Submitted Photo Shane O’Connell wins the second round of the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo in Minot with an 81 point ride on the David Bailey Rodeo horse named Corrosion. The Wall, S.D. man is in second place in the year-end race for the Badlands Circuit title. Photo by Peggy Gander.

Shane O’Connell likes competition.

The Wall, S.D. man, a bareback rider, has got plenty of it this weekend.

He’s competing at the RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, hosted by the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo, and after a year’s worth of rodeo, he came into the circuit finals in first place.

Out of nine bareback riders who qualified for the circuit finals, O’Connell’s closest competition for a year-end title and an average title (the most points after four rodeo performances), is Ty Breuer.

O’Connell and Breuer are neck and neck for the Badlands Circuit titles. On Thursday night, Breuer won first place and O’Connell won fourth. On Friday night, O’Connell won first place and Breuer won third.

On Friday night, the second of four rodeo performances in Minot, O’Connell scored 81 points on the David Bailey Rodeo Co. horse Corrosion, a horse he had never drawn. “It felt really good when I got on him,” he said. “He wasn’t real nice in the chutes, but I ended up getting out on him. He’s a big gray horse with a lot of power.”

Only $389 separates Breuer and O’Connell in the year-end race, and O’Connell welcomes the competitiveness. “It’s cool. We like it that way.” Both men compete across the nation and spent the last month criss-crossing the country, rodeoing as much as possible to try to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, pro rodeo’s world championship. “Me and Ty have been rodeoing together these last few weeks, bubble-busting, trying to make the (National) Finals. He squeaked in there, and I was a little bit shy, but we’ve been grinding the last few weeks.” The rodeo year ended on Sept. 30. “We each had a couple days off, then we’re back to it, right here.” Breuer will compete at his third Wrangler NFR in December; O’Connell finished the year in nineteenth place, four spots out of the Wrangler NFR.

The year-end champions and the average champions in each event from the circuit finals go on to the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla. next April, where $750,000 is up for grabs. Money won in Minot and next year in Kissimmee counts towards the world standings, and would be a big benefit for both men.

But for now, O’Connell’s focus is on the circuit finals in Minot. “I gotta finish out these last two horses and see what I can get done. You just have to do your job, because Ty isn’t going to let up.”

Other winners of the second round of action included steer wrestler Taz Olson, Prairie City, S.D. (3.2 seconds); team ropers Eli Lord, Sturgis, S.D. and Paul Griemsman, Piedmont, S.D. (4.6 seconds); saddle bronc rider JJ Elshere, Hereford, S.D. (84 points); barrel racer Jackie Schau, Almont, S.D. (13.70 seconds); tie-down ropers Paul David Tierney, Oral, S.D. and Tyler Thiel, Belle Fourche, S.D. (8.1 seconds each) and bull rider Tate Smith, Litchville, S.D. (86 points).

Before the rodeo started, a big check made out for $40,500 was presented to the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign. That amount recognizes the monies raised for this year of the campaign, with all funds going to the Trinity Health Cancer Exercise Rehab Center. Since the program began ten years ago, a total of $680,750 has been raised. Myron Feist, a cancer survivor and a member of the Minot Y’s Men, presented the check to Russell Gust, exercise physiologist for the Exercise Rehab Center and Dr. RaNelle O’Keeffe, manager of Trinity Health’s Cancer Care Radiation Oncology. SRT, a corporate sponsor of Tough Enough to Wear Pink, WGO, the Zoo and Sunny 101.9 radio stations, and Trinity Health are also corporate sponsors.

The third performance of the 2017 RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo will kick off at 6:30 pm on October 7, with the fourth and final performance on October 8. Tickets are available online and at the State Fair Center prior to the rodeo. Full rodeo results are posted on ProRodeo.com. Additional rodeo information can be found at MinotYsMensRodeo.com.

— Ruth Nicolaus,

Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo media contact