Cowgirls Jump into CRMR Contention; Cowboys Second at CSU Rodeo

With just two Central Rocky Mountain Regional (CRMR) rodeos left, the University of Wyoming Cowgirls are the closest they’ve been to the regional lead all season, while the Cowboys solidified their chances for a seventh consecutive CRMR team title.

The Cowgirls captured the team title at the Colorado State University (CSU) rodeo over the weekend, winning for the second time in three weeks, while the Cowboys were second.

The Cowgirls won with 480 points, nearly 200 over season-long leader Gillette College, which finished as the weekend runner-up. The win for the UW women cut the Pronghorns’ lead to 345 points, with just the Casper College rodeo left this weekend and UW’s annual Laramie River Rendezvous Rodeo after Easter weekend. Gillette College has 3,188.3 points, while the Cowgirls are making it a two-team race with 2,843.3 points.

“I was very proud of the efforts from both teams last weekend. Our women’s team is digging deep and showing their grit and determination to keep battling to stay in contention for a regional title,” UW second-year Coach Seth Glause says. “They executed well, but we let a few chances slip by us in the short go. Our women’s team needs to close out the last few weeks strong.”

A pair of Cowgirls led the way at CSU, scoring 350 team points.

Landry Haugen, of Sturgis, S.D., placed in all three women’s events. She was fourth in the barrel racing average, fifth in breakaway roping and added points in goat tying when she split third place in the opening round. She was the all-around reserve champion on the day. Teammate Josie Mousel, from Colman, S.D., took the goat tying competition, winning the opening round and placing second in the short go to give her the average victory.

Wheatland’s Layni Stevens was strong, posting the best breakaway roping time in the opening round and ending up with sixth-place points in the average. Riata Day, of Fleming, Colo., finished with the goat tying’s second-best time in the opening round but did not place in the average.

Several Cowgirls, not selected for the women’s four-person points team, also excelled at CSU, including Olivia Lay, of Elbert, Colo., who was named the rodeo’s all-around champion. She and UW teammate Tatum Runner, from Wellington, Colo., won the team roping short go round to boost them to the win in the average. Earlier, Lay also added an individual win in breakaway roping with a pair of solid rounds, including the short go’s best time. Thermopolis’ Emme Norsworthy won the weekend barrel racing competition, and Makenzi Scott, from Rock Springs, was fifth in the average. RaeLee Caldwell, of Gillette, was sixth in the goat tying average.

On the men’s side, the Cowboys continued their consistent ways, finishing second with 530 points, just 50 behind front-running Central Wyoming College. The UW men have 4,200 points on the season, while Casper College is second at 3,613.33 points with two competitions left in the spring season.

Baker, Mont., Cowboy Jacob Wang led the way for the Pokes, winning the steer wrestling competition on the strength of two good rounds, including posting the best opening-round time. Greybull’s Colton Farrow won the bareback riding title for the second straight week on the strength of the short go’s best mark to split the average. And, Rhett Witt, of Valentine, Neb., added fifth-place average points in a pair of events in steer wrestling and in team roping with UW Cowgirl Hadley Furnival, of Casper, as the header.

Dixon Tattrie, of Youngstown, Alberta, Canada, recorded the short go’s top mark in bull riding but did not place in the average; and Bodie Mattson, from Sturgis, S.D., scored tie down roping points.

A handful of Cowboys, not selected for the men’s six-man points team, also placed at the CSU rodeo, including a trio of bull riders.

Jackson’s Emmit Ross won the bull riding competition for the first time this spring, while teammates Bodie Bates, of Cheyenne, and Stefan Tonita, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, scored in the short go but did not place in the average. David Gallagher, of Brighton, Colo., and Jaxson Mirabal, from Magdalena, N.M., were third and sixth, respectively, in the tie down roping average. Gallagher also was sixth in steer wrestling. In team roping, his brother, Sam Gallagher, and Trevor Sorge, from Gillette College, combined for third in the average, and fourth went to Bodie Herring, from Veteran, and Kash Reynolds, from Casper College.

“The men’s team has continued to show up each week, performing at a high level,” Glause says. “We need a consistent effort from them to close out the spring season.”

It was an emotional weekend for the UW rodeo program after learning of the death of former UW bull rider Dylan Grant, of Pavillion and Jackson, who died in a tragic accident at a Texas pro rodeo the night before the CSU rodeo. The UW rodeo program announced the news on its Instagram account. Grant was a 2022 UW graduate.

“Dylan was close with a lot of our current students and was a great person and student-athlete during his time at UW,” Glause says. “We all mourn the loss of Dylan and pray for comfort of his loved ones, family and friends.”