Nathan Beitler/MDN A member of the Bearded Moose Bar & Grille team rounds the corner during the Truck Relay in the 2025 North Dakota State Fair Ranch Rodeo.

The Day Thugs took home the championship Thursday, July 24 at the 2025 Ranch Rodeo held at the North Dakota State Fair.

The twelve teams that qualified for the Championship Night were the top teams from the qualifying round Wednesday night, July 23.

The teams started the rodeo with the Steer Mugging event. The event required teams to lasso in a steer, wrestle it to the ground and tie its legs together. The steer must stay tied for a full six seconds before the team can be scored. The SSSS Ranches out of Saskatchewan, CA team took first with a time of 32.43 seconds.

Second, the teams competed in the Range Branding event. This round saw teams lasso and wrestle the steers once again. This time, one team member would have to fetch a cool brand iron and ‘brand’ the steer by pressing the brand onto the animal. They would then have to race back to return the brand, where the judge would stop their time. Schaefer Vet out of Stanley, ND took the shortest time with 29.95 seconds.

The last event of the first half of the night was the Wild Cow Milk. Each team was assigned one of two cows on the field to catch. Instead of wrestling or tying the cow up, this event saw teams milk the cows and sprint back to the judge with a partially filled cup. The judge would then turn the cup over, and as long as any amount of milk poured out, it was a qualified run. SSSS Ranches also won the Wild Cow Milking event, catching their cow, milking it and returning to the judge in just 21.15 seconds.

The second half of the night saw just two events, the Trailer Loading and Trailer Relay events. In the Trailer Loading event, teams had to rope their steers and load them into a trailer. The team from Retzlaff Seed & Supply out of McHenry, ND took first place in the event with the night’s only sub-twenty time of 19.85 seconds.

The trailer relay put two teams in a head-to-head horse race. Trailers positioned opposite one another in the areas were loaded with each team’s horses. One by one, the teams had to unload their horses and ride a lap around the arena as fast as they could before passing the baton to the next rider. The Bruner Angus Ranch team from Rugby, ND earned the most points for the final event.

After totaling up the scores from each event, the Day Thugs out of Mandan won the championship despite not placing first in any one event. The Day Thugs earned special belt buckets and jackets donated from local sponsors. Dee’Laney Sheets also earned a belt buckle for herself when she was named the Championship Night’s Top Handler. Sheets is a member of the J-H Rach Cowgirls out of Velva, ND.