North Platte, Neb. (June 16, 2021 By Ruth Nicolaus) – After last year, with no fans for three-quarters of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte, another piece of normalcy came back to the world: the rodeo, with fans in the stands.
The first night of the 2021 Buffalo Bill Rodeo kicked off, with cowboys grateful to be rodeoing and enthusiastic fans thankful to be in the stands.
Things may be opening up in the U.S., but Canadian saddle bronc rider Layton Green, who is usually rodeoing in Alberta this time of year, made his first trip to North Platte because there have been no Canadian rodeos yet this year.
The 2017 Canadian saddle bronc riding champion scored 85 points on Beutler and Son’s Pop a Top to take the lead after the first night of rodeo.
The ride “sure was a lot of fun,” the 27-year-old cowboy said. “I went with the game plan to get a good spur-out, and it worked out. She went right down the bucking chutes jumping and kicking. She was a really good horse and I was lucky to have her.”
Normally, Green would be rodeoing in Alberta right now, but with no rodeos, he’s in the States. A few Canada rodeos are starting to come back, and he plans on going back for the big ones, but for now, he’s in the U.S.
After major injuries the last three years, he’s hoping to complete a full year of rodeo.
In 2018, he got kicked by a horse at a rodeo in Filer, Idaho, dislocating the head of the fibula of his right leg. Then, the next year, a saddle horse fell with him and shattered the tibia and fibula of the same leg, keeping him out for the year. Last year, at the San Antonio, Texas rodeo, he separated his shoulder. Then Covid hit and curtailed half of the rodeos last year.
He’s healthy and back to competition.
“We’re happy to be rolling again,” Green said. “I plan on getting a full year in.”
The 2022 Miss Rodeo Nebraska was crowned prior to the rodeo on Wednesday night.
Bailey Lehr, Columbus, has won the crown. The 2020 Miss Oregon Trail Rodeo queen for the Hastings, Neb., pro rodeo, she is the daughter of Lance and Joan Lehr.
Earlier in the day the 2022 Miss Teen Rodeo Nebraska queen was crowned, with Brooke Lehr, Columbus, Neb. winning the title. She is the younger sister of Bailey.
Other leaders after the day’s slack and the evening’s competition include bareback rider Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn. (86.5 points); steer wrestler Chance Howard, Sadler, Texas (3.4 seconds); tie-down roper Hudson Wallace, George West, Texas (8.1 seconds); breakaway roper Emma Charleston, Reeds, Mo. (2.6 seconds); team ropers Chance Oftedahl, Pemberton, Minn. and JW Nelson, Alta, Iowa (5.2 seconds); and barrel racer Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas (17.41 seconds). No bull riders made a qualified ride.
The Buffalo Bill Rodeo continues on Thursday, June 17 at 8 pm. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to show awareness of breast cancer, with proceeds donated to the Callahan Cancer Center in North Platte. Tickets range in price from $15 to $20 and are available online at www.NebraskalandDays.com and at the gate.
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Results, 1st Performance and slack, June 16, 2021
North Platte, Nebraska – Buffalo Bill Rodeo
Bareback riding
1. Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, MN 86.5 points
2. Ty Breuer, Mandan, ND 84.5
3. Tyler Berghuis, Atwater, MN 84
4. Kyle Bloomquist, Raymond, MN 76
Steer wrestling
1. 1. Chance Howard, Sadler, Texas 3.4 seconds;
2. Dirk Tavenner, Rigby, Idaho 3.5;
3. (tie) Mike McGinn, Haines, Ore., Stockton Graves, Alva, Okla. and Cameron Morman, Glen Ullin, N.D. 3.7 seconds each.
Tie-down roping
1. Hudson Wallace, George West, Texas 8.1 seconds;
2. Blake Ash, Aurora, Mo. 8.3;
3. (tie) Weldon Watson, Huntsville, Texas, Stetson Vest, Childress, Texas and Justin Smith, Leesville, La. 8.6 seconds each.
4.
Saddle bronc riding
1. Layton Green, Meeting Creek, Alberta 85 points
2. Jacobs Crawley, Stephenville, Texas 84;
3. Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta 83
4. Sterling Crawley, Huntsville, Texas 78.
1. Emma Charleston, Reeds, Mo. 2.6 seconds;
2. Amber Coleman, Orchard, Neb. 2.9;
3. Kayla Otto, Marshall, Minn. 3.1;
4. Jordan Fabrizio, Canyon, Texas 12.2.
Team roping
1. Chance Oftedahl, Pemberton, Minn./JW Nelson, Alta, Iowa 5.2 seconds;
2. Cody Hilzendeger, Avon, S.D./Dustin Harris, O’Neill, Neb. 5.9;
3. Wyatt Muggli, Lane, Okla./Clay Elkington, Casa Grande, Ariz. 6.1;
4. Clint Summers, Lake City, Fla./Ross Ashford, Lott, Texas 7.2.
Barrel racing
1. Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas 17.46 seconds;
2. Nicole Waggoner-Ludwick, Pueblo West, Colo. 17.65;
3. Emma Charleston, Reeds, Mo. 17.73
4. (tie) Korrina Hughes, Glenwood, Iowa and Cheyenne Wimberley, Stephenville, Texas 17.81 seconds each.
Bull riding
No qualified rides.
** All results are unofficial.