From Ontario gymkhanas to a Canadian champion.

Three-time Canadian high-point champion Morgan Grant didn’t get his start in Canada’s most rodeo-centric province, but the now 28-year-old quickly developed his skills as both a tie-down roper and steer wrestler to become a dual-event force to be reckoned with at Canadian Professional Rodeo Association rodeos.

Watch Grant compete on the Finning Pro Tour, Grass Roots Finals, and Canadian Finals Rodeo LIVE on FloRodeo

CPRA photo by Mike Copeman 

“I grew up riding horses,” Grant said. “We used to go to barrel races and gymkhanas in northern Ontario and northern Quebec and then when I was going into grade four, we moved to southern Ontario—to Granton.” 

It was there—and later down in Texas—that Grant discovered tie-down roping and steer wrestling.

“I got to meet more people and got into roping and steer wrestling,” he said. “I high school rodeo’d in the Ontario High School Rodeo Association for four years and when I was 14 or 15 I used to go down and rope with Joe Beaver in Texas.

“That was one of the main reasons I went to school at Sam Houston [State University – Huntsville, Texas] for two years, and Texas A&M [College Station, Texas] for four years, and I got a Petroleum Engineering Degree from Texas A&M.”

From there, the rest was history: Grant and his family started coming to Alberta to compete in the CPRA when he was just a teenager, entering the Hand Hills Lake Stampede when he was just 16 or 17. He later won three Canadian high-point titles, the Calgary Stampede in the tie-down roping in 2014; he then met and married former Miss Rodeo Canada, Gillian Shields, and settled on a ranch outside of Didsbury, Alberta.

Fast forward to the 2018 rodeo season and Grant now sits in the No. 1 position in both the tie-down roping and steer wrestling CPRA Standings, setting him up to make history in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association if he can keep his momentum up. As the back-to-back Canadian high-point champion, Grant has the chance to be the first CPRA competitor to win the title three times in a row (which would mark Grant’s fourth title overall).

“This is actually my first time being in this position,” Grant said. “It always seems like June is a slow month for me and then July and August I usually pick up—you’ve gone to more rodeos and you start clicking with your horse—so to have this advantage of being first, and I’ll hopefully have my strong July and August; it’ll take a little of the pressure off and I’ll be able to rope more for fun instead of feeling like I need to catch up and have the nerves and the pressure of having to win.” 

When asked about his thoughts on making three titles in a row happen, Grant says the competition is looking tough this year.

“I think each time you win [a high-point title], it’s awesome,” Grant reflected. “This year it’s going to be really competitive—Curt [Curtis Cassidy] is on fire, Jesse Popescul, Riley Warren, Russell Cardoza’s back up here, there’s a lot of really talented guys so I just hope that when it comes down to Sunday at CFR that I’m in a position where I’ll have a chance to win it.”

Next weekend, Grant is set to compete Friday, June 22, at the Wainwright Stampede, and Saturday, June 23, at Guy Weadick Days in High River. Looking ahead to the following weekend, Grant is up at the Williams Lake Stampede on Saturday, June 30, before heading to the final long-round performance at the Ponoka Stampede on Sunday, July 1.