UW Mens Rodeo Team Loses Lead in Final Fall Rodeo

October 17, 2011

Members of the University of Wyoming men's rodeo team have five months to think about how they will catch the Casper College club in the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) standings.

The Casper College men won Sunday's Shawn Dubie Memorial Rodeo at Cheyenne's Laramie County Community College to pass the UW Cowboys.  It was Casper's second consecutive win to close out the fall season. The spring season begins with the Gillette College rodeo the weekend of March 16.

The T-Birds compiled 610 team points to take the LCCC team title, while the Cowboys placed fifth overall with 390. Casper College takes a 180-point lead heading into the spring season. The T-Birds scored 2,415 points during the five-rodeo fall season, while the Cowboys notched 2,235 after leading through the first four events. Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington is third in the CRMR standings with 2,080 points.

Only the top two teams in the region receive automatic bids to next summer's College National Finals Rodeo.

This fall the Cowboys relied heavily on their ropers -- three of the UW men scored all the team's points in Cheyenne.

Pueblo, Colo., native Tyler Schnaufer, who transferred to UW this fall from Lamar (Colo.) Community College, teamed with Northeastern Junior College's Shay Carroll to win the team roping title, taking both rounds of competition.

Schnaufer, the all-around runner-up at the LCCC rodeo to his team roping partner, also added team points in tie down roping, finishing fourth in the average.

The Cowboys' final 120 team points came from team ropers Kade Merritt of Eaton, Colo., and Clayton Van Aken of Descanso, Calif. The pair placed fourth in the average.

Despite not placing among the top six at the LCCC rodeo, Van Aken still leads the region in tie down roping, while Schnaufer is third. Schaufer also is second in team roping with Carroll, while the team of Van Aken and Merritt is third.

UW's Cameron Trimber of Aledo, Texas, heads into the spring season as the region's top bulldogger, while Hunter Hoover from Ulysses, Kan., is ranked fourth in bull riding. Van Aken and Schnaufer are running first and second, respectively, in the all-around cowboy race.

The UW women finished the fall season on a downward slide, failing to score points at the LCCC rodeo. Regional leader Central Wyoming College of Riverton won the team title with 550 points, while the host Lady Golden Eagles were second with 350.

For the season, the Cowgirls slipped to fifth overall in the CRMR standings with 650 points. The four teams ahead of UW are CWC with 1,755 points; Northeastern Junior College, 1,268.3; defending regional champion Gillette College has 995; and LCCC is fourth with 910.

UW's Kaycee Nelson from Buffalo, S.D., is second in breakaway roping at the conclusion of the fall season. She is the only Cowgirl ranked in the top three in the women's events.

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