UW Cowgirls Rebound to Place First at Central Wyoming College Rodeo

And, just like that, the University of Wyoming Cowgirls went from zero to first place in a week in the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) rodeo competition.

After being shut out in the opening weekend of the fall season, the Cowgirls rebounded in a big way, placing first at the Central Wyoming College (CWC) rodeo in Riverton last weekend.

With three of the four points team members scoring, the UW women secured 345 points to outpace the field. More importantly, the weekend win put the Cowgirls back into CRMR contention. Defending regional champion Gillette College, which placed second to UW at CWC last weekend with 225 points, leads the CRMR standings with 600 points.

Laramie County Community College (LCCC) is second in the regional team race, just five points ahead of the UW women with 350 points through the first two rodeos of the five scheduled this fall.

“I am very proud of our women’s team and new Coach Jacey Hupp,” UW head Coach Seth Glause says. “Our women’s team bounced back from a tough weekend at Chadron State and showed out in Riverton this past weekend. The future looks very bright for this team.”

The UW men remained steady, taking third place for the second consecutive weekend to open up the year. The Cowboys totaled 395 points, finishing just five points out of the second-place position held by Casper College. Gillette College took the weekend rodeo with 560 points.

With the CWC win, the Pronghorns moved into first place in the region with 940 points. Casper College dropped into second place with 890, and the UW men have 715 to remain in third place.

Newcomer Landry Haugen made a big splash as a first-time member of the UW Cowgirls points team. The Sturgis, S.D., Cowgirl won the all-around at the CWC rodeo, scoring 255 individual points for the UW women.

Haugen split second place in goat tying with teammate Riata Day, of Fleming, Colo. Haugen then added points in breakaway roping, taking third in the average.

Gillette’s Sage Kohr placed fifth in the barrel racing average, and Josie Mousel, from Egan, S.D., rounded out the UW scoring by adding points in goat tying.

Several UW Cowgirls not on the past weekend’s points team did well at CWC. Jackson’s Gracie Hardeman won the breakaway competition, splitting first place with teammate Olivia Lay, from Elbert, Colo. A third teammate, Buffalo’s Jordyn McNamee, placed fifth in the same event; and Makenzi Scott, of Rock Springs, was fourth in barrel racing.

Members of the Cowboys points team scoring at the CWC rodeo were:

-- David Gallagher, of Brighton, Colo., was fourth in the tie down roping average.

-- Gallagher’s younger brother, Sam, won the opening round in the steer wrestling competition but did not place in the short go. He was fifth in the average.

-- Cam Jensen, of Bingham, Neb., placed sixth in the tie down roping average.

-- Bodie Mattson, of Sturgis, S.D., had the top time in tie down but did not place in the overall average.

-- Rio Nutter, of Rapid City, S.D., was the team’s top points producer at CWC with 155 points, all coming in team roping. He and heeler Reece Wadhams, of LCCC, split the opening round and then recorded the second-best time in the short go to finish second in the average.

Other UW team members not selected for the six-man points team also had good weekends for the Cowboys. Emmit Ross, of Jackson, won the bull riding competition and was the only competitor to cover two head; Laramie’s Colter Nunn and partner Kyler Clark, of Eastern Wyoming College, split first place in team roping; Greybull’s Colton Farrow was third in bareback riding; bulldogger Kaden Berger, of Saratoga, was second in steer wrestling; and Weston Mills, of Gillette, and heeler Coy Johnson, of Gillette College, were fourth in the team roping average.

Sheridan College hosts this weekend’s CRMR rodeo.