Badlands Circuit Championship– 2nd & 3rd Round Results

The races are getting tighter and the competition is heating up, after the third performance of the RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo in Minot.

In the classic rodeo event born on the ranches across the country, Ty Manke is coming to the forefront.

The Hermosa, S.D. cowboy won fourth place in the second round and first place in the third round. His third round win was a dynamic 89.5 point ride on the Sutton Rodeo horse South Point.

The 31 year old entered the circuit finals in first place, and he’s been battling it out with veteran bronc rider JJ Elshere.

But Elshere was bucked off during the third round, putting him in fourth place in the average race (the highest total points on four rides.) Only three saddle bronc riders have ridden all three horses: Manke, Jade Blackwell, and Dusty Hausauer.

Manke has 238.5 points on three rides, and leading the average adds some nerves, he said. But after rodeoing for more than a dozen years, he’s getting used to it. His wife Trista “sure tells me to relax and calm down,” he said. “She’s always nice to pack around for rodeos like this.” And being a veteran of the sport helps, too. “You still think about (being in the lead) but it doesn’t bother you as much.”

He was also nervous about his mount.

South Point, the eleven-year-old bay gelding owned by the Sutton Rodeo family, was voted the 2018 Badlands Saddle Bronc of the Year. Manke has been on the horse three times, and “she’s always the one to have. She’s good enough to where if you stub your toe, she’ll buck you off. You don’t want to fall off of one they (score) in the high eighties, or else all your buddies will laugh at you and make fun of you.”

Manke has qualified for the circuit finals at least ten times and won the average twice. He’s qualified for the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo (RNCFR)  twice. 

Even though Elshere has only made two qualified rides, he’s still sitting fourth in the average (163 points on two rides), and a threat to win, should any of the cowboys ahead of him get bucked off on Sunday. Elshere has won either the year-end or average championship seven times in the last twelve years.

It’s the horse that has made a difference for Cameron Morman.

The Glen Ullin, N.D. cowboy won the third round of the circuit finals with a time of 4.1 seconds in the steer wrestling, and it’s aboard the 2017 Badlands Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year.

Rio, a buckskin gelding owned by fellow steer wrestler Jake Rinehart, is being ridden by Morman, Rinehart and several other cowboys at the circuit finals. Morman loves the horse. “I can’t say enough good things about that horse. He’s so easy. Jake’s done a great job of making him, finishing him, and hauling him. He’s super broke.”

It wasn’t the prettiest run, Morman said, but it worked. “I kind of went back to high school steer wrestling 101,” he said. And steer wrestling in the All Seasons Arena in Minot is different, partly because of the small arena. “It’s a tricky setup. The arena isn’t very big. You can’t back off too much, you have to run at the barrier. But you can’t miss it to where you’re running (the steers) at the back end because then it gets tricky. My goal is to get out of the barrier (without breaking it and adding the ten second penalty) and lay them over.”

The steer wrestling is one of the tighter races at this year’s circuit finals.  Morman leads the average (the fastest times on four runs), by more than $2,000 over the number two man, Kody Woodward. Money won at the circuit finals and the RNCFR counts for the world standings, and since Morman finished the 2018 rodeo season in eighteenth place, three spots out of qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals rodeo, he’s eyeing his world rankings for 2019. “The goal this (rodeo) year (the rodeo year started on Oct. 1) is to end up in the top fifteen. That’s a big deal. It pays off.”

Other winners from the third round of the Y’s Men’s Rodeo, which hosts the circuit finals, are bareback rider Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D. (78 points); team ropers Chance Rosencrans, Jamestown, N.D. and Jesse Fredrickson, Upham, N.D. (4.4 seconds); barrel racer Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D. (13.64 seconds); tie-down roper Dane Kissack, Spearfish, S.D. (9.1 seconds);  and bull rider Bart Miller, Pleasanton, Neb. (86).

The final performance of the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo wraps up on Sunday, October 7, with a 1:30 pm matinee, with the 2019 Miss Rodeo North Dakota coronation at 1:15 pm.  Badlands Circuit champions for the year-end and the average will be crowned and will qualify for the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Florida March 21-24, 2018. For full results, visit ProRodeo.com. For rodeo information, visit MinotYsMensRodeo.com.

 

Photo: Saddle bronc rider Ty Manke scored 89.5 points to win the third round of the RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo. The Hermosa, S.D. cowboy leads the average in his event. Photo by Cowboy Images/Peggy Gander.

