Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo: Avon’s Jeff Bertus gets redemption

Jeff Bertus wanted to make sure his second Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo turned out better than his first.

Last year, the Avon native fell off his bull during the bull riding event. This year, Bertus redeemed himself by winning Friday night’s event with a score of 80.

“It’s always good to do well around your hometown,” Bertus said on the grounds of the Horseman’s Sports Arena, which held 2,534 people Friday night for the second evening of Mitchell’s annual rodeo. “It felt good to not go down.”

The score of 80 put Bertus in fourth place in the overall standings after days. Charles Zoss’ 86 from Thursday night remained the top score while Dylan Madsen and John Andersen each have scores of 82.

In the barrel racing event, Desirae Weigel, from Bismark, N.D., had a decision to make on which horse to ride.

Weigel, in her first time competing in the Mitchell rodeo, decided to take a chance on her 5-year-old horse named Sunny.

That decision paid off as Weigel won Friday night’s event with a time of 15.77 seconds. That time put her second overall in the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo standings behind Lisa Lockhart’s 15.75.

“(Sunny) surprised me,” Weigel said. “This is the first year I’ve ridden him professionally and this was by far his best performance.”

Weigel said she was glad she decided to ride Sunny and wasn’t upset about not taking the overall lead in the rodeo’s standings.

“I’ll definitely take second with my five-year-old,” she said.

In bareback riding, Evan Jayne looked to have a rough draw as the horse, Shivers, immediately fell on its side out of the gates.

The horse landed on Jayne and help was rushed out. Neither Jayne nor the horse was harmed.

Jayne was given another opportunity to ride later in the night and made the most of it. He scored an evening-best 79 Friday night.

The score also tied for the top mark of the rodeo through two days of competition. Dustin Luper, currently second place in the Badlands Circuit Standings, also has a 79 in the rodeo.

Tait Kvistad, of Grover, Colo., was not scheduled to compete Friday, but stepped in during the steer wrestling event and came away as Friday night’s winner.

His time of 4 seconds leads the rodeo through two days.

“Drawing a good steer was important here,” Kvistad said. “The steers are a little older and some are good and some are a little stronger. Mine was a good one.”

Kvistad said he had taken a couple of years off from the Stampede Rodeo and was glad to get a good time in when he returned.

Kvistad said he is hoping to win money in the Mitchell rodeo this year with his time.

“I’ve never pulled a check here, yet,” he said.

NOTES: Kobyn Williams was Friday night’s only competitor to score in the saddle bronc riding. He tallied a 71, which put him in fifth place in the standings.

Jeremy Meeks leads all competitors through two days with a 76, while Jade Blackwell has a 74 and Rollie Wilson and Jace Blackwell each scored a 72.

n Volga’s Justin Scofield won Friday night’s tie-down roping and put himself in second place overall with his time of 8.6 seconds. Ricky Hyde leads the field with a time of 7.8.

n Ryan Von Ahn, of Sac City, Iowa, and Derrick Peterson, of Stillwell, Kan., had Friday night’s best time in the team roping event.

The two finished in 4.5 seconds, which is the rodeo’s best mark through two days.

Entering the night, Logan Olson and Matt Kasner had the best time. They finished the event in 4.8 seconds.

n No injuries occurred during Friday night’s performances.

A few cowboys entered the training room area to ice up some sort areas but the training staff said they had no issues and that there “wasn’t even a Band-aid used.”

n There was an error in the counting of Thursday night’s attendance at the rodeo and after another count the rodeo committee concluded that 1,792 people were in attendance for Thursday’s performance.

Friday, an even bigger crowd showed up as 2,534 people were in attendance. Jim Miskimins, the rodeo committee chairman, said the number was a surprise to him.

“At four o’clock I was figuring we’d get half that number,” he said.

Tags: sports, rodeo, avon, updates