Olson Brothers Go 2-for-2 in Minot
by Jim Bainbridge | Oct 07, 2016
By Ruth Nicolaus/for the RAM Badlands Circuits Rodeo committee
MINOT, N.D. – For Jordan Olson and Logan Olson, it was déjà vu all over again in Minot, N.D.
The brothers, team ropers and natives of Flandreau, S.D., won the first round of the RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo on Oct. 6, then repeated the feat the next night, winning the second round with a time of 4.6 seconds.
With the small indoor arena at the State Fair Center, the two came out swinging.
“We saw the steers go last night,” Jordan said, “so we had a pretty good idea for what our steers were going to be. With that kind of a set-up, if you take a step back and try to be conservative, it makes it real hard. Our game plan has always been, be smart and be aggressive.”
The two brothers, Jordan the elder by sixteen months, came into the RAM Badlands Circuit Finals in 10th place. They know they won’t be able to overtake the number one team, J.B. Lord and Levi Lord, so their hope is to win the average at the Finals to earn a trip to the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla., next spring.
Jordan gave a nod to younger brother Logan, the header of the pair. “The header is the quarterback of the team, and he sets the pace, and he’s obviously done a great job of doing what he does. It’s worked out well.”
The two spend their summers with their wives and daughters at the family ranch where they were raised, near Flandreau; the winters are spent in the south, with Jordan living in Surprise, Ariz., and Logan in Stephenville, Texas. During the summers, they help their parents with ranch work. The cousins, Jordan’s daughter, who is seven, and Logan’s, who is eight, are “best friends,” Jordan said. “They could be sisters.”
The brothers choose to rodeo in the Badlands Circuit, in part because of the payout of the Circuit Finals in Minot. “That’s part of the reason this circuit is a really great circuit for us. For one, we grew up here and this is where our families are from. But this also is the best circuit. The Y’s (YMCA) Men have done a tremendous job of taking this from the ninth best-paying circuit out of twelve, to the first. This is the best.”
Winning a round in Minot earns a cowboy $1,730, which is also a big incentive. “There’s not too many rodeos that pay $1,700 a round,” Logan said, “and you only compete against 11 other teams.” The Olsons won the 2015 Badlands Circuit Finals average.
Another South Dakota native won his event in Minot on Friday night.
Saddle bronc rider Cole Elshere was 85 points on Sutton Rodeo’s South Point to win the second round of the Circuit Finals.
Elshere split second place on Thursday night, and holds the lead in the average. Chuck Schmidt maintains his first place ranking in the circuit, more than $8,000 ahead of the number two man, Ty Manke. “Chuck had a great year and came in with a lead that nobody could catch. So we’re all fighting for the average and congratulating Chuck on a good year,” Elshere said.
Elshere is also riding bulls this year, and qualified for the Badlands Circuit Finals in that event as well, but hasn’t made the eight second buzzer in the first two rounds.
Other winners of the second round of action included bareback rider Blake Smith, Zap, N.D. (83.5 points), steer wrestler Chason Floyd, Buffalo, S.D. (4.4 seconds) barrel racers Jana Griemsman, Piedmont, S.D. and Nikki Hansen, Dickinson, N.D. (13.88 seconds each), and bull rider Ardie Maier, Timber Lake, S.D. (81 points).
Before the rodeo started, a big check made out for $55,335 was presented to the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign. That represents the monies raised for this year of the campaign, with all funds going to the Trinity Health Cancer Exercise Rehab Center. Since the program began 10 years ago, a total of $631,587 has been raised. Myron Feist, a cancer survivor and a member of the Minot Y’s Men, presented the check to Russell Gust, exercise physiologist for the Exercise Rehab Center.
The third performance of the 2016 RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 8, with the fourth and final performance on Oct. 9. Tickets are available online and at the State Fair Center prior to the rodeo. Full rodeo results are posted on www.ProRodeo.com. Additional rodeo information can be found at MinotYsMensRodeo.com.
Courtesy of PRCA