It's not Fair week without a rodeo and Oneida County had two great nights of rodeo.  The Cowboy Classic Open Rodeo was in full swing Thursday and Friday nights of the Oneida County Fair with a lively buzz in the air.  From the rough stock provided by Diamond H Rodeo to announcer Monroe Magnuson to the cowboys and cowgirls of the performance, every bit of those rodeo nights was full of fun and excitement. 

The Oneida County royalty opened each rodeo with their grand entry performance that included royalty introductions, the singing of the National Anthem and a word of prayer before the night kicked off.  Friday night also included its traditional Parade of Champions where the grand and reserve champion market animals of each species made their way around the arena.  This year’s Parade of Champions included sheep grand champion Aubrey Schultz and reserve champion Alivia Waldon, hog grand champion Maclan Reeder and reserve champion Brooke Isaacson, and beef grand Champion Tayson Davis and reserve champion Justin Whittman.  

Some of Malad’s own cowboys and cowgirls put their hat in the ring to rope and ride at the hometown event, with a few even walking away with a little winnings.  Lincoln Reeder won the top spot of the bareback riding Friday night with his impressive 82 point ride.  Ashton Parker and his roping teammate, Colter Buttars, took third place in the open team roping with a time of 6.0 seconds.  Father-son duo, Tim and Bodee Ekstrom, took sixth place with their 9.03 second go in the #10 team roping.  Olin Hannnum walked away with a third place win in the steer wrestling with a 10.01 second run.  

   Both Thursday and Friday night included the fan favorite mutton busting.  The Oneida County Fair Board and Ron Keller Tire sponsored the event to give the winner the traditional belt buckle as well as a four foot tall trophy.  Trophies were additionally awarded to the second and third place winners.

Thursday night’s mutton busting winners were, in first place, Wade Eliason, second place Nicolas Waldron, and third place Kyler Blaisdell.  In the rodeo Friday night, first place went to Payzlee House, second place to Briggs Barnes and third place to Jackson Hannum.

The rodeo nights also featured a full lineup of steer riders, once again competing for the coveted belt buckle and trophies sponsored by the Oneida County Fair Board and Mountain States Insurance Group.  Rusty Foy earned first place to win the buckle and trophy in the Thursday night rodeo, with Bronson Smith taking second place.  There were no qualified rides for the Friday night rodeo.

 Following the rodeo Friday night was the annual concert and dance performed by Malad’s own Rough Stock.  Despite a little rain, everyone enjoyed ending the night with a little country music and dancing to their hometown country tunes.