Circuit Finals Personnel
Bob Tallman
Announcer
Bob Tallman has called the action at 17 of the last 18 Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeos.
His warm, personable approach to announcing has brought the action to millions of people across North America.
Growing up a buckaroo in Nevada, he tried his hand at golf before switching to rodeo in high school.
He’s announced rodeos since 1969, telling stories about the sport and its athletes, and making fans feel like he’s their new best friend.
Bob was on the ground floor of creating the circuit system in 1975, and he believes in it. “I’m big on the circuit system. It’s a valuable piece of real estate. For the guys who have a ranch, a job, a family, and can’t rodeo fulltime, it gives them a chance to compete for a million dollars at the NFR Open.”
The Badlands Circuit Finals are special to him, he said. “I like the people up north. It’s old school rodeo with new school production.”
Garrison Allen
Co-Announcer
Garrison Allen will announce his fourth Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo this year, alongside co-announcer Bob Tallman.
The Oelrichs, S.D. man loves working his home circuit.
“It’s the fact that I live in the Badlands Circuit, and I get to know all the people, the contestants and the contractors, and it really does feel like family when you show up.”
He also loves the format of the circuit finals, with the contestants being in town for all three performances and bringing their families along.
“It feels like a family celebration.”
Garrison is honored to work alongside PRCA Hall of Famer Bob Tallman.
“The way Bob can articulate things and notice details, it turns me into a fan,” he said. “I find myself not remembering I have a microphone in my hand. The work between us is so easy and so much fun.”
In his spare time, Garrison likes to golf and hunt.
He married his wife, Alyssa Lockhart Allen, in 2023. His mother-in-law, Lisa Lockhart, is a multi-time Badlands Circuit Finals barrel racer, so she comes to Minot along with her husband Grady.
“The whole family comes and has fun.”
Dalton Morris
Rodeo Clown and Barrelman
When he was three years old, Dalton Morris knew what his career path would be.
The son and grandson of rodeo performers who trick rode, roman rode, and trick roped, he was at a rodeo when the rodeo clown pulled up.
“My eyes got big,” he said, “and I thought, I want to do that.”
Three decades later, that’s what he’s doing.
The Odessa, Missouri man will entertain at this year’s Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo with his own brand of comedy, as well as trick roping and a fire whip act.
Even in high school, his career path was lining up.
In English class, students had to do a senior project, which included learning a new skill and writing a paper on it. So Dalton, who was already interested in rodeo and roping, learned to trick rope.
He had been failing English class, but his trick roping senior project turned around his grade. “I ended up getting an A on that class,” he said. “Now I’m making a living and making people smile.”
Dalton works between 35-40 events a year. When he’s not working, he loves to golf, hike and ride his one-wheel around towns, checking out trails, and getting to know the towns he’s visiting.
Jersey Jake Ostrum
Music Director
“Jersey Jake” Ostrum returns as the 2026 music director for the circuit finals rodeo.
The New Jersey native has been spinning the tunes for rodeos since 2007, and last year, was one of the top 5 nominated in the PRCA for Music Director of the Year.
His music career began as a band member, playing in a cover band in New Jersey as the lead singer and guitar player. He later went to California, where he played in a band as the guitar and bass player.
He works rodeos across the country, from Rodeo Rapid City to the Days of ’47 in Salt Lake City. Last year was his first year at the Badlands Circuit Finals, and he loved it. “Everybody was so appreciative of everything, from the contestants to the contract personnel. Everybody had a good time.
“I loved the hospitality at the circuit finals, and it was great competition.”
He loves coming to North Dakota and South Dakota.
“I love rodeoing in the Dakotas. There’s good talent, good people, and good steak.”
He is married to Jessica; they have two sons: Austin and JJ.
Ely Sharkey
Bullfighter
Another first-timer will work at the North Dakota State Fair Center in Minot for the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo.
