $47,860 – in Big Sky, Montana, as the Missouri Thunder bull rider went a perfect 5-for-5 to claim the victory at the marquee PBR Challenger Series event.
It was by far the best performance of the 24-year-old’s young career.
Petri, though, was oddly left out of the Thunder’s starting lineup on Monday night by Missouri coaches Ross Coleman and Luke Snyder for its game against the Ariat Texas Rattlers at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Regardless, the Thunder still defeated Texas 89.25-0.
“Saving the best for last,” Petri said with a confident grin. “They will probably put me in tomorrow.”
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Petri was spot on. Coleman inserted Petri into the lineup Tuesday, and Petri was a key cog in the Thunder defeating the Nashville Stampede 174.25-87 and taking the inaugural event victory in Cheyenne.
The Dublin, Texas, cowboy helped the Thunder strike first by riding Cold Chill for 85.75 points on the opening out of the game. Thiago Salgado would answer for Nashville with 87 points on Whiplash before Andrew Alvidrez gave the Thunder the lead for good with his 88.5-point ride on Chanler’s Dream.
The Thunder was the only team to go 2-0 in Cheyenne despite going 3-for-11.
“We won our first game last night, and some guys didn’t capitalize, but it doesn’t really matter,” Petri said. “A win is a win. We are getting better every day. We took it as a win, so we rode good today. There was some bad luck with a few of our riders, and that is just part of the game. Bulls buck so hard, so all you can do is your best.
“Andrew made an excellent bull ride. Really good both ways. Strong ride. He left really solid on that bull. Once we are firing on all cylinders it is going to be a great year.”
The two wins may have been somewhat ugly, but the Thunder proved they can win slugfests in the PBR Team Series and seeing its depth riders rise to the occasion is something to be proud of. Alvidrez and Petri were the team’s two final draft picks at the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter, and free agent Adriano Salgado was the hero for Missouri in their opening win against Texas.
Coleman expects his depth riders to keep getting better as the season progresses and seeing a rider like Petri win in Big Sky and follow that up with a crucial ride at the season-opener is music to his ears.
“There are so many different levels of these bull riders too,” Coleman said. “Jesse is improving, and we are going to get him on the right bulls to get him improving. That is what is what this is all about. Repetition.”
It was actually a year ago in Cheyenne in which Coleman and Petri began to build a friendship.
Petri needed someone to pull his bull rope during Last Cowboy Standing, and he asked Coleman on the back of the bucking chutes. Petri went on to ride Diddy Wa Diddy for 90 points, and Coleman reached out to Petri following the event to offer some further coaching and tips.
“I got his number and stuff and we started hanging out at (Cody) Lambert’s roping and stuff,” Petri said.
“I am glad we built that relationship because he is a super positive guy. I couldn’t ask for a better coach. We go over stuff that we did wrong, but we focus on the good things. If we are ever down, he lifts us back up. There is no reason to be moping around down and negative. We are always positive no matter what happens, and I think he is a huge part of my success.”
Coleman said a reason why he, Snyder and General Manager Randy Bernard drafted Petri was because Petri is so open and willing to embrace coaching.
The PBR Team Series grants riders an opportunity to receive consistent coaching like never before in PBR history, but a rider has to be open to coaching, and sometimes even criticism.
“The best part I can tell you about Jesse is that he is still learning a lot,” Coleman said. “When you are a bull rider, no matter if you are Jose Vitor Leme, you still can learn something every time you go. When you get around the company Jesse is around, all he is going to do is learn how to get better and stronger workout harder and be a better bull rider.”
Petri says he can see a physical difference, as well as mental, in his preparation to the sport since being selected by the Thunder in Round 5.
That translated into the arena too, with Petri going 9-for-17 in the Challenger Series this summer. In comparison, Petri was only 7-for-34 during the 2022 individual regular season (five months).
“Something I really thought about is I had my eggs in too many baskets earlier this year,” Petri said. “I wasn’t 100% focused on riding bulls. I had bought a bunch of cows, and I have a saddle company. I was waking up every morning trying to figure out how to make money other ways instead of focusing on being the best bull rider I could be every day.
“Now I wake up every morning and don’t care about nothing other than how to be a better bull rider and how I can be a World Champion bull rider. I believe it. I wake up every day and I believe that. I don’t have my mind wandering in 10 different places. This is where I am going to be for the next portion of my life and I am going to dedicate this part of my life to it, and the Missouri Thunder.”
NEXT UP FOR THE THUNDER
The Thunder head to Outlaw Days in Kansas City on Aug. 5-7 in search of a third-consecutive game victory when they take on the Oklahoma Freedom (0-2). All of the action on Aug. 5 begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV.
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media