COMPETITION UNDERWAY AT CALDWELL NIGHT RODEO

CALDWELL, Idaho (Aug 11, 2025) – While the first rodeo performance at the Caldwell Night Rodeo is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, August 12 at 8 p.m., competition at the D&B Supply Arena is well underway.

“Slack” started with Women’s Professional Rodeo Association barrel racing on Monday morning with Idaho’s own Anita Ellis taking the lead. Ellis who is a mom of four has found success this summer in big outdoor pens like at the Calgary Stampede and Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Apparently, her horse likes it here in Caldwell. Ellis has two standout mounts that she trained and competed at futurities on. She rode RV Two Dash Ta Vegas, “Axe” here and was one of three women to stop the clock under 17 seconds. Ellis had a time of 16.83 seconds followed by Hailey Kinsel for Cotulla, Texas with a 17.94.

Tyson Durfey has reinvigorated his rodeo career. The 2016 world champion retired from competition and was focused on raising a family, starting new businesses and training the next generation of rodeo athletes.

A health crisis saw him asking himself what he wished he would have done more of. At the bottom of that list was rodeo. After long talks with family and friends, he started getting ready to compete again.

That led to a championship at Cheyenne Frontier Days and now he is leading the tie-down roping at the Caldwell Night Rodeo with a time of 8.1 seconds with a half-second gap on the rest of the field.

The first full rodeo performance will start at D&B Supply Arena Tuesday night at 7:45 p.m. The rodeo honors first responders in the community.

CALDWELL, Idaho (Aug. 11, 2025) — The following are leaders after slack at the Caldwell Night Rodeo.

Barrel Racing: 1, Anita Ellis, Blackfoot, Idaho, 16.83 seconds. 2, Hailey Kinsel, Cotulla, Texas, 16.94. 3, Katie Halbert, Port Lavaca, Texas, 16.96. 4, Tayla Moeykens, Three Forks, Mont., 17.01. 5, Kassie Mowry, Dublin, Texas, 17.06. 6, Katelyn Scott, Odessa, Texas, 17.07.

Team Roping: 1, Devon Johnson, Red Oak, Texas, and Zane Pratt, Congress, Ariz., 4.3 seconds. 2, Ccyle Denison, Iowa, La., and Lane Mitchell, Bolivar, Tenn., 4.8. 3, Travis Whitlow, San Tan Valley, Ariz., and Tyler Shitlow, Kimberly, Idaho, 5.0. 4, Jayse Tettenhorst, Jacksonville, Texas, and Belden Cox, Weatherford, Texas, 5.3. 5, (tie) Luke Brannon, Eagle, Idaho and Zane Taylor, Burns, Ore.; and Chet Weitz, London, Texas, and Cory Petska, Marana, Ariz., 6.0 each.

Steer Wrestling: 1, Kyle Irwin, Westville, Fla., 4.1 seconds. 2, Bridger Anderon, Carrington, N.D., 4.2, 3, Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., 4.3. 4, (tie) Jace Melvin, Fort Pierre, S.D. and Mike McGinn, Haines, Ore., 4.5 each. 6, Ryan Shuckburgh, Innisfail, Alberta, and Quentin Wheeler, Baker, Mont., 4.7.

Breakaway Roping: 1, (tie) Bradi Good, Abilene, Texas, and Joey Williams, Volberg, Mont., 2.7 seconds each. 3, Aubryn Bedke, Oakley, Idaho, 2.9. 4, Sawyer Gilbert, Buffalo, S.D., 2.9. 5, (tie) Martha Angelone, Stephenville, Texas; Brittany Truman, Parma, Idaho; Carly Christian, Oakley, Idaho; and Rheagan Cotton, Fairfield, Texas, 3.0.

Tie-Down Roping: 1, Tyson Durfey, Brock, Texas, 8.1 seconds. 2, Hagen Houck, Henrietta, Texas, 8.6. 3, Preston Pederson, Hermiston, Ore., 8.9. 4, Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., 9.1. 5, Brey Yore, Rupert, Idaho and Tom Crouse, Gallatin, Mo., 9.2 each.