Favorite rodeo

ST PAUL – Good things come in pairs, and that’s what Jacob Lees hopes will happen.

The Idaho cowboy took the lead in the bareback riding after the July 4 evening performance of the St. Paul rodeo.

He was aboard Mustard, the same horse that was ridden for the bareback win last year, owned by Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics.

And he scored the same number of points, 88, as last year’s champion, Cole Reiner.

The horse “knew what he was doing,” Lees said, “and I just had to go out and do the same thing. Hopefully it turns out to win or place well.”

Lees, who grew up in Caldwell but now lives in Texas, makes a point of coming to the rodeo, billed as the Nation’s Greatest Fourth of July rodeo, each year.

“It’s my favorite rodeo out of all the Fourth of July rodeos,” he said. “They get so patriotic, the crowd’s so into it, it’s a great historical arena, and it’s been going on a long time.

“I could go on and on about this rodeo.”

In the tie-down roping, a world champion has taken the lead in the first round of the rodeo.

Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont., the 2019 world champion, had a time of 8.3 seconds in the July 4 matinee.

“It was a good run,” he said.

It was time for a change, he said. He won about $25,000 at rodeos in Ponoka, Alberta and Williams Lake, B.C., but hadn’t done well in the States.

“I had a really good Canada last week,” he said, but it’s been pretty slow here, at the first four rodeos I’ve been to.”

Meged won the St. Paul Rodeo in 2021 and was runner-up the next year.

He’s currently ranked sixth in the PRCA world standings.

He is married to Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, the reigning world champion WPRA breakaway roper; she competed in the same performance, turning in a time of 3.1 seconds.

Not all PRCA rodeos include the breakaway roping as one of their events, so the Megeds can’t travel together to rodeos. But Haven will ride with Shelby for the next few days, heading to their next rodeo, Basin City, Wash., tomorrow.

Other fast times and high scores from the days’ two performances are steer wrestler Talon Roseland, Marshalltown, Iowa (3.8 seconds in the second round); bull rider Chase Dougherty, Canby, Ore. (83 points); breakaway roper Aspen Miller, Santa Fe, Texas (2.2 seconds); saddle bronc rider Zac Dallas, Las Cruces, N.M. (85 points); team ropers Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Ga. and Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prudente, Brazil; and Devon McDaniel, Caldwell, Idaho and Walt Woodard, Stephenville, Texas (5.4 seconds for both teams); and barrel racer Shelley Morgan, Eustace, Texas (17.51 seconds.)

The fifth performance of the St. Paul Rodeo takes place July 5, with the final performance on July 6. Shows begin at 7:30 pm nightly. The rodeo is broadcast live on The Cowboy Channel.

For more information, visit the website .

Results from the third and fourth performances, St. Paul Rodeo, July 4, 2024

Bareback Riding

1. Jacob Lees, Caldwell, Idaho 88 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Mustard; 2. Dean Thompson, Altamont, Utah 86; 3. (tie) Rocker Steiner, Weatherford, Texas, Jacek Frost, Browns Valley, Calif. and Waylon Bourgeois, Church Point, La. 84.5 each.

Steer wrestling

1st round fast times:

1. Marc Joiner, Loranger, La. 4.2 seconds; 2. Cody Devers, Perryton, Texas 4.4; 3. Joseph Guze, Drayton Valley, Alb. 4.7; 4. Cash Robb, Altamont, Utah 4.9.

2nd round fast times:

1. Talon Roseland, Marshalltown, Iowa 3.8 seconds; 2. Jacob Talley, Keatchie, La. 4.2; 3. Darcy Kersh, Charters Towers, Australia 4.3; 4. Ty Bauerle, Jourdanton, Texas 4.4.

Bull riding

1. Chase Dougherty, Canby, Ore. 83 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Lapua; 2. Levi Gray, Dairy, Ore. 80; 3. Lane Vaughn, Klamath Falls, Ore. 77.5; 4.Marco Antonio Juarez, Anthony, N.M. 76.

Tie-down roping

1st round fast times:

1. Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. 8.3 seconds; 2. Lane Livingston, Seymour, Texas 10.2; 3. Bryce Derrer, Portales, N.M. 15.9; 4. Trevor Hale, Perryton, Texas 18.0.

2nd round fast times:

1. Brushton Minton, Witter Springs, Calif. 7.6 seconds; 2. Dylan Hancock, San Angelo, Texas 8.1; 3. Westyn Hughes, Caldwell, Texas 8.6; 4. Lane Livingston, Seymour, Texas 9.3.

Breakaway roping

1. Aspen Miller, Santa Fe, Texas 2.2 seconds; 2. Martha Angelone, Stephenville, Texas 2.6; 3. Shaya Biever, Claresholm, Alb. 2.9; 4. Cheyanne McCartney, Kingston, Okla. 3.0.

Saddle bronc riding

1. Zac Dallas, Las Cruces, N.M. 85 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Outclassed; 2. Tyrel Roberts, Charlie Lake, B.C. 83; 3. (tie) Riggin Smith, Winterset, Iowa and Tim Ditrich, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho 80.5 each.

Team roping

1st round fast times

1. Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Ga./Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prudente, Brazil 4.8 seconds; 2. Hagen Peterson, Delta, Utah/Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont. 6.2; 3. Hank Thompson, Goldendale, Wash./Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. 6.7; no other qualified runs.

2nd round fast times

1. (tie) Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Ga./Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prudente, Brazile and Devon McDaniel, Caldwell, Idaho/Walt Woodard, Stephenville, Texas 5.4 seconds each;

3. Bryan Reay, Caldwell, Idaho/Brent Falon, Yakima, Wash. 14.9; 4. Ben Jordan, Benjamin, Utah/JR Gonzales, Maypearl, Texas 20.0.

Barrel racing

1. Shelley Morgan, Eustace, Texas 17.51 seconds; 2. Kathy Petska, Turlock, Calif. 17.87; 3. (tie) Jordan Minor, Hermiston, Ore. and Rainy Robinson, Caldwell, Idaho 17.88 each.

** All results are unofficial. For more information, visit www.StPaulRodeo.com .