NEW YORK – About a year ago, Jesse Petri was at former PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert’s ranch, roping and practicing with him and Ross Coleman.

Petri was frustrated with his riding and reached out to the PBR legends for some advice.

“I need to hit the next level,” he said. “I need to start stepping my game up. What do I need to do?”

“You know what I would do if I lived around Stephenville, Texas?” Coleman said. “I would call up Jim Sharp.”

Sharp, a PBR co-founder, is one of the legends of the sport. He won two PRCA world titles and, in 1988, became the first rider ever to ride all 10 bulls at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

So Petri called him up, and a mentorship was born.

“He works out every day. He has his own gym at his place,” Petri said. “It was one of the best things I’ve done, and it’s awesome being able to just be friends with him and work out with him and learn from him.”

Beyond just the workouts, Petri says the most valuable thing he’s picked up from Sharp is his frame of mind.

“He’s got the best mindset, I think, of any guy there is, just because he’s so positive,” Petri said. “He’s taught me that you’ve got to have a quick memory sometimes. You’ve got to forget what’s not good and remember what is good.”

So far, the 2023 season has certainly been good for Petri. He notched a second-place finish at the PBR Manchester Invitational in New Hampshire in December and followed that up with a fourth-place finish this weekend at the PBR Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, presented by Ariat, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Petri went 2-for-4 in New York, riding Viper for 87 points in Round 2 and Norse God for 87.25 points in Round 3, splitting the round win with Ezekiel Mitchell (87.25 points on White Face).

“Shoot, it felt good,” Petri said of his round win. “That Norse God, they don’t ride him too much, but they ride him a little bit. And I just knew he was going to go both ways. He wasn’t going to stay in it the whole time. And so I kind of was prepared for that. I thought it felt really good.”

Petri is ranked No. 8 in the Unleash The Beast standings thanks to his strong showings in New York and Manchester, but he knows he could be even higher. He was blanked in the first two events of the year and then finished 22^nd in Minneapolis and 26^th in Albany.

A few more rides, and he could be fighting for a spot at the top of the standings.

“I think it’s going good,” Petri said. “There’s definitely room for improvement all the time, but it’s starting off how I’d like it to. I need to get my riding percentage up a little bit, but other than that, it’s feeling really good, feeling healthy, and I’m ready to do great things this year.”

Petri is currently 7-for-15 (46%) on the premier series. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, but moving forward, he’s focusing on making incremental improvements to see that number go up.

“I ride a lot of horses during the week, so it’s just a live animal moving underneath you,” he said. “That’s all it is, all the time. So it’s helped my bull riding and my balance. And I try to stay in shape and eat good. Everything I do, I try to make it where I can be 1% better every day.”

While he would’ve, of course, preferred to notch an event win inside the world’s most famous arena, he was pleased with his result and excited to compete on the same stage that’s hosted so many other historic events.

“It’s cool that there’s a lot of history here,” Petri said. “There’s tons of famous people that’ve been here and performed here, and athletes that have gone on to do great things. So it’s just going to reflect on this sport, too, I think. There’s guys that’ve done really great that are bull riders here, too, and I definitely want to be one of those guys.”

Petri will next be in action at the PBR Tractor Supply Co. Invitational in Chicago on Jan. 13-14. He’s 210.5 points behind world leader Andrew Alvidrez, who finished sixth in New York.

Six events into the season, there have been five different event-winners – including two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme, who was victorious inside Madison Square Garden in his season debut – so the world title race could very well be a dogfight.

But count Petri in as one of the early contenders.

“I’m just going to try to ride as best as I can, ride as many bulls as I can,” Petri said. “Just kind of turn up the juice and see what shakes loose.”

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media