HOME STATE COWBOY SAVES BEST FOR LAST
Julie Mankin

RAPID CITY, S.D. --- South Dakota, like Oklahoma, is known for raising great steer wrestlers, and home-raised talent topped the leaderboard in slack Saturday morning at the 33rd Annual Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo.

Ivan Teigen of Camp Crook, S.D., who won the Badlands Circuit as far back as 1980, downed his first-round steer in 3.6 seconds to take an early lead, followed by Nebraska natives Todd Suhn and Linn Churchill at 3.7 apeice.

In the second round, Colt Floyd of Buffalo, S.D., was the last man out and made it count, turfing his steer in 3.5 seconds to take a lead that could easily hold through performances next weekend.

Wrangler NFR steer wrestler Matt Reeves, after a good run in Round One, missed his second steer and was hit by the hazing horse, injuring a shoulder and severely spraining his left ankle. Diagnostic tests this week in Texas will determine if the ankle is broken.

Slack ended with a three-way tie for the lead in the average held by Suhn, Teigen, and Seth Brockman, each recording times of 7.9 seconds on two head.

The format of competition this year has timed-event contestants competing twice for the coveted average title, and roughstock riders competing just once. All cowboys and cowgirls are scheduled to perform in back-to-back performances.

The annually televised Rapid City rodeo is the first event of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Silver Million-Dollar Tour, and can be a major stepping stone to rodeo’s Super Bowl for competitors.

Team roping slack will be held Sunday morning. The first rodeo performance begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, and the rodeo concludes Saturday, Feb. 6 with matinee and evening performances.