The 2024 Wilderness Circuit Finals yielded familiar champions, with year-end Champion Addy Hill claiming her fourth-ever circuit title while Zoie Bedke scooped up title No. 2—this time in the average.
Hill finished the year with a personal best of $20,578 in circuit earnings, while Bedke caught three head in 9.2 seconds for the average Championship.
Wilderness Circuit Year-End Champion: Addy Hill
It turns out the fourth Circuit Title is just as sweet, with Hill adding a 2024 year-end Championship to her pile. She won both the year-end and average titles in 2022, and the year-end title in 2020.
What was different about this year, though, was the fact she finished with $20,578 in earnings. To make the number even more eyebrow raising was the fact that Hill won all of that money in the regular season—striking out at the Circuit Finals.
“I think a lot of my [strengths in roping] comes from the fact I rope year-round, and not just breakaway. My husband Cody trains colts, and I usually have about three that I’m training for roping. When you’re roping on a colt, you really have to break it down. That helps me improve in my own practice.” – Addy Hill
Addy Hill’s biggest Wilderness Circuit checks:
- Golden Spike Rodeo in Tremonton, UT — $4,934
- Cassia County Fair in Burley, ID — $4,422
- War Bonnet Round Up in Idaho Falls, ID — $3,539
- Evanston Cowboy Days, Evanston, WY — $2,679
“One of my favorite wins was splitting the win in Burley,” Hill said. “That was so fun because the last four years I’ve either won first, second or third there. And I don’t know if it’s a mindset thing now, but I’ve always liked that rodeo. The Wilderness Circuit has a lot of good-paying rodeos with great committee members. Plus, I high school rodeoed with a ton of the girls so it’s kind of like a reunion at the rodeos.”
Hill rode her steady, 14-year-old mare “Bailey” at all the circuit rodeos this year. Originally trained for the reined cow horse, Hill initially competed on Bailey in NHSRA events, ranch rodeos and the World’s Greatest Horsewoman.
Even when Hill was pregnant with her little girl Sterling in 2022, she trusted Bailey to safely carry her through the Circuit Finals. According to Hill, being a mom changed “everything” about being a competitive cowgirl.
“I always really admired the moms that rope and ride,” Hill said. “It just shows you that we can do it all. I think some people think that after you have babies you can’t keep doing what you love to do, and I don’t think that. I think they can come along and I want [to show Sterling] that you can do anything you can put your mind to.”
Hill said Sterling was going to rodeos from the time she was 2 months old, and has been a part of the family hustle and bustle with Hill and husband Cody’s colt training business.
Wilderness Circuit Average Champion: Zoie Bedke
Following her 2023 Wilderness Circuit year-end championship, Bedke came back with another title on her mind in 2024.
“I came in lower in the standings this year—I don’t think it was possible to catch Addy—so I focused on the average,” Bedke explained. “The first round I got the calf I liked the most, so I was excited to go make a run. My dad told me to ‘Treat it as a one-header and take your first shot.’ Because he knows that I can [take extra swings] sometimes.”
The recent college graduate roped in 3.0, 3.1 and 3.1 seconds to top the average and earn $7,518 in the process.
“After my final run I wasn’t sure I had won it because I was so focused on my own roping and I didn’t know how [Megan Burbidge] had done,” Bedke said. “It wasn’t until the announcer started talking that I realized I’d won it.”
She did it on 14-year-old gelding “Pip,” who she rode to her Circuit Championship in 2023, too.
“We bought him when he was 4 or 5, and my brother trained him for calf roping,” Bedke said. “He roped on him for a while, but when I finally tried him, he never got him back. I’ve been roping on him for six or seven years. He’s honestly the greatest and gives me so much confidence. I know he’ll give me a shot to win every single time.”
Looking ahead, Bedke said she’s excited for the chance to return to the NFR Open, since her 2024 debut didn’t turn out as she’d hoped. Until then, she plans to continue rodeoing, training horses for people and helping her family on their cattle stocking operation.
Wilderness Circuit Finals Breakaway Results
First round: 1. Zoie Bedke, 3.0 seconds, $2,074; 2. Braylee Shepherd, 3.1, $1,555; 3. Megan Burbidge, 3.2, $1,037; 4. Shelby Logan, 3.3, $518.
Second round: 1. Kash Gay, 2.6 seconds, $2,074; 2. Ryland Lufkin, 2.7, $1,555; 3. (tie) Zoie Bedke and Megan Burbidge, 3.1, $778 each.
Third round: 1. Shelby Logan, 3.0 seconds, $2,074; 2. Zoie Bedke, 3.1, $1,555; 3. Chloe Lambert, 3.4, $1,037; 4. Jacelyn Frost, 3.5, $518.
Average: 1. Zoie Bedke, 9.2 seconds on three head, $3,111; 2. Megan Burbidge, 10.7, $2,333; 3. Aubryn Bedke, 12.6, $1,555; 4. Shelby Logan, 6.3 on two head, $778.
