Back in the saddle: Riders happy to compete again, enjoy big crowd

The dust finally settled after a week filled with cars smashing, bulls bucking and crowds cheering as the 2021 Moses Lake Roundup rodeo and Northwest Ag Demolition Derby come to a close at the Grant County Fairgrounds.

Top competitors in numerous events from around the country made the trip to Moses Lake for the annual rodeo event. Josh Frost, of Randlett, Utah, took the top spot in bull riding for the weekend with a total score of 90.0. Second place was a tie between Boudreaux Campbell and Billy Quillan.

Molly Otto, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, nabbed the first-place purse in barrel racing with a time of 16.93 seconds. Just behind her finished Lisa Lockhart and Ivy Saebens, taking second and third place, respectively, with times of 16.94 and 16.95.

Ty Harris and Hunter Herrin tied for the top finish in tie down roping with a time of 7.8 seconds. Cory Solomon, of Prairie View, Texas, finished third. In saddle bronc riding, Dawson Hay finished first with a score of 87.0 followed by a tie for second with Layton Green and Leon Fountain.

Orin Larsen grabbed the top spot in bareback riding, followed by Taylor Broussard in second and Bill Tutor in third place.

In team roping, there was a tie between Rhen Richard/Jeremy Buhler and Britt Smith/Jake Smith for first place with a time of 4.6 seconds. Dustin Egusquiva/Travis Graves took third place.

In steer wrestling, Tanner Brunner, of Ramona, Kansas, tied for first place with Laramie Warren, of Oklahoma, with a time of 3.4 seconds. Following in third place was Joe Nelson with a time of 3.7.

The final night of the rodeo, Saturday, kicked off with the crowd-favorite Mutton Bustin’ event, featuring young riders doing their best to hang on to their sheep as they left the shoot.

Brittney Ketterer said she and her son Hunter Ketterer watched Mutton Bustin’ videos on YouTube for about three weeks ahead of his first time competing in the event.

“He’s been very excited, he’s been riding dad’s back as practice,” Ketterer said.

Ketterer said Hunter told her as they entered the arena that she wasn’t allowed to hold his hand as he aimed to “amp himself up” before the event. Afterwards, she said there were no tears even after falling off the sheep.

When asked if he’d be back again next year, she responded simply, “Oh, yes.”

Bodee Lammers, of Stephenville, Texas, was the lone bareback riding competitor on Saturday night in his first trip to the Moses Lake Roundup. Lammers said this was his second year competing in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.

In his first trip to Moses Lake to compete, he said it’s been a really cool experience, and having a packed house wasn’t bad at all. Lammers said the Moses Lake Roundup committee has made things easy for competitors.

“I don’t have to worry about anything. The committee people are super nice, super helpfu — ask if you need anything,” Lammers said. “They kind of take worries away from you, and all you have to do is worry about doing your job in the arena.”

Getting back into a more normal schedule this summer after many events were canceled last summer has been nice, he said. All the committees at rodeos he’s been to have been working hard to put on the best events possible, he said.

“I’m just grateful,” Lammer said.

Trevor Reiste, of Linden, Iowa, has been to Moses Lake for the Roundup rodeo a few times. After having so much time away from competing, Reiste said it took a little time to get back into the swing of things.

“It was kind of tough at the start, because I was almost still knocking the rust off after having almost a full year off. So now that we’re back and going almost every day, it feels good, feels normal,” Reiste said.

Competing in front of a big crowd like the one at the Grant County Fairgrounds on Saturday night and hearing the crowd cheering helped amp up competitors. He said it makes a rider perform just a little bit better.

Reiste said Mike Cory, who provided the livestock for the rodeo competition, put together a really good set of bulls for riders.

“He loves his bull riding, so he works hard at it and we really appreciate what he does,” Reiste said.

More photos from the rodeo can be found here.