Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Farmer's Union Insurance
605 Sports
Years of hard work has Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo joining the ranks of other top roughstock producers in the state
A rider competes at the Kadoka Buffalo Stampede Rodeo on June 27.
Matt Gade/605 Sports
Jul 16, 2025
 

By Matt Gade

605 Sports

WALL — Since he was a little kid, rodeo is all Chancey Wilson has really known.

Growing up on a ranch outside of Scenic and graduating from Wall High School, the rodeos nestled in the Badlands have a little extra meaning for the 44-year-old roughstock producer. 

“I'll always stay loyal to them,” Wilson said of the rodeos in Kadoka, Interior and Wall. “They're the ones that built me. So to me, you got to build your community help. Help your communities grow as well. 

“Like Wall here, it's their town celebration and everybody comes to town and celebrates. I think it’s 118 years this year and it means a lot to the community, and it means a lot to me to be able to come and be able to keep these celebrations alive.”

In South Dakota, names like Sutton Rodeo and Korkow Rodeos are synonymous with world-class roughstock and Wilson considers it a privilege to have his roughstock compete alongside them.

“It's been really honoring to work the rodeo with some of the legends of rodeo,” Wilson said.

Wilson said he just wants to provide competitors with the best roughstock possible and getting to partner up with some of those, such as Sutton and Korkow or Harper and Morgan Rodeo, among others.

“We're pretty fortunate around here. I think competition, even in the rodeo business, is good because it teaches when one person has a good set of bucking horses, the next guy wants to breed and make his herd just as good, and it's only better. It only benefits rodeo,” Wilson said. It just makes it where the cowboys want to come because they know they have an opportunity to win.”

So far, Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo, which was established in 2019, has featured its roughstock all over the country, including at the National Finals Rodeo. 

Chancey Wilson, left, of Muddy Creek Rodeo has fun while working the Kadoka Buffalo Stampede Rodeo. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

Before it was Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo, Wilson and his family worked smaller rodeos such as South Dakota Rodeo Association rodeos and other more regional events, but the opportunity in 2019 to grow the roughstock operation by purchasing another herd out of Louisiana and partnering up with Circle 9 Cattle Company out of Newcastle, Wyoming was one Wilson couldn’t pass up.

“We partnered with the Podio family out of Newcastle, and their great bull breeding program. And without them, it wouldn't have been possible either. I mean, it takes both the bulls and the horses and it's kind of worked, and we've got, it's been a good partnership.”

Heading into the weekend, Wilson and Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo will run livestock for the Burke Stampede Rodeo beginning Thursday and runs through Saturday.

“This is our busy time,” Wilson said of the summer time. “We come home for a day or two, and we'll go straight to Burke. The horses will leave from Wall and go right to Burke. We love going to Burke. Burke's great community, with a really great rodeo committee. And from Burke, we'll go to Gordon, Nebraska.”

While the rodeo season is in full swing, joining Wilson on his journeys this summer are his three kids.

“I made a deal with my kids, because they love rodeo too, and as long as they kept A's and B's, they could rodeo right with us. And my kids took it to heart,” he said. “They kept A's and B's all year long, so they could go to California and Nevada and Montana and Texas and everywhere else we go.”