UW Bulldoggers, Team Ropers Come Up Big Tuesday Morning

The University of Wyoming’s three bulldoggers and team ropers came alive during Tuesday’s second slack round at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) at the Casper Events Center.

Leading the way for the ’doggers was Ty Everson, who turned his steer over in 3.7 seconds to give him a two-round time of 9.5 seconds, moving him to third in the average.

Everson, a Helena, Mont., junior, said his steer did all the work for him.

“I knew I had a good steer. I saw him go yesterday, and I knew he would give me a pretty good chance. I was making sure I was right on the barrier and didn’t have to run him very far. He came around and did all the work. I just kind of had to hang onto his head,” he said. “It feels pretty good to be third in the average. This is the first time I’ve caught two steers in a row in this building; I’ll take it. Anything at this point feels pretty good.”

He wraps up his third round of competition Wednesday night with a short-go bid on the line.

Teammate Caden Camp, a Belgrade, Mont., freshman, won the second round of steer wrestling with a time of 3.5 seconds. He had a no-time the day before to take him out of the average.

“I didn’t have a good day yesterday, so I wanted to win the round today,” Camp said. “My steer wasn’t supposed to be that great. I had good horsepower on both sides. My hazer did a great job, and my mare does a great job and gives me her all. I just happened to make a good run.”

Everson followed Camp with the round’s second-best time. Together, the UW teammates scored 150 points in the event.

Minot, N.D., junior Seth Peterson kept his steer wrestling short-go bid alive when he also had his best time in two rounds at 4.8 seconds. He’s at 11.6 seconds on two head, moving him up the standings to seventh in the average. His last shot at a finals bid is Thursday night.

“I got a better start, for sure, out of the box today. With a better start, everything came together a lot better than the day before,” Peterson said. “I sure hope I can get another one down and see how it plays out. If I do my job, hopefully I can make it back.”

UW’s team ropers scored team points by placing fourth and fifth, respectively, in the round.

Lusk native Denton Shaw and partner Cooper White of Gillette College -- who have roped together for years, but for the first time on the collegiate level -- stopped the clock in 5.5 seconds. They had a no-time the day before.

“After a no-time, you really have to let it all out. We were just going to be aggressive and fight our way back into the next round and, hopefully, make the short round Saturday,” Shaw said. “Cooper and I rope together a lot. We just know each other and, if stuff doesn’t go right, we just try really hard each time.”

Camp returned more than an hour later after steer wrestling to combine with UW partner JC Flake, a Mesa, Ariz., senior, to record their best time of the week in team roping. They had a successful time of 5.9 seconds to help make up for a no-time the day before.

“We tried to be the fastest we could without beating ourselves. I missed the barrier just a bit, but I knew I needed to because our steer didn’t start very hard,” Camp said. “JC did a great job getting him heeled, because I didn’t have a very good handle, and JC cleaned up my mess.”

A UW Cowgirl remained alive for a short-go bid after a successful second-round run.

Rachael Calvo was even faster than the day before in barrel racing, coming out of the timed events side of the Casper Events Center arena to record her second straight impressive time in the event, stopping the clock in 14.36 seconds.

Coupled with her previous 14.38 time, Calvo is third in the overall average after the second round with a total combined time of 28.74 seconds. Ashtyn Carlson of the College of Southern Idaho (Twin Falls) is the overall leader at 28.62 seconds.

The UW Cowgirl’s latest effort was the day’s fifth-best time. And it didn’t seem to faze the Bassett, Neb., sophomore, who was the second barrel racer to compete in the timed events side of the arena at 7:02 a.m.

“I was kind of hoping to improve from Monday, because we kind of got hung up in the second barrel and we came up wide in the third barrel. I wanted to clean it up a bit more this morning,” Calvo said after her second run of the week. “I just wanted to be quicker, so it was a good reliever to be more consistent.”

She said watching recordings of her day’s first run from three friends, and also from her mother, Susan Calvo, helped her clean up her second run.

“My mom is always there for all my runs. She’s my biggest supporter,” Calvo added. “My mom makes sure to always record from the perfect angle so I can watch it later to break it down so I can get better.”

All 10 UW Cowboys and Cowgirls competed during Tuesday’s slack. Results were:

UW Men

-- Peterson’s tough week continued in tie down roping when he missed his calf. The Minot, N.D., junior, who won the region all-around title this season, had a 19.8-second time on one head Monday, which included a 10-second penalty for breaking the barrier.

-- Jase Staudt was just a fifth of a second away from recording his best tie down roping time of the week after tying his calf in 9.8 seconds. However, the calf broke loose from the tie at the 9.5-second mark, leaving the Nathrop, Colo., junior with a no-time. He entered the event 19th with a first-day time of 12.7 seconds.

UW Women

-- Teisha Coffield is still looking for her first successful catch in breakaway roping. For the second straight round, the two-time regional roping champion from Yuma, Colo., recorded a no-time, leaving her out of the event’s running.

-- Payton Donnelly could not match her opening breakaway roping run when she missed on her second attempt. The Elk Point, S.D., junior had a solid 2.5-second time Sunday but couldn’t get her loop over the calf’s head Tuesday.

-- Kelsey Lensegrav remained in contention for a barrel racing short-go bid with another solid run. The Interior, S.D., sophomore moved into 14th place in the average with a second-round time of 14.77 seconds. It was slightly slower than her previous day’s time of 14.71 seconds, giving her a cumulative time of 29.48 seconds.