Polson bull rider Fitzpatrick is Montana's pro champion

It was just starting to rain and Payton Fitzpatrick stood above the esteemed PBR bull named Hy Test on a summer night in Great Falls.

Fitzpatrick was nursing a partially collapsed lung after a bull stomped him the week prior and had run out of the doctor-prescribed pain medication.

But he just knew he couldn’t miss this ride.

This bull had a favorable bucking style and he could feel the potential significance of the next 8 seconds in his fingertips as he slipped one hand under the bull rope.

“I nodded my head and he went out there and done his thing,” Fitzpatrick said.

In a test of fate, the cowboy matched the bull and stayed on for a rodeo-winning 87.5-point ride. He earned one of the largest payouts of his career, which in rodeo means making serious strides in the national rankings, but he gained more than just cash that evening.

“That really gave me a confidence that I’ve never really had before,” Fitzpatrick said. “Because that bull, he had statistics up and down the board that he was pro rodeo worthy and I wasn’t sure if I could ride him – I did somehow.”

Fitzpatrick described that moment on Hy Test was one of his most unforgettable rides from last season. Because he followed his gut to tough it out through a pretty serious injury, he recorded a significant ride on his way to winning the 2019 Montana PRCA year-end bull riding title. The PRCA stands for Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and is the largest rodeo organization in the world.

“I’d go as far to say as without that win, I may not have got the year-end title in the Montana pro,” Fitzpatrick said.

A couple weeks later when he was mostly healed up, Fitzpatrick drew Hy Test again and rode him to an arena record-setting 89 points at the PRCA Yellowstone River Round-Up.

These are just two of the 40-plus professional rodeos Fitzpatrick participated in on the PRCA Montana circuit last season, which progressed him to the top of the year-end bull riding standings.

Fitzpatrick earned that title and also cracked the top-50 bull riders in the world after only two years of competing professionally.

But the recognition does not end there as Fitzpatrick finished last season as a repeat bull riding year-end champion in the amateur Northern Rodeo Association as well. He estimated he competed in more than 80 combined amateur and professional rodeos in a one-year span.

During that same year he managed to propose to his girlfriend and then marry her three months later in September, just after the rodeo season came to a close. Fortunately for him his now wife Katelynn Fitzpatrick, formerly Wagner, also competes in rodeo. He said sharing that passion makes them a great team and she is a huge support as they find common ground between rodeo and everyday personal life.

“I’m pretty lucky that she’s so understanding about all of that so it’s not always weighing on my mind,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think if there was a balance, we dang sure found it because we seem to make it work.”

When looking at his accomplishments, including an assortment of gold buckles, championship saddles and other rodeo-related awards he earned over the last 10 years, it is easy to overlook the numerous struggles it took to get there.

Fitzpatrick admits he doubted everything at one point. In a sport where it is likely you will fall hard and often, injuries are abundant and the likelihood to actually stay on the bull isn’t a promising statistic even for the best competitors, a cowboy could easily find himself in a position of questioning what he is really doing.

“Well it seems like every once in awhile when I get one with a pair of decent sized horns on him I question it right in the moment,” Fitzpatrick joked.

But few years back, the bull rider was actually on the verge of quitting. In 2016, he was attempting some professional rodeos and injured his shoulder. He wanted to continue competing, but every time he climbed atop a bull his shoulder on his free arm would dislocate. It left him unable to make the proper motions and in immense pain.

That summer he had shoulder surgery and found himself discouraged, uncertain if he would be able to ride well again.

“I got in a bad way there for awhile, kind of in a dark place,” Fitzpatrick said. “Then I just decided to fight instead. I owe a lot of that returning to rodeo to God. I think he was the one really to give me the faith to push on.”

The following year he avoided professional rodeos and dove back into his roots, into why he started all those years ago on the mini bulls at the local fair. After regaining confidence, the next season he jumped back into the Montana pro rodeo circuit with new aspirations.

“I feel like when you go from amateur rodeo to pro rodeo and you have a little success there…” Fitzpatrick said. “You really learn how to carry yourself, have a little bit of professionalism and take things seriously.”

In 2018 Fitzpatrick decided he was no longer content staying at the amateur level. He set his mind to it and did well in the professional circuit, really well in fact. The local cowboy finished the year ranked second in Montana PRCA bull riding, which was good enough to send him to Kissimmee, Florida to compete in the RAM National Circuit Finals.

Although ecstatic for the opportunity to contend with some of the best bull riders in the world, things did not quite go as anticipated.

“I had good bulls, but I don’t know if the stage kind of got to me,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think (the nationally ranked competition) played with my head a little bit, it was not a comfort zone for me.

“Normally I don’t like to get too comfortable, being out of your comfort zone I always felt like gives you an edge. But it was almost to the point where I was overwhelmed,” he added.

Yet another setback, but clearly that did not deter him too much as he came into the season last year and quickly got on a hot streak.

His mother Elisha Fitzpatrick has been there watching him since day one and she was truly astonished by his grit and perseverance.

“He’s the type of kid that when he sets a goal he goes for it, and he goes for it full force,” she said. “He’s accomplished a lot more than he’ll probably tell anybody because he’s so humble, but to do what he’s done in the last two years has been phenomenal.”

Now, after becoming the year-end champion for the Montana circuit, he finds himself facing the national finals yet again. He is approaching it a little differently this time around.

He explained he his staying sharp for the upcoming competition by using practice bulls, entering some rodeos close to home and putting in work in the weight room.

“A lot of this I feel like is mental,” Payton Fitzpatrick said. “When I go to the gym or stay getting on practice bulls, it gives me the confidence to just say well I put the work in, I should see results … I’m trying to put in a little more work this time.”

With the date of this massive competition quickly approaching, April 2-4, Payton Fitzpatrick is focusing in on his goals. Doing well in the PRCA finals is clearly an immediate aspiration, but he is also looking forward to building up his national ranking over the next couple years.

The more professional rodeos he does well in, the higher he will climb amongst ranked bull riders. Last year those world-leading cowboys intimidated him, but if he continues on this path of success it surely will not be long before he stands beside them with confidence.

Reporter Whitney England can be reached at wengland@dailyintelake.com or 406-758-4419.