UW Rodeo Teams Open Spring Season at Gillette College This Weekend

Both University of Wyoming rodeo teams look to keep their Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) title streaks alive when the spring season opens this weekend at Gillette College.

The Cowboys finished the fall season atop the CRMR standings with 3,045 points, while Casper College and Laramie County Community College (LCCC) were next, posting 2,680 and 1,940 points, respectively. The UW men won four of five fall rodeos.

As for the UW women, the Cowgirls were second in each rodeo last semester. Gillette College heads the regional women’s overall team race going into the spring season with 1,959 points, while the UW women have accumulated 1,508.33 points after five rodeos. The LCCC team has 1,180.

Both the UW men and women are seeking their fourth straight CRMR team titles. Fourth-year Coach Beau Clark is banking on his teams to continue to perform well during the spring season.

“All of our students have put in the work to continue to grow and improve. It has paid off for them, and the spring season should be exciting,” he says. “I think our region is extremely competitive, and our men’s and women’s teams will need to continue to stay focused and committed if we are going to excel.”

Expected to be on the six-member points team for the Cowboys for the opening rodeo are Kaden Berger, from Saratoga, and Cameron Jensen, of Hyannis, Neb., who will both compete in steer wrestling and tie down and team roping; Bodie Mattson, from Sturgis, S.D., and Rio Nutter, from Rapid City, S.D., both will compete in the two roping events; Brice Patterson, from Bozeman, Mont., will be entered in bareback riding and steer wrestling; and Donny Proffit, from Kemmerer, will compete in bareback riding.

Making up the Cowgirls’ four-member points team will be Faith Hoffman, of Kiowa, Colo., competing in goat tying and breakaway roping; Gillette’s Sage Kohr and Kelsey Lensegrav, of Interior, S.D., are both entered in barrel racing and breakaway roping; and Kenna McNeill, from Hobbs, N.M., will compete in all three women’s events: goat tying, breakaway roping and barrel racing.

Overall, Clark says the offseason training has been a positive factor, and he is looking forward to getting back to action, which will culminate with the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Casper this June.

“This year has been a great group to coach because of the desire to succeed at the CNFR,” he adds. “I would say they have trained harder and are more focused than in the past. It will be interesting to see where we are at the end of April. I am looking forward to the spring season as well as the season going into the CNFR.”

Individually, for the Cowboys, Mattson and partner Carson Johnson, from Casper College, are the CRMR’s top team ropers halfway through the 2022-23 season. Patterson, who currently is second in bareback riding, is followed by teammate Proffit. Jensen is tie down roping’s second-best regional competitor, and Berger is fourth.

On the women’s side, Hoffman is second in goat tying as is Kohr in breakaway roping. Kohr also is second in the women’s all-around in the region.

UW’s annual Laramie River Rendezvous Rodeo is scheduled April 27-29 at the Cliff and Martha Hansen Livestock Teaching Arena.