UW Cowboys Keep Rolling in Central Rocky Mountain Region Rodeo Competition

It was about as close as the University of Wyoming and Casper College have been during a Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) rodeo competition this fall, but the Cowboys managed to hold off their main rival in winning their third team title with just one more regional rodeo left on the fall docket.

With all six points team members scoring, the Cowboys held off the T-Birds to take the Lamar (Colo.) Community College rodeo last weekend by just a five-point margin with 630 points. In third place was Central Wyoming College with 395 points.

No UW points team member won an individual event over the weekend, but balanced scoring on both ends of the arena was enough to carry the day for the Cowboys.

The Cowgirls had an off week, but they still managed to place second for the fourth straight weekend as Gillette College continued to dominate the women’s field in the CRMR. The Pronghorns picked up 440 points, while the Cowgirls were second with 170. Northeastern Junior College and Sheridan College were the only other two women’s clubs to hit triple digits with 100 points apiece to split third place.

“Overall, we did a lot of things well. We also have things to build stronger,” UW Coach Beau Clark says. “I’m excited for this week of training and practice.”

The six points team members scoring for the Cowboys were:

-- Brice Patterson, of Bozeman, Mont., continued to be steady in bareback riding when he posted the opening round’s top mark. It was enough to carry him to second in the overall average.

-- Teammate Drake Amundson, from Wheatland, placed fourth in the same event in his first start on the points team.

-- Cam Jensen, of Hyannis, Neb., put together two strong rounds in tie down roping to place as the event’s runner-up.

-- Teammate Bodie Mattson, of Sturgis, S.D., won the event’s opening round, but he could not match it in the short go and did not place in the average.

-- Kaden Berger, of Saratoga, split third place in steer wrestling and added points in tie down roping, but he did not place among the top six in the average.

-- Rio Nutter, from Rapid City, S.D., and his partner Reece Wadhams, from Laramie County Community College (LCCC), split third place in team roping.

UW Cowgirl Kelsey Lensegrav, of Interior, S.D., was the only Cowgirl on the points team to score during the weekend, securing 170 individual points in two events. She placed third in the breakaway roping average and added fourth-place points in goat tying.

Several UW student-athletes also placed in the Lamar rodeo, but they were not selected for either the men’s or women’s points teams.

Cowgirl Kodey Hoss, of La Junta, Colo., won the women’s all-around on the strength of two strong performances in a pair of events. She was the goat tying runner-up and split fourth place in barrel racing. She also was third in breakaway roping’s opening round, but she did not place in the average. Teammate Emme Norsworthy, of Gillette, placed sixth overall in barrel racing. In breakaway roping, Hailey Hardeman, of Jackson, was fifth in the average, and one place back was teammate Raegen DeLancey, from Cheyenne.

For the men, Greybull’s Colton Farrow was sixth in the bareback riding average; Dylan Grant, from Riverton, was the only bull rider to record a successful mark in two rounds of bull riding, which gave him the event’s win; Gillette’s Stratton Kohr split fourth in tie down roping; Jacob Wang, from Baker, Mont., was fifth in the steer wrestling average; and Troupe Coors, from Loveland, Colo., was the heeler for partner Kolby Bradley, of Casper College, in team roping, where they placed fifth in the average.

Heading into the final fall rodeo this weekend at LCCC in Cheyenne, the UW men -- seeking their fifth straight regional team title -- lead the pack with 2,635 points, while Casper College is second at 2,115. The host LCCC club is third in the standings with 1,585 points.

Gillette College leads the women’s standings with 1,679 points. The Pronghorns are looking to stop the Cowgirls’ run of four straight CRMR team titles. The UW women have scored 1,108.33 points through four rodeos, while a distant third is LCCC with 685 points.