Logan Olson and Jade Nelson won the first two rounds and placed in the third to pocket $9,408 enroute to the 2025 Badlands Circuit Finals average title.
Nelson broke his back at the beginning of August and wasn’t sure if he would be able to rope in time for the circuit finals, much less hold on for a top 12 spot. The season ended at the end of September, and doctors gave him the green light to ease back into riding Oct. 1. With 15 minutes of riding a day and reps on the dummy, he slowly but surely prepared for the trip to Minot, North Dakota.
“Once they let me in there, I was just happy I got to go, honestly,” the 33-year-old from Midland, South Dakota, said. “I didn’t know if I was going to be healed up. I had run about eight steers, and I wasn’t just super comfortable; I was a little nervous. But I knew all I had to do for Logan was catch two feet and we’d win money.”
Once they made it to Minot, the longtime friends put the pedal down, winning the first round with a 4.8-second run worth $2,595 apiece.
“The cattle were great,” Olson, 45, of Flandreau, South Dakota, said. “There wasn’t a steer in there you couldn’t place in the round on. In the first round, we had a steer that was strong, and we kind of knew him, but with the first run on him, you’re not really sure. I thought that was the one we got by, just because he was strong and I missed the barrier a little bit. But I thought we made a really good run on him.”
From there, they tied for the win in Round 2 with a 5.1-second run for $2,271 a man and held on for the last hole in Round 3 with a 5.7-second run, worth $649 a man.
Olson came into the circuit finals ranked No. 4, while Nelson snuck in at No. 12. Neither roped with a consistent partner all year but still made the finals.
“I didn’t want to rodeo as much, and there are so many circuit rodeos anymore,” Nelson said. “I just entered the rodeos I wanted to go to, and that’s kind of what Logan did. There were a couple of headers at the circuit finals that didn’t necessarily have a full-time partner, and I knew Logan didn’t have a partner. He just called me and said, ‘I hope you get in because we need to rope.’ Once I got in, we planned on roping once I made it.”
Olson was aboard DMO Onas Gotta Gun, or “Harley,” an 8-year-old sorrel mare he and his family raised—one his wife used to run barrels on.
“She’s just really easy,” Olson said. “She scores great every time and just never really takes anything away from you. She doesn’t get quick, and she’s really, really honest.”
For Nelson, it was three-time Badlands Circuit Finals Heel Horse of the Year Stylish Look, or “Ray,” his 15-year-old gelding he knew he could trust after his injury.
“Once I broke my back, I just had a couple people exercise him,” Nelson explained. “He’s pretty simple; you just ride him, and he’s easy to heel on.”
