James Jackson/MDN Eddie Swartzentruber, Amamias Swartzentruber, Randy Schmitt, and Ty Schmitt show off their ranching acumen Wednesday night in the North Dakota State Fair Ranch Rodeo.

Lassoing the full attention of the lively crowd, teams from towns across the state showcased their steely talents to corral the collective excitement of those in attendance at the Ranch Rodeo on Wednesday and Thursday night.

A 14-year staple of the North Dakota State Fair events lineup, ranchers gathered for some friendly team competition and to put their rugged, yet deft, skills on display for fans inside the All Seasons Arena.

Taking the reins on the behind-the-scenes operations required to conduct the Ranch Rodeo at the state fair for the past five years, Rhonda Schell and her husband Neil have readily demonstrated the abilities necessary to put on the competition without a hitch. Before solely running the event between the two of them, they spent a multitude of years collaborating with others to bring the show to life.

When asked about the challenges associated with putting on the North Dakota State Fair Ranch Rodeo, Schell mentioned that they are still rebounding from the disruption that Covid caused and how it affected the process of attracting participants.

“Prior to Covid, it was pretty easy to get teams to participate. There were a lot of ranch rodeos going on in local communities. After Covid hit, there was that year off and people kind of lost interest in it.”

However, Schell has seen a growing trend lately that keeps her optimism high about the future of the sport.

She stated, “I think the interest level is increasing. We encourage a lot of younger groups or younger teams to enter and participate, and we have seen more youth ranch rodeos showcasing young talent.”

As it pertains to what she believes drives most ranchers to participate in the event, Schell elaborated, “Everybody that’s out here competing is just a typical ranch person, jumping on their horse and having fun.”

Although slated as a multi-day event, each night of the Ranch Rodeo would effectively operate as its own evening of competition, leading to an overall winner each night between different teams of ranchers.

On each of the nights, ranchers would go head-to-head for the fastest time in five competitions: steer mugging, range branding, wild cow milking, trailer loading, and the trailer relay.

Unlike the vast number of skill-specialized sports, ranch rodeos endear themselves to many for the simple fact that the talents honed for these competitions are not perfected solely for the entertainment of the crowd. In fact, all of the activities making up the ranch rodeo are actual tasks mastered by the ranchers as part of their daily jobs.

Whether milking cows, branding steers for identification purposes, loading horses and livestock into a trailer, or efficiently roping, driving, and restraining specific cattle, the wide-range of talents necessary to safely and efficiently complete these jobs are ones used on a daily basis by those working in a variety of roles on a ranch.

Wednesday night saw a total of 12 teams from around North Dakota face-off to claim that evening’s overall champion. Bismarck, Hannover, Ross, Sherwood, Towner, Douglas, Minot, Makoti, Deering, and Rolette were all represented by ranchers from their local community.

Yet, before the main event would get underway, fans attending either night of the North Dakota State Fair Ranch Rodeo were treated to a rousing tribute to both the United States and its armed forces before the event known as “mutton busting.”

Mirroring bull riding, mutton busting allows children, primarily between the ages of four and seven, the opportunity to compete to see if they can stay mounted and hold on to an often wild, woolly sheep for six seconds.

After plenty of laughs and smiles cooked up by the aspiring bull riders of the mutton busting contest, the competing teams would take to the country music-filled arena to kick off an adrenaline-inducing exhibition of ranching prowess.

When the dust settled on the steer mugging, range branding, wild cow milking, trailer loading, and trailer relay events, an overall champion for the night was crowned.

Ending up with a cumulative score of 48 out of 60, Moose Bar and Grill of Towner, comprised of Lane Marshall, Hunter Schell, Lane Schmitt, and Shawn Anderson, took home first-place.

Coming in second- through twelfth-place were the teams of: Korral Supply (45), Monson Fencing (43), Day Thug’s (40), /77 Bargmann Ranch (40), Rocking BS Construction (40), Counterfeit Cowboys (34), BSC Mystics (33), Big Sky Wild Rags (25), Western Agency Insurance (20), AYT Trucking (9), 3 Lazy B & Wolf Creek Ranch (8).

Like Wednesday, Thursday night’s field was also comprised of 12 teams, with the towns and cities of Bismarck, Hannover, Palermo, Towner, Westhope, Douglas, Deering, Minot, and Sherwood represented.

Minot’s hometown team and Wednesday night’s runners-up Korral Supply, comprised of Chase Peterson, Tucker Dale, Jesse Fredrickson, and Chris Arnold, accumulated 48 out of 60 total points to capture championship honors.

Second- through twelfth-place teams included: The Ranch Hands (44), /77 Bargmann Ranch (42), Big Sky Wild Rags (41), BSC Mystics (41), Rocking BS Construction (39), Counterfeit Cowboys (37), B&J Excavating (28), Western Agency Insurance (22), Last Roundup Ranch (19), Bud Light Cowboys (17), and Moose Bar & Grill (11).

At the conclusion of the two-night North Dakota State Fair Ranch Rodeo, Rhonda Schell fought to hold back welling emotions when asked about her favorite aspect of the event.

“It’s a fun, friendly, safe event. The ranchers competing, they’re not competing to win the almighty dollar. It’s just about the families.”