LAS VEGAS — Helena bareback rider Sam Petersen continues to impress in his first appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Though he trails bareback star Rocker Steiner in the world championship chase, the No. 2-ranked Petersen remains in strong contention for the average title — and an extra $94,000 — following an 87.25-point ride in the eliminator pen on top of Dakota Rodeo's Wild N Out on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
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Petersen's ride was good for second place and a check of $28,980. Petersen won money in six of the first eight rounds.
Petersen is second in the average, less than three points behind leader Jess Pope of Waverly, Kan. Pope won his second consecutive bareback round on Thursday with a score of 88.25.
Steiner, of Weatherford, Texas, leads the world standings but finished out of the money for the second straight night.
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Melstone cowboy Sage Newman earned a check after missing out the previous six nights. Newman rode Calgary Stampede's Weekend Departure to an 86.75-point ride, good for sixth place and a $5,914 check.
In steer wrestling, Helena's Ty Erickson came up empty for the second consecutive round with a 4.6-second time. But it's been a strong NFR for Erickson, the 2019 world champion — he won both Round 3 and Round 6 and is the mix ranked No. 3 in the world.
Former Montana State University cowboy Jesse Brown placed second with a 4.0-second run to earn $28,980. Tucker Allen of Ventura, Calif., took the round with a time of 3.9 seconds.
Brown is sixth in the average while Erickson is fifth.
Elsewhere, Haven Meged of Miles City again was out of the money in Round 8, finishing with a 9.4-second time in tie-down roping. Meged, who like Erickson won a world championship in 2019 and has claimed two average titles, placed in Rounds 2, 3 and 4 but has missed out each night since.
Meged is fourth in the average entering the second-to-last round Friday night. The round victory went to Kincade Henry of Mount Pleasant, Texas, with a time of 7.0 seconds.
Lisa Lockhart, a Circle-area native who lives in South Dakota, finished just out of the top six in barrel racing with a seventh-place showing (13.95 seconds). Three Forks' Tayla Moeykens, on the third horse of her debut NFR, struggled again with a time 15.31 seconds.
Tricia Aldridge of Sanger, Texas, and her popular horse Adios Pantalones claimed their second go-round win Thursday night with a time of 13.64.
Other Round 8 winners were header Kolton Schmidt of Barrhead, Alberta, and Joathan Torres of Ocala, Fla., in team roping and T.J. Gray of Dairy, Ore., in bull riding.
Crunch time at the NFR continues with Round 9 on Friday at the Thomas & Mack.
