Three-peat: Nebraska cowboy wins third title at Buffalo Bill Rodeo; other champs determined in North Platte

North Platte, Neb. (June 20, 2026) –North Platte suits Garrett Shadbolt just fine.

For the third time in the last six years, the Merriman, Neb. cowboy has won the Buffalo Bill Rodeo.

His score of 87.5 points on the first night of rodeo, June 17, held through the field of 27 of bareback riders to best the field and win the buckle.

The 30-year-old won the rodeo in 2021 and 2022, setting an arena record in 2021 with a 90-point ride.

Prior to the Buffalo Bill Rodeo, he hadn’t been on a bucking horse since having hip surgery in early February to remove a bone spur.

And now he’s hitting the rodeo trail hard, making up for lost time, with the goal of qualifying for his fifth Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the PRCA’s world championship, held in December in Las Vegas.

Being on the road is good for his riding, he said.

“I ride the best when I’m riding every day. You get sharpened up and dialed in. I was nervous today (Wednesday). But I usually get nervous when I haven’t been on in a while, and frankly, if I don’t ride for a while, I stop craving it as much.”

There’s plenty of rodeo season yet for Shadbolt to make up ground and get back to the National Finals.

“Really, by the end of July, I’m usually at my peak, bareback riding-wise, because I’m in shape, I’m on a roll, and going every day. We’re going to try to get back to that.”

Steer wrestling

A win in North Platte puts Jacob Edler one step closer to leaving his day job and rodeoing full time, to make the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

The Alva, Oklahoma man won the steer wrestling aggregate at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo with a combined time of 11.3 seconds on two runs.

If the cards fall right, and he’s able to make enough money in the next few weeks rodeoing, he’ll hit the rodeo road full time, with the goal of qualifying for his second National Finals.

“I’m entered in Reno (Nevada), and over the Fourth of July,” he said. “I have a number in my head, and if I’m there with winnings, then we will press on.”

After Reno, he will compete in St. Paul, Oregon; Prescott, Arizona; Cody, Wyoming; and Oakley City, Utah, and if he’s won enough money, he’ll continue, with the goal of making the National Finals.

But there are plenty of expenses in rodeo; it is not usually a lucrative sport.

“Most people that end up with a million dollars after they get done rodeoing might have started with two million dollars,” he joked. 

The 2020 World Champion Steer Wrestler owns a tire shop in Alva, Oklahoma. He’s married to Moriah; they have a five-year-old daughter, Taylee.

For a Colorado cowgirl, a win in North Platte is a springboard to Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Madison Richmann, Keenesburg, Colo., won her event with a time of 2.4 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than the number two cowgirl, Ryen Sheppick.

The Buffalo Bill Rodeo was the last of 12 qualifying rodeos for the winners of the breakaway roping and barrel racing, so the 20-year-old cowgirl punched her ticket to Cheyenne.

“I entered North Platte, mostly because it was a qualifier,” she said. “Cheyenne is my favorite rodeo I’ve ever entered. It’s one of those staple rodeos to get into, and this is our last opportunity to get in.”

A student at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, she graduated with a communications degree but will return to Tarleton this fall to earn her masters.

Rodeoing in Texas has been good for the Colorado native.

“Going to Texas has made me better in so many ways. In Stephenville, I’m around every cowgirl who is entered in Cheyenne, who has been to the National Finals Breakaway Roping, and I’m roping against them every night. When I rope against them all summer, it doesn’t feel as intimidating. It’s made me better, for sure.”

She credits her family for helping her. Parents Justin and Shawnda Richmann and younger brother Rylan Richmann “supports me and helps me do this, because you can’t do it by yourself at all.”

Other champions at the 2026 Buffalo Bill Rodeo include team ropers Peyton Holliday, Chouteau, Okla. and Derrick Jantzen, Ames, Okla. (5.7 seconds); saddle bronc rider Kade Bruno, Challis, Idaho (88 points); tie-down roper JD McCuistion, Ft Collins, Colo. (22.2 seconds on 2 head); barrel racer Summer Kosel, Glenham, S.D. (17.31 seconds) and bull rider Raile Joens, Eagle Butte, S.D. (87.5 points).

During the rodeo, the 2026 Trail Boss Award was awarded to Butch Lehmkuhler of North Platte. A former North Platte High School teacher, he was a PRCA rodeo clown and bullfighter for 32 years, working rodeos from Texas to Canada and from Alaska to Hawaii. He was a five-time PRCA Clown of the Year, winning the award in 1989-91, 1993 and 1997, and was nominated as one of the top 5 PRCA Comedy Acts of the Year seven times. He worked the Wrangler Bullfights multiple times and was selected to work the 1990 National Finals Rodeo as a bullfighter. 

NebraskalandDays activities continue next week with a prime rib feed, cowboy kickball, Frontier Revue, and concerts by Treaty Oak Revival with special guests 49 Winchester and The Wilder Blue on June 26, and Zach Top with special guests Diamond Rio and Spencer Hatcher on June 27.

For more information, visit the website at NebraskalandDays.com

–Buffalo Bill Rodeo