This year's all around winners at the Montana Junior High School Rodeo State Finals were no surprise. Both Paige Rasmussen from Choteau and Brody Grebe from Melstone have had a pretty amazing year, and they certainly didn't let up at State Finals. If these two were nervous, it was pretty hard to tell from their performances all weekend.
[EasyDNNGallery|1988|Width|350|Height|350|position|left|resizecrop|False|lightbox|False|title|False|description|True|redirection|False|LinkText||]Paige finished off an amazing year by winning the all around at every rodeo she entered and Finals was no exception. She attributed her success to “Practice. Lots and lots of practice every day,” and her barrel and pole horse, Dave–or 'Super Dave' as her family refers to him. They made a pretty impressive team. They clocked the fastest pole time of the weekend with a 20.92 in the Second Go and came back with a 20.99 in the Short Go. They also had the second fastest barrel time of the weekend. Paige also said she was most proud of being the state champion in Breakaway as she barely made it to state last year in the event. This year at finals, Paige was one of only two girls to catch all three calves.
[EasyDNNGallery|1986|Width|350|Height|350|position|left|resizecrop|False|lightbox|False|title|False|description|True|redirection|False|LinkText||]Brody Grebe came to finals just off winning the All Around Saddle at the Richland County rodeo in Sidney Montana. He's headed to the National Finals in a couple week and will be representing Montana in 5 events, his favorite being team roping with Corbin Fisher. They easily won the first two rounds, and while they struggled a little in the Short Go, pulled off enough points to be the champions at State Finals and for the Montana Junior High School Year End. He said his toughest event of the weekend was calf roping, when he missed on the First Go on Friday. He knew he needed to make it up in his next two runs, and he delivered, wining the next round and coming in 2nd in the Short Go. He credited his horse Dude for his success in the Calf and Ribbon roping events.
Northern Ag Network also interviewed two of the three 6th graders who qualified to represent Montana at the National Junior High School rodeo finals. Harley Meged from Miles City MT ended up third in year end finals for pole bending on her little roan mare, Ruby. They had a rough start to the weekend, tipping a pole on their first run on Friday. Harley managed shake it off and focus on her last two runs, pulling off her fastest time ever on Ruby, and the second fastest time of the weekend, with a 20.93 in the poles and winning the Short Go on Sunday. When asked if she had doubts that she would make it to Finals this year, Harley replied “No. I had confidence in my horse.” It was a good bet.
[EasyDNNGallery|1987|Width|350|Height|350|position|left|resizecrop|False|lightbox|False|title|False|description|True|redirection|False|LinkText||]Gage Duncan, another 6th grader from Belgrad qualified for Nationals in breakaway and with his brother Gavin in the Team Roping. The brothers had a solid weekend in the team roping, placing second or third in all three rounds. While this might be Gage's first trip to Nationals, Gavin had qualified last year in team roping, only this time with his older brother Garrett.
All the Montana State Finals Winners as well as the Year End Winners are listed below. The top 4 Year End Winners are the one who have the opportunity to represent Montana at the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals held June 21-27 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa.
Northern Ag Network congratulates all the contestants who came and competed this weekend, and wish those headed to National Finals in a couple weeks the best of luck.
Pictures provided by Jackie Jensen Photography. You can see all the great rodeo action from state finals on her website www.jackiejensenphotography.com or on Facebook
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