Chance Nicholls (left) and Dahl Nicholls combine to win the team roping event at the
Lamar Community College rodeo last weekend.
Dahl and Chance Nicholls are doing their part to keep the University of Wyoming men's rodeo team in contention in the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR).
The two rangeland management majors from Kinnear moved to the top of the CRMR team roping standings after taking first place at last weekend's Lamar (Colo.) Community College (LCC) rodeo. Their effort gave the Cowboys their best showing of the fall season with 395 points to move them into fourth place overall in the regional standings.
Chance, a junior header, and Dahl, the sophomore heeler, won both rounds of the competition, enjoying nearly a four-second cushion against the runner-up team in the average.
Nearly all the Cowboys' season high overall team points came in team roping.
Besides' Dahl's 180 team points, teammates Cameron Weddle, a mechanical engineering junior from Milaca, Minn.; Beau Miller, a secondary education sophomore from Gillette; Jake Mingus, an undeclared freshman from Jackson; and Kade Merritt, a marketing freshman from Eaton, Colo., also contributed team points for the UW men.
Weddle and partner Bryce Simmons from Northeastern Junior College (NJC) scored points in both rounds and added fifth-place points in the average. Miller and partner Cole Dorenkamp from Gillette College split third place in the opening round, while Mingus and Merritt placed fifth in the first round. Both teams were unsuccessful in the short go.
Weddle scored UW's other points, finishing fourth in the tie down roping average.
Perennial CRMR champion Central Wyoming College (CWC) won the LCC rodeo with 510 points to move closer to overall regional leader Gillette College (GC), which scored 435 points. The Pronghorns lead the CRMR with 2,460 points, CWC has 2,135, NJC is in third place with 1,285 points and the UW Cowboys have scored 1,080 after four fall rodeos.
Only the first- and second-place regional teams advance to next summer's College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Casper along with the top individuals in each event.
The UW women also showed improvement at Lamar. The Cowgirls were the runners-up to runaway leader Gillette College. The Cowgirls scored 160 points, but the Lady Pronghorns continued their season-long domination of the women's regional standings, scoring 765 points at LCC. For the season, Gillette College has scored 1,350 points with just one rodeo remaining on the fall schedule.
The real battle is for the second-place position and a guaranteed trip to the CNFR. Regional rival CWC is in second place in the standings with 548.33 points -- 120 ahead of the UW women.
Dana Weiser, a computer science junior from Wheatland, nearly kept the Cowgirls in contention by herself, scoring 120 of the Cowgirls' points. She was the goat tying runner-up last weekend. The remaining points came from teammate Josie Davison, a secondary education junior from Miles City, Mont., who placed fifth in the barrel racing average. Her season-long steady performance puts her in third place overall in the regional standings.
No rodeo is scheduled this weekend and the final event is Oct. 16-18 at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne.
Listed are the women's and men's team scores and also the top individuals in the average:
Women's team scores -- Gillette College (GC), 765; University of Wyoming (UW), 160; Northeastern Junior College (NJC), 140; Central Wyoming College (CWC), 135; Casper College (CC), 130; Sheridan College (SC), 70; Colorado State University (CSU), 60.
Men's team scores -- CWC, 510; GC, 435; UW, 395; NJC, 370; Eastern Wyoming College (EWC), 190; Chadron State College (CSC), 145; Lamar Community College (LCC), 125; CSU, 110; CC, 50; Otero Community College (OCC), 35; SC, 30; Laramie County Community College (LCCC), 10.
Goat tying -- Chelsea Moore, GC, 17.6; Dana Weiser, UW, 18.1; Jordan Thurstan, GC, 18.2; Laura Waldo, CWC, 18.3; Lacey Schuelke, SC, 18.4; Nikki Steffes, UW, 18.6.
Breakaway roping -- Jordan Thurstan, GC, 6.1; Marcy Henderson, NJC, 8.4; Megan Schrock, CC, 15.4; Chelsea Moore, GC, 15.6; Tyler Barker, NJC, 18.2.
Barrel racing -- Chelsea Moore, GC, 34.93; Amanda Welsh, GC, 35.87; Ilene Choal, UW, 35.97; Jessica Giersiepen, GC, 36.06; Josie Davison, UW, 36.25; Brenell Kaemingk, LCCC, 36.35.
Bareback riding -- Ty Breuer, CWC, 151; Whitton Hoover, CSC, 143; Wyatt Clark, EWC, 142; Tucker Bringle, GC, 135; Chance Madsen, CC, 134; Cameron Hopper, CWC, 132.
Saddle bronc riding -- Cole Elshere, GC, 139; Colt Hamaker, CWC, 136; Gus Thorenson, CWC, 134; Riley Knoll, CWC, 121; William Bagley, GC, 119.
Bull riding -- Trent Jacobson, CC, 144; Cory Morgan, LCCC, 135; Kris Newman, CC, 141; Zach Parkin, LCC, 136; J.D. Harrell, CC, 134; Jeff Stull, UW, 127.
Tie down roping -- Mitch McAdow, NJC, 17.6; Tim Malm, NJC, 19.1; Joey Dickens, CSU, 19.3; Cameron Weddle, UW, 19.8; Caleb Adle, NJC, 20.6; Kolten Keirns, NJC, 21.4.
Steer wrestling -- Travis Wondra, CC, 11.6; Daniel Joos and Kolten Keirns, both NJC, 11.7; Thomas Osborne, CWC, 12.1; Jake Kraupie, EWC, 12.5; Kyle Broce, NJC, 12.6.
Team roping -- Chance Nicholls/Dahl Nicholls, UW, 13.3; Jordan Steele, UW/Dustin Smith, GC, 17; Josh Kurfiss/Tyler Ingo, LCC, 19.1; Cameron Weddle, UW/Bryce Simmons, NJC, 20.9; Kaitlin Romsa/Challis Whitlock, CWC, 24.2.
Posted on Tuesday, October 06, 2009