UW’s Mousel Poised to Enter Championship Round as National Goat Tying Leader

All day, Josie Mousel was consumed with how she was going to perform on her third goat-tying run at the College National Finals Rodeo, where she entered as the national leader.

There was no need to worry.

For the third consecutive round, Mousel, a University of Wyoming junior, was good enough to finish with one of the top two times. During Wednesday’s performance in Casper, Mousel tied her goat in 6.2 seconds, giving her the second-best time halfway through three rounds. She won the opening round and split the second-best time in round two, giving her 18.3 seconds on three runs -- nearly a full second ahead of the runner-up in the average.

As she came into the alley under the stands leading into the arena, UW Coach Seth Glause and his assistant, Jacey Hupp, were waiting for her, ready to give her encouraging words -- as well as jokes to keep her loose.

“They were in back cracking jokes when my horse nearly ran them over, and he coughed all over them as well,” Mousel says. “They thought it was pretty funny, and I guess that’s what kept me calm.”

The Colman, S.D., Cowgirl says she feels good about her run and is right where she wants to be.

“That goat tonight wasn’t the best one that I’ve drawn so far this week. Sometimes, the goats get up more in the (night) performance because there’s more yelling and screaming from the crowd,” Mousel says. “Maybe my horse didn't run as hard, so we’ll have to fix that before the next round but, other than that, it felt good.”

UW Coach Seth Glause says that, overall, Wednesday’s performance was a good one for the five Cowgirls and Cowboys who competed. Championship bids and go-round points were up for grabs for the UW teammates.

“Josie continued to show poise tonight in the goat tying to post another great run,” Glause says. “It’s really neat to see all of her hard work paying off this week.”

Layni Stevens helped the Cowgirls, who are second in the nation as a team, secure potential points in the same event. She followed her teammate with a 6.6-second run, matching her opening-round time -- in between, she had a no-time. Stevens, from Lantry, S.D., tied for the sixth-best time in the third round, with two nights of competition remaining.

"Layni made a solid run and had a good final run to build on for next year,” Glause says.

A UW Cowboy kept his short-go bid alive Wednesday night with his best time of the week. Now it’s a waiting game.

Colton Farrow saved his last ride for the best. The Greybull Cowboy rode T-Sizzle to a career-best 83.75 points to put him among the 12 qualifiers for a championship-round bid Saturday night. The mark is the second-best halfway through the final round.

"Colton started off with a great ride in the bareback riding,” Glause says. "He had a cool horse and just dominated the whole ride.”

Farrow admits that he had an incentive to go out on a high note.

Earlier in the day, Farrow relaxed with teammates during a co-ed softball tournament, pitting student-athletes and coaches from around the nation in a fun activity.

“We got whupped in softball pretty bad earlier in the morning. I struck out -- actually, it was really embarrassing -- and I think I had to get some redemption for that,” he said, smiling. “Maybe that’s what was on my mind tonight.”

It definitely was the best mark he’s had in his two years as a CNFR qualifier for the Pokes. Farrow says he’s not really sure where that ride came from but says it was a “pretty sweet horse” from the same stock contractor whose horses he’s ridden before at the Cody Nite Rodeo. He entered the third round with 155.75 points, putting him 10th in the average. His three-head aggregate of 238.50 should be good enough for him to compete in the championship round.

“Yeah, I think I’ll make it back, and I’ll be real excited to see who they get for me to get on Saturday night,” Farrow adds. “It’s pretty special, being my last year, to have a good year like this. It means a lot.”

A pair of Cowboys went for broke in the same event -- steer wrestling -- and both came away with top times in the final round.

Jacob Wang, of Baker, Mont., kept his chances alive of qualifying for the championship round when he turned his steer over in 5 seconds -- the second-best time halfway through the final round. He had a 4.9 in the second round to go along with a no-time earlier in the week.

After suffering a pair of early no-times, Sam Gallagher, from Brighton, Colo., stopped the clock in 5.6 seconds, giving him the round’s third-best time.

"Steer wrestlers Jacob and Sam both made solid runs to give themselves a chance at some round points,” Glause says.

Six UW team members complete their third rounds Thursday evening, with some still in contention for championship-round bids.