ESTES PARK, Colo. – For many ProRodeo cowboys, a trip to this scenic community is a break from the monotony of the road and the heat of the summer.

That’s really not the case for Jace Logan. He lives in the Rocky Mountain town of Yampa, Colorado, only 130 miles west of Estes Park. Through the winding roads in between, it takes better than three hours to make his way to Rooftop Rodeo, where he competed during Thursday’s second performance.

He took the steer wrestling lead after a 4.9-second run. He will return to town Sunday night to make his second-round run and hope that he fits in the money somewhere along the way.

“We knew coming in it was a fresh set of steers,” said Logan, a 21-year-old cowboy in his fourth year competing in the PRCA. “Just watching the other guys, you see (the steers) were hesitating a little bit, so first things first, you’ve got to score sharp, then it was a matter of setting up your run.”

He did that and did it well, with the assistance of his two partners: Hazer Jesse Jolly and Logan’s horse, Sparky.

“I take a lot of pride in him,” he said. “We raised him from a colt. I’ve done all the training on him. It’s a process.”

It’s one that seems to be working for the Colorado cowboy. He’ll continue to keep himself busy competing at rodeos in the Mountain States Circuit, a region made up of contestants and rodeos primarily in Colorado and Wyoming.

“I’ll mainly be circuit rodeoing,” Logan said. “I want to do well in the circuit and hopefully crack the top 50 and go from there.”

The top 50 is magical in rodeo, because it allows contestants to advance to the big building rodeos that begin in January. Those typically offer big purses and can set up a cowboy’s season.

“This is one of the top circuit rodeos,” he said. “A lot of the other guys that are rodeoing hard stop through here. Hopefully my time holds up and sets me up for that second run.”

Rooftop Rodeo
July 6-11
Bareback riding: 1. Tyler Griffin, 83.5 points on Cervi’s Silence of the Lambs; 2. Luke Thrash, 80; 3. Will Lowe, 79; 4. Casey Colletti, 78; 5. Mark Kreder, 73.5; 6. Grant Worthington, 67; no other qualified rides.

Steer wrestling: 1. Jace Logan, 4.9 seconds; 2. Cody Pratt, 5.0; 3. Chisum Docheff, 5.2; 4. Hadley Jackson, 5.7; 5. Marc Joiner, 6.0; 6. Cole Trainor, 6.9; 7. Matt Jodie, 7.0; 8. Talon Roseland, 8.5.  

Team roping: 1. Eric Martin/Ryon Tittel, 5.9 seconds; 2. Jake Deveraux/Quincy Reynolds, 6.2; 3. Paul Beckett/Jesse Jolly, 6.3; 4. (tie) Kellan Johnson/Carson Johnson and J.C. Yeahquo/L.J. Yeahquo, 9.3; 6. Tanner Tomlinson/Patrick Smith, 10.2; 7. Brooks Dahozy/Seth Hall, 14.6; 8. Jaden Coseo/Ty Eeverson, 19.7.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. Ross Griffin, 85 points on Cervi’s Two Cookies; 2. Houston Brown, 83; 3. Jake Watson, 82.5; 4. (tie) Brody Cress and Will Pollock, 81; 6. Lefty Holman, 80; 7. Alan Gobert, 79.5; 8. Chris Williams, 78.5.

Tie-down roping: 1. Ryan Thibodeaux, 9.4 seconds; 2. Seth Hall, 10.9; 3. 3. Kaiai Nobriga, 11.2; 4. Zaine Mikita, 11.3; 5. Pryce Harris, 11.4; 6. Gavin Liggett, 11.5; 7. Cash Enderli, 11.7; 8. Chance Derner, 11.9.

Barrel racing: 1. Carly Cervi, 16.67 seconds; 2. Kathryn Varian, 16.62; 3. Elizabeth Ellis, 16.67; 4. Kaycee Willbanks Colletti, 16.70; 5. Wendy Hoefer, 16.74; 6. Leslie Smalygo, 16.85; 7. Chris Gibson, 16.93; 8. Latricia Mundorf, 16.98; 9. Kelly Kennedy-Joseph, 17.02; 10. Carlee Otero, 17.13.

Bull riding: 1. Jesse Flores, 87 points on Cervi’s Skim Walker; 2. Koby Radley, 82; 3. Jeff Askey, 78.5; 4. Corye Daily, 70; no other qualified rides.