Ropin’ Them In: North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming Champs Among Those Taking Home 2021 Titles

Valley City, N.D. – With beautiful weather and record crowds, the 84th annual N.D. Winter Show’s PRCA rodeo took place March 12-13 and was broadcast nationally on The Cowboy Channel.

A North Dakota cowboy took home the title of steer wrestling champion.

Tyler Schau, Almont, turfed his steer in 3.7 seconds to win the steer wrestling.

The 41 year old cowboy rode a horse he had recently sold to a fellow bulldogger.

Schau, who trains horses with his wife, Jackie Olson Schau, sold his brown horse Shortcut to Joe Nelson last summer. But when Schau arrived at the arena, he considered the young horse he had brought and thought he might borrow Shortcut back.

“I have a young horse, but I thought (the crowd) was a little loud and a little too much for him, so Joe let me back on my own horse.”

Schau also hazed for Nelson and for another steer wrestler, Nick Goelema of Beulah, N.D.

Schau works as a branch manager for a commodity brokerage firm at Almont and rodeos on the side. His wife, Jackie, an accomplished barrel racer, competed in the breakaway roping during the Saturday night rodeo performance but didn’t make a qualified run.

The barrel racing arena record was broken twice on Saturday night.

Barrel racer Alyssa Gabrielson, Perham, Minn., broke it with a time of 12.23. Then, two contestants later, Amanda Welsh did it again, this time of eighteenthhundredths of a second faster.

Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., is having her best rodeo year ever. Ranked second in the PRCA world standings, she won the San Antonio rodeo and plans on rodeoing full time this year, in the hopes of qualifying for her first National Finals Rodeo, where PRCA world champions are crowned.

It’s due to her elevenyear-old gelding, Firefly, whose registered name is Frenchman Firefly. The horse was bred, raised and trained by her dad, Robert Welsh, and “he’s just been working outstanding,” the cowgirl said.

She knew he was headed for a good run in Valley City.

“I knew when I was warming him up, he was feeling pretty good, you could say. He just went through the alley, and he locked into his first barrel, and usually if he has a really nice first barrel, I can count on him having a good run. He nailed his first, and we carried that momentum going forward, and he was just awesome today.”

Qualifying for a National Finals Rodeo requires a lot of travel and sacrifice, but Welsh will play it by ear.

“As long as (Firefly) keeps working as good as he is, and things are going good, we’ll keep going. If he’s sound and healthy, we’ll keep going. It depends on him.”

In the bareback riding, this year’s title went to a South Dakota man.

Shane O’Connell, Rapid City, scored 86.5 points on Korkow Rodeo Co.’s Alysheba to win his event.

He’d never been on the horse, but he was ready. “I’d seen that horse one time with (fellow bareback rider) Logan Patterson in Gooding, Idaho, and I thought, ‘man, I can’t wait to get on that horse. I was glad TJ (Korkow) brought horses here.”

O’Connell qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in 2018, and would love nothing more than being back at the pinnacle of the sport. He’s off to a good start, a No. 4 ranking in his event in the PRCA world standings, as of this week.

“Winter (rodeo competition) is a little bit hit or miss for me,” he said. “The last time I had a winter this good is the last time I went to the Finals.” O’Connell won second in Jackson, Miss., and second at the San Antonio (Texas) Rodeo. “So we’re going to keep feeding off the momentum. I’ll go home, rest up for a couple weeks, and hit the trail again.”

One of his traveling partners, Jamie Howlett, also of Rapid City, won second place at the N.D. Winter show. Having two guys in the truck wining money is a good thing. “We came from Arcadia, Florida, so we had to make this one pay,” O’Connell said. Their rig was parked in Dallas; they flew from Dallas to a rodeo in Arcadia, then back to Dallas, and then drove to Valley City Thursday and Friday. “We came a lot of miles for it.”

O’Connell loves being on the rodeo trail. “I love being gone rodeoing, and I had a great winter, and a lot of fun. It’s always good to see my buddies”

Other champions from the 84th annual Winter Show include saddle bronc riders Jake Burwash, Nanton, Alb. and Dawson Hay, Wildwood, Alb. (86 points each); tie-down roper Jess Woodward, Dupree, S.D. (10.8 seconds); team ropers Brent McInerney and Tanner McInerney, Alzada, Mont. (5.6 seconds); breakaway ropers Megan Steiger, Rapid City, S.D. and Katie Mundorf, Mullen, Neb. (2.5 each); and bull rider Matt Palmer, Claremore, Okla. (88.5). Results, North Dakota Winter Show PRCA Rodeo –N.D. Winter Show

All-Around champion: Tyler Schau, Almont, N.D. Bareback riding champion- Shane O’Connell, Rapid City, S.D.

