09/28/2026
Hudson Bolton a Tristar alumni doing great things!!
He was ten years old, on borrowed gear, tagging along behind his older brother at a Thursday night rodeo. Nobody in his family had ever ridden a bull. Fifteen years later, he's one of the biggest names in the sport.
Hudson Bolton grew up in Milan, Tennessee, in a family with no rodeo background at all. His parents never rodeoed, so he was a first-generation cowboy. As kids, he and his brother Bryce used to go watch the bull riding that Tuff Hedeman put on in their hometown. Then one night at a small rodeo in Missouri, Bryce decided to try it. Hudson went along, borrowed someone else's gear, climbed on a mini bull, and never looked back.
He played football right alongside rodeo through middle and high school, until he finally had to choose. He chose the chutes, homeschooled so he could travel, and hit junior and high school rodeos across Tennessee and beyond.
At 17, he went a perfect 4-for-4 at the International Finals Rodeo and won the 2023 IPRA World Championship, taking three of the four rounds. In 2024, the New York Mavericks made him a first-round pick in the PBR Teams draft, and a kid most people had never heard of was suddenly on the big stage.
He answered immediately. In 2025, at 19, Hudson Bolton won PBR Rookie of the Year and qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in his rookie season. He'd said the rookie title was the one he wanted most, and he explained why. "You only get one shot at being Rookie of the Year." He also credits rodeo legend Gary Leffew for helping shape his mindset, telling reporters that bull riding is a mental game and the trick is to trust the work you've done.
Then came 2026 in Fort Worth. Hudson Bolton opened the PBR World Finals with a perfect 7-for-7 and became the first rider in PBR history to cover 13 of his first 15 career World Finals bulls. He finished 7-for-9 across the nine rounds to win the World Finals Event Championship and the $500,000 bonus that comes with it. He closed the season No. 3 in the world and crossed $1 million in career earnings. His parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles filled the stands, and he had about 18 tickets for one night alone. For a kid who started on borrowed gear at a small rodeo with his brother, Fort Worth felt like a full circle.
Borrowed gear at ten. A world championship at seventeen. A Fort Worth run the sport won't forget. And he's just getting started.
That is Hudson Bolton. 🤠🐂🏆
