Morman Wins Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo
MINOT, N.D. – Steer wrestler Cameron Morman keeps getting better. By winning the RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo on Oct. 8, this 24-year-old bulldogger is off to a solid start in the 2018 season as he seeks his first qualification for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER.
Morman was off to a running start by winning the first round of the RBCFR with a 4.2-second run.
“I just backed into the box and got the start I wanted,” Morman said.
By placing fourth in the second round with a 4.4, he went on to win the average with 18.3 seconds on four head – good for a grand total of $5,451. This win also means Morman’s set for his second appearance at the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla., in April 2018.
“You can win a lot of money there; and this counts toward next year’s world standings and that’s a good jump on next year,” Morman said. “I was there (the RNCFR) in 2015 and it would be good to get back. There’s a lot of money up for grabs there and it’s a big opportunity.”
Morman’s win at the RBCFR was worth nearly as much as his entire season earnings in 2016 when he was 171st with $5,853. Previously, the bulldogger from Glen Ullin, N.D., was 122nd in 2015 with $8,433, and was 136th in 2014 with $7,738.
Morman took the bull by the horns in 2017, finishing the regular season 34th with $45,159 and was ranked second in the Badlands Circuit standings with $11,166. His massive improvement in the 2017 season was thanks in part to winning four rodeos: the PRCA Championship Rodeo in Bismarck, N.D., on Feb. 4; the Bell County PRCA Rodeo in Belton, Texas, on Feb. 11; the Northeast Montana Fair & Rodeo in Glasgow, Mont., on Aug. 2; and the Cattlemen Days Rodeo in Ashland, Mo., on Aug. 26.
“A win is a win, it’s always good and there’s no such thing as a bad win,” Morman said, adding that he’s aiming for the 2018 WNFR. “This past year is the first I went and rodeoed all year, I used to just go to circuit rodeos.”
Morman got a taste of Las Vegas while in Minot, N.D., by riding a WNFR horse along with the Chason Floyd and Jake Rinehart, who are ranked first and third in the Badlands Circuit. The trio all rode Rinehart’s 12-year-old buckskin gelding, Rio. Rinehart is a three-time competitor at the WNFR (2007, 2009 and 2011), and Rio was with him in Las Vegas.
“He’s super calm, easy to score on and has a great pattern,” Morman said. “He’s everything you want in a bulldogging horse.”
In addition to using the same horse, the three bulldoggers all had the same hazer – Billy Boldon.
“He did a great job,” Morman said.
Morman was already planning to hit the rodeo road hard for the 2018 season, so winning the RBCFR gave him a good jump start to the new season.
“I leave Tuesday for the All American Finals in Waco, Texas, and hopefully I can keep the ball rolling,” Morman said.
Other winners at the $193,576 rodeo were bareback rider Ty Breuer (324 points on four head), team ropers Logan Olson/Matt Kasner (22.4 seconds on four head), saddle bronc rider JJ Elshere (321.5 points on four head), tie-down roper Paul David Tierney (36.9 seconds on four head), barrel racer Nikki Hansen (55.09 seconds on four runs), and bull rider Jeff Bertus (207 points on three head).
For more coverage of the RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, check out the Oct. 27 edition of ProRodeo Sports News.
Courtesy of PRCA