Yellow Jacket Rodeo begins season with women’s team title and third place men’s finish at Falcon Frontier Days Rodeo

RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The Black Hills State University men’s and women’s rodeo teams made their 2026 debut this past weekend, making the trip east to the Falcon Frontier Days Rodeo hosted by the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The Yellow Jacket cowgirls came away from the rodeo with the team title via 600 points, while the cowboys finished third with 420 points for their best finish since the Mid-Plains Community College Stampede Rodeo in the fall of 2024. Bailey Verhulst led the way on the way with the women’s all-around title and goat tying title, one of three event titles as reigning regional barrel racing champion Jayda Reinert won the barrel racing title, and Hadly Erickson won the steer wrestling title.
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN’S RODEO
Hadly Erickson earned the title in steer wrestling in his Yellow Jacket debut, recording the fifth-fastest time in the long go with a time of 5.0 seconds and then a win in the short go with a time of 4.3 seconds. Overall, he notched a time of 9.3 seconds, the lone competitor with a sub-10 second time.
The Erickson brothers, Hadly Erickson and Burel Erickson, notched a third place finish in the team roping competition as they posted an overall time of 28.8 seconds. They earned the win in the long go with the fastest time of the round at 8.0 seconds, and they then secured the third-fastest time of the short go round at 20.8 seconds.
In his Black Hills State debut, Hadly Erickson finished third in the men’s all-around standings with 280 total points, 140 points from both steer wrestling and team roping.
HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN’S RODEO
Bailey Verhulst led a sweep of the top-3 placings in goat tying for Black Hills State, winning the event title with an overall time of 14.3 seconds, the lone competitor to record a sub-15 second time. She tied for the win in the long go with a time of 7.1 seconds and then followed it with a win in the short go with a time of 7.2 seconds. Earning a second place finish in the event was Teagan Homelvig with an overall time of 15.1 seconds. Homelvig posted times of 7.7 seconds, tying for the fourth-fastest time of the long go, and 7.4 seconds, the second-fastest of the short go. Cale Redlin recorded a third place finish in goat tying, notching an overall time of 15.2 seconds, as she tied for the fourth-fastest time of the long go at 7.7 seconds and followed with the third-fastest short go time at 7.5 seconds.
The quartet of Linley Schmitz, Kiera Mavity, Raylee Fagerhaug, and Kenzie Homelvig also placed in the goat tying competition, giving the Yellow Jackets seven of the top-12 in the event. Schmitz recorded an overall time of 16.4 seconds for sixth place with a long go time of 7.9 seconds and a short go time of 8.5 seconds, the sixth-fastest of the round. Mavity tied for the fastest-time of the long go with a time of 7.1 seconds, however, a short go time of 19.4 seconds brought her overall time to 26.5 seconds for ninth place. Both Fagerhaug and Homelvig recorded times of 8.0 in the long go and were unable to post times in the short go, resulting in a tie for 11th place in the event.
Kamry Davis earned points in the breakaway roping, winning the long go round with a time of 2.8 seconds; however, she was unable to post a time in the short go and finished fourth overall in the event.
Jayda Reinert, the reigning regional champion in barrel racing again showed that she was the top in the event in the region, winning the long go with a time of 15.64 seconds, the short go with a time of 15.60 seconds and the overall title with a time of 31.24 seconds. She finished 0.81 seconds ahead of second place.
Four additional BHSU barrel racers finished within the top-12, giving the team five of the top-9 competitors. Cienna McGuckin earned a fourth place finish in the event, recording an overall time of 32.27 seconds. McGuckin was fifth in the long go with a time of 15.99 seconds, and tied for sixth in the short go with a time of 16.28 seconds. Verhulst rounded out the top-5 in the event with an overall time of 32.29 seconds as she posted a run of 16.25 seconds in the long go and was second in the short go with a time of 16.04 seconds. Another returning national qualifier, Sierra Steele recorded an eighth place finish and overall time of 32.46 seconds as she was sixth in the long go with a time of 16.12 seconds and added a short go time of 16.34 seconds. Rounding out the Black Hills State barrel racers was Taylor Price in ninth as she recorded an overall time of 32.89 seconds with a long go time of 16.24 seconds and a short go time of 16.65 seconds.
Verhulst won the women’s all-around title with 245 overall points during the weekend, with 175 points by way of goat tying and 70 from barrel racing.
UP NEXT
The Black Hills State men’s and women’s rodeo teams are back in action beginning Thursday, September 17, through Saturday, September 19, as they compete in the Mid-Plains Community College Stampede. The stampede will be a double rodeo, the first only consisting of a long go on Thursday and Friday, while the second rodeo will consist of both the long go and short go on Friday and Saturday.

-Black Hills State University