Ely Sharkey, Granbury, Texas, is one of two bullfighters for the 2026 circuit finals.
The 31-year-old started his bullfighting career as a freestyle bullfighter, qualifying for the Bull Fighters Only Finals nine times and finishinf in the top five three times. Nine years ago he got his PRCA card and his work as cowboy protection – protecting bull riders – began. Now he works more PRCA rodeos and fewer bullfights.
Ely will work alongside fellow bullfighter Beau Schueth. Ely grew up near Ainsworth, Nebraska and Beau grew up in O’Neill Nebraska, just 65 miles apart. They didn’t know each other at the time, but they are good friends now.
“Only two guys get to go to circuit finals,” Sharkey said, “so it’s pretty awesome to be chosen. And to get to fight it with one of my best friends makes it even better.”
Beau Schueth
Bullfighter
For the second consecutive year, Beau Schueth was selected as one of the bullfighters at the Badlands Circuit Finals.
The Douglas, Wyoming cowboy, born and raised in O’Neill, Nebraska, began his rodeo career working the regional rodeos in Nebraska and the surrounding states before becoming a freestyle bullfighter. He was reserve champion at the 2018 and 2020 BFO. He switched to cowboy protection – protecting bull riders at rodeos – four years ago.
Beau considers it an honor to be voted by the bull riders to work the circuit finals.
“To have the bull riders trust me, is huge. To have the bull riders trust you with their lives, and especially at the circuit finals, that they have worked so hard to get to, means the world.
“When they can look out those slats (on the chute gates) while they’re tying their hand in, they don’t have anything extra to worry about. That’s the biggest compliment to me.”
Beau and his wife Nikki, a schoolteacher, have two sons under the age of three.
In addition to the Badlands Circuit Finals, Beau has also worked the Turquoise Circuit Finals and the Columbia River Circuit Finals.
Brandon Hatzenbuhler
Pickup Man
Brandon Hatzenbuhler will work the Badlands Circuit Finals for the first time in his rodeo career.
The Solon, North Dakota man has been picking up for the last 22 years, having got his start through his brother-in-law, who picked up for Steve Waagen. “He asked if I wanted to go with him, I went and tried it, had a blast, and the rest is history,” Brandon said.
He and his family, including wife Lacey, daughter Dylan, and sons Kord and Tee, go with him much of the summer. Daughter Dylan is a big help, Brandon said. “She’ll help saddle, put leggings on, warm up horses, feed and water, and have them there for us to switch” during the rodeo. “She’s better help than ninety percent of the men. She’s a horse fanatic.”
All three kids compete in youth rodeo. Dylan is a junior high school breakaway roper; Kord is a junior high school bull rider, and Tee is a steer rider.
Brandon said it’s an honor to be selected to work the circuit finals. “It’s a blessing. We have some of the best pickup men in the world in our circuit, so getting this is an honor.”
TK Sampson
Pickup Man
This isn’t TK Sampson’s first trip to the Badlands Circuit Finals, but it’s his first time behind the scenes.
The Interior, South Dakota qualified for the circuit finals eight times in the bareback riding in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and this year, has been selected to pick up at the finals.
After his rodeo career ended, he began picking up, first at regional rodeos, then at PRCA rodeos. “Chancy Wilson took me on,” he said, “and helped me get started with the pros.”
He and his wife Lacy and sons Cooper and Kace and step-daughter Cece Cowan raise horses and cattle.
He was delighted to be chosen to work the Badlands Circuit Finals.
“I’m tickled pink,” he said. “It’s a great honor to get selected to do it.”
Val Lundquist
Secretary
It was an ad in the Pro Rodeo Sports News that got Val Lundquist into rodeo.
When the Gary, South Dakota woman babysat for the neighbor kids as a youth, she saw an ad for rodeo secretary school in the Sports News.
She had grown up competing in 4-H horse shows, but knew she’d never be able to own a barrel horse.
