Catching up with Sam Petersen after the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals and his outlook on the 2026 season.

Sam Petersen had a scorcher of a season in the PRCA in 2025. He quickly rose to the top and couldn't get shaken from that spot while battling it out for the coveted "Best in the World" placement with Rocker Steiner.

Petersen started off hot and was a force to be reckoned with right from the Winter Rodeos through the Summer Season. He won the "Daddy of 'em all" the Cheyenne Frontier Days with an impressive 89 point ride on Summit Pro Rodeo's "Hillbilly", then went on to set an arena record in the Sheridan WYO Rodeo with an astonishing 91 point ride on Sankey Pro Rodeo's "Land of Fancy". Sam followed up those rides with another whopping 91 point ride in the Lewiston Roundup on another Sankey Pro Rodeo's mount "Prairie Rose", a great bucker with some serious get-down-to-business attitude.

With his great 2025 Rodeo season winnings, Sam was invited for his first trip to the 2025 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada where he cleaned up with the Overall Win and solidifying his 2nd Place Bareback Bronc in the World Champ status. After his performance in Las Vegas in December, January 2026 had one last 2025 rodeo to play out and had the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit finals culminate in Great Falls, Montana. Sam came and conquered the broncs with 3 nights of solid rides and 2 indisputable wins to seal the deal of being the Best Bareback Bronc Rider in the northern circuit.

This humble Bronc rider hails from Helena, Montana where he grew up in the rodeo scene and enjoys hunting and fishing while not bucking them out of the chutes. While this cowboy shows no downtime and has a go-getter attitude he is going to be all over the States chasing that elusive title as the best Bareback Bronc Rider in the World so be sure to keep an eye out for Sam during the 2026 season and watch his climb to the top in what is sure to be another great year for the Montana boy.