Haven Meged drew the biggest, slowest handling calf in the herd for the 2026 NFR Open finals, but still nailed the barrier on Lil Punch and stopped the clock at 8.3 seconds July 18 to win the national circuit title in Colorado Springs—the headline of a $29,372 week that moved the Montana circuit cowboy to third in the tie-down roping world standings.

The win was worth $13,000, and $15,625 in Colorado Springs all together. It was the second national circuit championship of Meged’s career and his first since 2019, when he took the title as a rookie at the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Florida—the same season he swept the Resistol Rookie of the Year award, the NFR average and the world title.

“Oh, it was amazing to finally get it again,” Meged said. “I won it in 2019 and I’ve been trying to get it since then, but I didn’t really have the best calf on them and I knew I had to just go out there and blow the barrier out and give myself a chance. She was a big calf, and honestly I didn’t see the short round going that way, but it worked out my favor, I guess.”

Two and a Short

Meged drew up in Set 3 at the Norris Penrose Event Center and tied for third in the first round with a 9.4, worth $1,125.

“My first run honestly was not good,” Meged said. “Blew the barrier out, figure eight the tail, and I just tried to stay hustling. Honestly, that’s I guess why you don’t give up and keep moving forward. I honestly thought I was about 11 flat but I ended up splitting third and fourth.”

He came back with a 9.6 in the second round for third and another $1,500, for a total of 19.0 on two head to qualify second out of his set into the clean-slate finals. The second calf, he said, had him nervous before he ever nodded.

“I came back on a really strong calf in the second round,” Meged said. “Myles Kenzy ran her the first time and she kind of just fought the string, so I was scared to take the start, but I knew she really ran and I kind of missed the barrier and ran her way off down there. My horse worked good. I honestly thought I was going to be just maybe third or one out of it, because some guys had some good calves at the end. Like I said, it worked out in my favor.”

Then came the short round, and the calf he liked least of all.

“I was not a fan of my calf at all,” Meged said. “I mean, she was 70 pounds bigger than the rest of the herd, and she was just big, old, kind of slow-handling compared to some of them other calves. My horse is so good and we blew the barrier out and he just popped that calf around so fast and made it snappy and allowed me to take my time flanking her and made sure I got her down on the ground.”

The 8.3 held—six-tenths up on Mayfield and nearly two seconds clear of third-place Tom Crouse, who was 10.2.

The Famous Lil Punch

The sorrel underneath him for all of it was For Goodness Shakes, “Lil Punch”—the horse Meged’s wife Shelby trained as a breakaway horse, the one Meged rode to the fastest run in NFR history when he stopped the clock at 6.4 seconds in 2023. A nagging injury kept Lil Punch in the barn for most of 2025 and having him back is the storyline of Meged’s summer.

“It’s a blessing to have that horse back in the trailer this summer,” Meged said. “He is such a blessing. I’ve got the average record, the arena record at the NFR all on that horse. And he’s a winner.”

At 9 years old, Meged says, Lil Punch is finally growing into himself.

“I told Shelby, I said, when he turns 10, he’s going to be just mature, focused and this summer he’s been really good,” Meged said. “I don’t think there’s been many rodeos that I’ve rode him at that I haven’t won a check on him. I rode him at Cheyenne—I won second in my pool there—and then rode him at Calgary and then rode him at the NFR Open, and he’s been so solid.”

Paired with his other standout, Seven S Tomahawk, “Smoke,” it gives Meged a two-horse string he’d put up against anyone’s.

“I feel like I have two of the best horses going down the road right now that allow you to win every time you nod your head,” Meged said.

Lil Punch is technically Shelby’s, and Meged intends to keep it that way—especially where a certain three-time world champ is concerned.

“Honestly, she tried telling Webb she’d sell Punch to him anytime,” Meged laughed. “And I said, ‘No, I don’t need Riley Webb riding Lil Punch. I’d never win anything again.'”

A $29,372 Week

Between the California Rodeo Salinas and the NFR Open, Meged banked $29,372 on the week. The NFR Open, he’s quick to point out, isn’t the paycheck the old National Circuit Finals was, but the timing made it matter.

“Obviously it doesn’t pay what Kissimmee used to pay, but anytime you can go win $15,000 at one rodeo is a good week,” Meged said.

A year ago Meged was fighting to climb back into the picture and keep his NFR qualification streak alive.

“This week last year I had $43,000 after Salinas and Cheyenne was over. It was a battle from there on,” Meged said. “I think I have $138,000 now, and it’s nice to get all that pressure off of you. Once you feel like you have the finals made, that’s when roping gets easier. The pressure leaves and now you just go out and have fun.”

Sitting third, the only real math left is the man out front—reigning champion Riley Webb, who keeps stretching the lead every time Meged closes in.

“Seems like every time I get a little closer, he’s got to jump like three miles fricking away from me,” Meged laughed. “He’s a hard guy to catch up to. I told him I was going to start drawing him out of rodeos or something.”

Baby Wylder

What made Colorado Springs different for Meged was the company. Meged travels with his wife, Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, herself a world champion breakaway roper, and this summer the couple’s baby boy has been going down the road with them, too.

“It was great to get to have him there with us,” Meged said. “We actually took a picture with him, but he was sleeping when I got the saddle.”

Shelby has been trying to find her roping groove again since having the Wylder in May, and if Meged had his way, the next stretch of good fortune would all be hers.

“It’s been a struggle for Shelb,” Meged said. “She’s trying to get back and trying to get the ball rolling. I told somebody the other day, I wish I could not win at the next 20 rodeos if she could just win 40, 50,000.”