Hutchings Rides Third Bull to Dominate CNFR

CASPER, Wyo. – A collegiate champion who has already made a mark in the pro ranks has dominated the bull riding at the College National Finals Rodeo at the Ford Wyoming Center.

Tristan Hutchings of Monteview, Idaho, won his first collegiate bull riding championship in 2021. He finished as reserve champion here last year and qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo (NFR) as a professional. In Las Vegas he won four of the ten rounds and finished third for the world title.

This year in Casper, Hutchings is the only bull rider to make three qualified rides. His 84-point score on Vold Rodeo Company’s bull Icecube Thursday night put him first in round three. He finished second in both the first and second rounds. The recent college graduate will have to wait until Friday night’s competition is over to see how he finishes in the third round. Just an attempt to ride in Saturday’s championship round will clinch his second collegiate title in three years. Hutchings just wrapped up his senior year at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, with a degree in agriculture and is currently ranked 12th in the professional standings.

Damian Brennan, a junior majoring in farm and ranch management at Western Texas College, took the lead in saddle bronc riding. Brennan, a native of Queensland, Australia, scored 81 points on Frontier Rodeo’s bronc named Delta Force to take the lead in round three. His total of 239.5 points gave him a 1.5-point edge in the overall standings. Isaac Richard, a junior agriculture major at McNeese State University, scored 77 points to tie for third in round three and hold on to second place overall.

Last year Brennan finished one spot short of qualifying for his first NFR and earned the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Rookie of the Year title. Both he and Richard will be among the 12 bronc riders to compete for the championship on Saturday night.

The overall leader changed in four other events on Thursday night. Student athletes taking the top spot after three rides or runs included bareback rider Weston Timberman of Clarendon College; steer wrestler JT Ellison of the University of West Alabama; team ropers Slade Wood of Southwest Texas Junior College and Logan Moore of Wharton County Junior College; and barrel racer Taycie Matthews of the University of West Alabama.

Round three at the 2023 CNFR concludes Friday night at 7 p.m. MDT. Once round three is completed the top 12 overall will compete once more on Championship Saturday to determine the champions in nine events, The men’s and women’s all-around champions, the men’s and women’s team champions and the men’s and women’s rookie of the year will also be crowned on Saturday.

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The following are results after the third performance at the College National Finals Rodeo, Wednesday, June 15, 2023 courtesy of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. Complete results are available at www.collegerodeo.com.

Bareback riding: (third round leaders) 1, Ty Pope, Missouri Valley College, 84 points. 2, Colton Eck, Missouri Valley College, 83. 3, Donny Proffit, University of Wyoming, 79. 4, (tie) Isaac Ingram, Panola College, and Nick Pelke, Missouri Valley College, 78.5 each. 6, Weston Timberman, Clarendon College, 78. (total on three) 1, Weston Timberman, Clarendon College, 240.5. 2, Pope 234. 3, Allen, 233. 4, (tie) Sam Peterson, Clarendon College, and Bradlee Miller, Sam Houston State University, 232.5. 6, Donny Proffit, University of Wyoming, 230.5. 7, Kade Sonnier, McNeese State University, 229.5. 8, Eck, 227.5.

Tie-Down Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Quade Hiatt, West Texas A&M University, 8.2 seconds. 2, Cole Eiguren, Treasure Valley Community College, 8.3. 3, Denton Oestmann, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 8.4. 4, Cael Stratton, Central Arizona College, 8.7. 5, (tie) Kincade Henry, Texas A&M Commerce, and Marley Berger, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 9.0. (total on three) 1, Henry, 25.4. 2, Hiatt, 28.1. 3, Bodie Mattson, University of Wyoming, 28.4. 4, Connor Atkinson, Texas A&M University, 28.5. 5, Cutter Carpenter, Texas A&M University – Commerce, 29.2. 6, Eiguren, 29.3. 7, Bode Spring, Montana State University, 29.7. 8, Cole Walker, University of Tennessee – Martin, 30.1.