So she attended the school, was hired by Julie Sutton in 1992, and has never looked back.
This is her third time to be secretary at the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, having worked it as assistant secretary in 2023 and as secretary the next two years.
But this isn’t her first time behind the scenes at the circuit finals. She timed the circuit finals a dozen times in the 1990s-2000s, and she has been secretary, assistant secretary, and timer for the Great Lakes Circuit Finals. She also was selected to time the National Circuit Finals Rodeo in 2003.
When Val isn’t on the rodeo road, she is assistant finance officer and zoning official for the city of Clear Lake, South Dakota.
She loves to sing and has sung the national anthem at a few events. She also plays the trumpet at special occasions like Easter morning and Taps for veterans’ funerals.
She loves meeting new people and seeing old friends. Having been a secretary for 34 years, she’s seeing the next generations come through the sport. “I am starting to see the kids of the contestants I knew in my early years,” she said.
Val loves the Badlands Circuit. “We have some of the best contestants out there. They qualify for the finals in every event of the sport. We have talented athletes.”
Jackie Jensen
Photographer
Jackie Jensen loves to capture memories with her camera.
The Winnett, Mont. woman is behind the lens at the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, creating pictures of the moments.
She got her start when her mother gave her a point and shoot camera, instructing her to take pictures of her sisters in college rodeo.
Since then, she has never stopped taking pictures.
She does more than capture rodeo moments. She takes high school basketball and high school senior pictures, as well as weddings, many of them of rodeo contestants that she’s met on the road.
She describes her work as telling stories.
“I am by nature a storyteller. I get to shine a light on those, who, when they’re grandparents, will tell a story and have the pictures to prove it. And their grandchild will say, ‘Wow! That was you?’
A story’s just a story till there’s a picture to prove it.”
When she’s not taking pictures, she’s helping around the family ranch, calving out heifers, feeding, branding, and shipping.
Jackie appreciated the family atmosphere at the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo last year.
“It has the most fun contestants to cheer for. It’s the family atmosphere, and you have grandparents cheering for grandkids, and moms and dads doing everything they can to help each other, or their kids, compete.
“It’s about as wholesome an atmosphere as you can get. It’s a family.”
Kim Sutton and Amy Sutton-Muller
Timer
A mother-daughter duo will handle the timing duties at this year’s Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo.
Kim Sutton, Onida, S.D., and Amy Sutton-Muller, Agar, S.D., will run the stopwatches at the rodeo, recording the data from each run.
Kim timed her first rodeo with her mother-in-law, Julie Sutton, in 1983. Her inaugural year of timing the Badlands Circuit Finals was in 1985, and she estimates she’d worked the rodeo at least two dozen times.
Daughter Amy was first selected in 2008, and has worked it more than ten times.
For Amy, the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo is special.
“It’s a celebration of everything that our circuit members have accomplished throughout the year,” she said.
The circuit finals is a slower pace, too.
“We spend several days enjoying the camaraderie of our rodeo family,” Amy said, “rather than seeing one another only in passing at individual rodeos, or scattered across different locations and different rodeo performances.”
The circuit finals “celebrates the accomplishments the contestants have worked so hard to achieve,” she said. “It gives them a stage specifically to recognize their year-end success and allows their families, friends and fans to be part of the celebration. That’s what makes the Badlands Circuit Finals so special.”
Both women have been recognized at the nation-wide level. Kim has been chosen to time the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo seven times; Amy has worked the National Finals three times. Amy has also timed the National Finals Breakaway Roping once.
Kim is married to Steve; in addition to Amy, they have sons Brent and Brice and seven grandchildren.
Amy is married to Steven; they have a son, age 13, and a daughter, age 9.
Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo
October 9 -11, 2026 – ND State Fair, Minot, ND
Get in touch with us
Quick Links
Circuit Finals Rodeo
Vendor Trade Show
Get Involved
Badlands Circuit Rodeos