 

Results, 2^nd and 3rd rounds Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, hosted by the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo October 6, 2018

 2^nd round

Bareback riding

1. Nick Schwedhelm, Fort Calhoun, Neb., on Sutton Rodeo’s Choctaw Bing, 82 points; 2. Jordan Pelton, Halliday, N.D., 78; 3. Nate S McFadden, Elsmere, Neb., 76; 4. Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., 74.5.

 Steer Wrestling

1. Brent Sutton, Onida, S.D. 3.4 seconds; 2. Kody Woodward, Dupree, S.D., 3.5; 3. (tie) Reed Kraeger, Elwood, Neb., and Jake Kraupie, Bridgeport, Neb., 3.9 each.

 Team Roping

1. Scott White, Oelrihs, S.D. and Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb. 4.8 seconds; 2. Eli Lord, Sturgis, S.D. and Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D. 4.9 each; 3. Chance Rosencrans, Jamestown N.D. and Jesse Fredrickson, Upham, N.D. 5.6 each; 4. Wyatt Bice, Killdeer, N.D. with Tel Schaack, Edgemont, S.D. 5.9.

 Saddle bronc riding

1. JJ Elshere, Hereford, S.D., on Korkow’s Fraid Knot, 82 points; 2. Cole Elshere, Faith, S.D., 79.5; 3. Jeremy Meeks, Scenic, S.D.  79; 4. Taygen Schuelke, Newell, S.D. 75.5.

 Barrel racing

1. Jessica Routier, Buffalo, S.D. 13.83 seconds; 2. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 13.92; 3. Bobbi Grann, Sheyenee, N.D., 14.03; 4. Erin Williams, Moorcroft, W.Y. 14.08.

 Tie-down roping

1. Cole Robinson, Moorcroft, W.Y.  7.6 seconds; 2. Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb., 8.8; 3. Clint Kidred, Oral, S.D., 8.9; 4. Tanner Wznick, Cavalier, N.D. 9.4.

 Bull riding

1. Bart Miller, Pleasanton, Neb. on Mosbrucker’s  Big Bopper  82 points; 2. Ryan Knutson, Toronto, S.D., 77; 3. Ethan Lesiak, Clarks, Neb., 76; no other qualified rides.

 

3^rd round

Bareback riding

1. Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D. on Bailey Pro Rodeo’s Capone, 78 points; 2. (tie) Blake Smith, Zap, N.D. and Logan Glendy, Oconto, Neb. 73 each; no other qualified rides.

 Steer Wrestling

1. Cameron Mormon, Glen Ullin, N.D. 4.1 seconds; 2. Eli Lord, Sturgis, S.D. 4.2; 3. (tie) Chason Floyd, Buffalo, S.D. and Tee Burress, Piedmont, S.D. 4.3 each.

 Team Roping

1. Chance Rosencrans, Jamestown, N.D. /Jesse Fredrickson, Upham, N.D. 4.4 seconds; 2. Logan Olson, Flandreau, S.D./Matt Kasner, Cody, Neb. 4.5; 3. Eli Lord, Sturgis, S.D./Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D. 5.1; 4. Turner Harris, Killdeer, N.D. /Ross Carson, Grassy Butte, N.D. 6.0.

 Saddle bronc riding

1.Ty Manke, Hermosa, S.D. on Sutton’s South Point 89.5 points; 2. Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D., 85.5; 3. Jesse Bail, Camp Crook, S.D. 83.5; 4. Dusty Hausauer, Dickinson, N.D. 74.5.

 Barrel racing

1. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D. 13.64 seconds; 2. Samantha Jorgenson, Watford City, N.D. 13.65; 3. Jessica Routier, Buffalo, S.D. 13.77; 4. Nikki Hansen, Dickinson, N.D. 13.85.

 Tie-down roping

1. Dane Kissack, Spearfish, S.D. 9.1 seconds; 2. (tie) Trey Young, Dupree, S.D. and Clint Kindred, Oral, S.D.  9.6 each; 4. Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb. 9.7.

 Bull riding

1. Bart Miller, Pleasanton, Neb. on Bailey Pro Rodeo’s Long Hood Pete 86 points; 2. Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D. 82; 3. Corey Maier, Timber Lake, S.D. 76;  4. Tate Smith, Litchville, N.D. 72.

 ** All results are unofficial. For more information on the rodeo, visit www.MinotYsMensRodeo.com.    For complete results, visit www. ProRodeo.com.