Breakaway Roping (third round leaders) 1, (tie) Kenli Raby, Missouri Valley College, and Emma Eiguren, Treasure Valley Community College, 2.0 seconds each. 3, Molly Salmond, Montana State University, 2.3. 4, (tie) Bailey Stuva, Northeast Oklahoma A&M University, and Addie Weil, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 2.4 each. 6, Baylee Johnston, New Mexico State University, 2.5. (total on three) 1, Tyree Cochrane, Cal Poly State University, 7.8. 2, Haiden Thompson, Gillette College, 8.0. 3, Makayla Farkas, West Hills College, 8.2. 4, Samantha Kerns, Treasure Valley Community College, 8.4. 5, Morgan Foss, Dickinson State University, 9.6. 6, Raegan Steed, College of Southern Idaho, 10.7. 7, Mikenna Schauer, Montana State University Northern, 17.5. 8, Kyleigh Winn, Kansas State University, 18.6.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (third round leaders) 1, Damian Brennan, Western Texas Slade Keith, Clarendon College, 77.5 points. 2, Bailey Small, Panhandle State University, 77.0. 3, Cauy Masters, Clarendon College, 76.5. 4, (tie) Tucker Bourdet, Cuesta College, and Parker Fleet, Hill College, 76 each. (total on three) 1, Bourdet, 233. 2, Keith, 231.5. 3, Parker Fleet, Hill College, 230.5. 4, Brody McAbee, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 221. 5, Bailey Small, Panhandle State University, 219. 6, Ty Pope, Missouri Valley College, 212.5.

Steer Wrestling: (third round leaders) 1, Trace Harris, Texas A&M University, 3.6 seconds. 2, Kason Davis, Pearl River College, 4.3. 3, Mike Nannini, Montana State University, 4.8. 4, Jaden Whitman, Montana State University, 4.9. 5, Colt Honey, Texas Tech University, 5.0. 6, (tie) Logan Atkinson, Walla Walla Community College, and Jacob Wang, University of Wyoming, 5.3 each. (total on three) 1, Joshua Ellison, University of West Alabama, 19.3. 2, Bradley Hesnor, McNeese State University, 22.3. 3, Jaden Whitman, Montana State University, 22.9. 4, Austin Madison, Black Hills State University, 23.2. 5, Honey, 25.4. 6, Nannini, 26.0. 7, Bode Spring, Montana State University, 27.3. 8, Davis, 27.8.

Goat Tying: (third round leaders) 1, Kenna McNeill, University of Wyoming, 5.8 seconds. 2, Aimee Davis, Cal Poly State University, 5.9. 3, (tie) Karissa Rayhill, Eastern Wyoming College; Madalyn Richards, Texas A&M University; and Kamryn Duncan, McNeese State University; 6.0 each. 6, (tie) Cheyenne Vande Stouwe, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and Kaylee Cormier, McNeese State University, 6.1. (total on three) 1, Rayhill, 18.2. 2, Richards, 18.4. 3, McNeill, 18.6. 4, (tie) Kaylee Cormier, McNeese State University, and Haiden Thompson, Gillette College, 18.7. 6, Mikenna Schauer, Montana State University – Northern, 19.3. 7, Cheyenne Vande Stouwe, Southwestern Oklahoma State University,19.4. 8, Maggie Usher, Cal Poly State University, 19.7.

Team Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Cam Jensen, University of Wyoming and Tanner McInerney, Gillette College, 4.2 seconds. 2, Jayse Tettenhorst and Kaden Profili, Trinity Valley Community College, 5.3. 3, Zane and Ty Taylor, Treasure Valley Community College, 5.5. Lovins, Western Oklahoma State College, 6.3. (total on three) 1, Bray and Thomison, 18.4. 2, Chilly Hernandez and Juanito Montoya, New Mexico State University, 21.0. 3, Appleton and Lovins, 26.9. 4, Jace Hanks, and Wyatt Ahlstrom, Utah Valley University, 29.5. 5, Ty Johnson, Texas A&M – Commerce and Cooper Parsley, Panola College, 33.6. (on two) 6, Slade Wood, Southwestern Texas Junior College, and Logan Moore, Wharton County College, 10.0.

Barrel racing: (third round leaders) 1, Jaylie Matthews, University of West Alabama, 14.14 seconds. 2, Brooke Krolczyk, Texas A&M University, 14.17. 3, Emma Ricke, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 14.25. 4, Kiersten Pettus, Central Arizona College, 14.26. 5, Annie Alexander, New Mexico State University, 14.27. 6, Gwyneth Cheyne, Blue Mountain Community College, 14.26. (total on three) 1, Matthews, 42.22. 2, Jordan Driver, Tarleton State University, 43.18. 3, Alexander, 43.20. 4, Pettus, 43.34. 5, Cheyne, 43.34. 6, Jayci Byler, Sam Houston State University, 43.35.

Bull Riding: (third round leaders) 1, Dawson Gleaves, Weatherford College, 74. (total on two) 1, Gleaves, 153. 2, Tristen Hutchings, 152 (on one) 3, Wyatt Phelps, Sheridan College, 85.5. 4, Cole Skender, University of Alabama – Monticello, 82.5. 5, Caden Bunch, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 81.5.