1. Shane O’Connell, Rapid City, S.D. 86.5 points on Korkow Rodeo’s Alysheba; 2. Jamie Howlett, Rapid City, S.D. 86; 3. (tie) Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D. and Logan Patterson, 84 each;

5. Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn. 82; 6. (tie) Cooper Cooke, Victor, Idaho, Clay Jorgenson,

Watford City, N.D. and Tristan Hansen, Dillon, Mont. 80 each.

Steer wrestling champion – Tyler Schau, Almont, N.D.

1. Tyler Schau, Almont, N.D. 3.7 seconds; 2. Eli Lord, Sturgis, S.D. 4.7; 3. Jake Kraupie, Bridgeport, Neb. 5.0; 4. Jake Nelson, Bozeman, Mont. 5.1; 5. River Voigt, Killdeer, N.D. 5.2; 6. Jason Reiss, Manning, N.D. 5.3.

Saddle bronc riding co-champions: Jake Burwash, Nanton, Alb. and Dawson Hay, Wildwood, Alb.

1. (tie) Jake Burwash, Nanton, Alberta 86 points on David Bailey’s New Blood and Dawson Hay, Wildwood, Alb. 86 points on Bailey Pro Rodeo’s James Bond; 3. Dylan Schofield, Philip, S.D. 85.5; 4. Travis Nelson, Kinsey, Montana, 84; 5. Taton Elshere, Hereford, S.D. 81.5; 6. (tie) Cash Wilson, Wall, S.D. and Jake Finlay, Goondiwindi, Australia 80.5 each;

8. (tie) Cole Elshere, Faith, S.D. and Louie Brunson, New Underwood, S.D. 80 each.

Tie-down roping champion – Trey Young, Dupree, S.D.

1. Trey Young, Dupree, S.D. 8.8 seconds; 2. Colton Carlson, Jamestown, N.D. 10.4;

3. (tie) Jess Woodward, Dupree, S.D. and Joe Schmidt, Belfield, N.D. 10.8 each; 5. (tie) Brent Belkham, Blunt, S.D. and Myles Kenzy, Iona, S.D. 11.5 each.

Team roping champions – Brent McInerney, Alzada, Mont./ Tanner McInerney, Alzada, Mont.

1. Brent McInerney, Alzada, Mont./ Tanner McInerney, Alzada, Mont. 5.6; 2. Jared Odens, Pierre, S.D./J.D. Gerard, Kennebec, S.D. 5.9; 3. Bodie Mattson, Sturgis, S.D./Jace Engesser, Spearfish, S.D. 6.7; 4. Jason Vohs, Dickinson, N.D./Brent LaPierre, Killdeer, S.D. 7.1; 5. JB Lord, Valentine, Neb./Clint Nelson, Philip, S.D. 7.2; 6. Tanner Wznick, Stanley, N.D./Ethan Rodne, New Town, N.D. 7.8.

Barrel racing champion – Amanda Welsh, Gilllette, Wyo.

1. Amanda Welsh, Gillette, Wyo. 12.05 seconds; 2. Alyssa Gabrielson, Perham, Minn. 12.23; 3. Emilee Pauley, Wall, S.D. 12.30; 4. Jessica Routier, Buffalo, S.D. 12.39; 5. Tara Stimpson, Lodge Grass, Mont. 12.42; 6. Maggie Poloncic, Gillette, Wyo. 12.43; 7. Haley Stevenson, Miles City, Mont. 12.55; 8. Haley Huls, Lennox, S.D. 12.57; 9. Erin Williams, Alzada, Mont. 12.63; 10. Nicole Bice, Killdeer, N.D. 12.67.

Breakaway co-champions: Megan Steiger, Rapid City, S.D. and Katie Mundorf, Mullen, Neb.

1. (tie) Megan Steiger, Rapid City, S.D. and Katie Mundorf, Mullen, Neb. 2.5 seconds each; 3. Sarah Morrisey, Thedford, Neb. 2.6; 4. (tie) Teddi Schwagler, Glen Ullin, N.D. and Jennifer Belkham, Blunt, S.D. 2.7 each; 6. Courtney Dahlgren, Timber

Lake, S.D. 2.9; 7. Jessica Holmes, Buffalo, S.D. 3.0; 8. Sawyer Gilbert, Buffalo, S.D. 3.1. Bull riding champion

– Matt Palmer, Claremore, Okla.

1. Matt Palmer, Claremore, Okla. 88.5 points on Burch Rodeo’s Zombie Time; 2. Dakota Nye, Keosauqua, Iowa 87; 3. Chance Schott, McLaughlin, S.D. 84;

4. Andy Guzman, Oakdale, Calif. 83.5; 5. Q. Taylor, Nanton, Alb. 83; 6. (tie) Bubba Greig, Byers, Kan. and Clayton Savage, Banner, Wyo. 82 each; 8. Rawley Johnson, Swan Valley, Idaho 81.