Round Three Underway at College National Finals Rodeo
CASPER, Wyo. – While her sister’s barrel racing performance has drawn most of the attention in the early days of the 2023 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), Jaylie Matthews of Wynne, Arkansas, took her turn in the spotlight Tuesday night at the Ford Wyoming Center.
Matthews, who is competing at her third CNFR in barrel racing, took the lead in round three with a time of 14.14 seconds. Her sister Taycie won both the first and second rounds with times in the 13.7 range and has the fastest time after two runs through the barrels in Casper. Both Mathews women compete for the University of West Alabama.
Jaylie, who has won the Ozark region’s barrel racing championship twice, has been consistent through three runs. She finished third in the first round with a time of 14.05 and held that same spot in round two with a 14.03. Although she was a tenth of a second slower in round three, the junior business major is likely to advance to Saturday’s Championship Finals with her total time of 42.22 seconds on three runs.
Ty Pope of Garnett, Kansas, the reigning collegiate champion, continues his bid for consecutive bareback riding titles. Pope, who is majoring in public relations at Missouri Valley College, turned in the highest score so far this week – 84 points on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s horse named Lightening to lead round three and tally 234 total points. He holds that spot by a slim one-point margin and will have to wait through three more rodeo performances to see if he will compete in Saturday night’s championship round.
In the team roping a pair of Texans took a commanding overall lead. Wyatt Bray, a senior business major at Tarleton State University, and Cutter Thomison, who graduated with an associate’s degree in farm and ranch management at Western Texas College, roped their steer in 5.6 seconds to lead round three. The duo finished second in round one with a 6.2 and 13th in round two with a 6.6. Their total time of 18.4 on three is eight and a half seconds faster than Mason Appleton and Nicholas Lovins of Western Oklahoma State College. The physical education majors are second in round three with a 6.3 and are second in the overall standings.
Tyree Cochrane, a graduate student in Animal Science at Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo who is currently serving at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) student president, moved to number one overall in breakaway roping with a total time of 7.8 seconds on three runs.
Round three at the 2023 CNFR continues Wednesday night at 7 p.m. MDT.
The following are results after the first performance at the College National Finals Rodeo, Tuesday, June 13, 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, Donny Proffit, University of Wyoming, 79. 3, Isaac Ingram, Panola College, 78.5. 4, Quintonn Lunsford, Fort Scott Community College, 77.5. (total on three) 1, Pop3, 234. 2, Allen, 233. 3, Sam Peterson, Clarendon College, 232.5. 4, Donny Proffit, University of Wyoming, 230.5.
Tie-Down Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Denton Oestmann, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 8.4 seconds. 2, Marley Berger, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 9.0. 3, Connor Atkinson, Texas A&M University, 9.2. 4, Cody Stewart, Feather River College and Coy Aldrich, Blue Mountain College, 10.0 each. (total on three) 1, Connor Atkinson, Texas A&M University, 28.5. 2, Marley berger, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 35.1. 3, Cody Stewart, Feather River College, 38.0. 4, Denton Oestmann, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 41.2.
Breakaway Roping (third round leaders) 1, Bailey Stuva, Northeast Oklahoma A&M University, 2.4 seconds. 2, Mylee Mickelsen, Idaho State University, 2.8. 3, (tie) Tyree Cochrane, Cal Poly State University, and Makayla Farkas, West Hills College, 2.9. (total on three) 1, Cochrane, 7.8. 2, Farkas, 8.2. 3, Samantha Kerns, Treasure Valley Community College, 8.4. 4, Raegan Steed, College of Southern Idaho, 10.7.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (third round leaders) 1, Tucker Bourdet, Cuesta College, and Parker Fleet, Hill College, 76 points each. 3, Samuel Freeman, Missouri Valley College, 74. 4, Tyler Pruitt, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 70. (total on three) 1, Bourder, 233. 2, Parker Fleet, Hill College, 230.5. 3, Pruitt, 200. 4, (on two) Shea Fournier, McNeese State University, 167.
Steer Wrestling: (third round leaders) 1, Colt honey, Texas Tech University, 5.0 seconds. 2, Bradley Hesnor, McNeese State University, 7.5. 3, Logan Kenline, South Plains College, 14.3. 4, Kaden Wooters, Mid-Plains Community College, 17.0. (total on three) 1, Hesnor, 22.3. 2, Honey, 25.4. 3, Wooters, 30.8. (on two) 4, Cash Robb, Texas A&M University – Commerce, 10.6.
Goat Tying: (third round leaders) 1, Aimee Davis, Cal Poly State University, 5.9 seconds. 2, (tie) Karissa Rayhill, Eastern Wyoming College and Kamryn Duncan, McNeese State University, 6.0 each. 4, (tie) Staheli Adams, Gillette College and Betsy Roemer, Missouri Valley College, 6.9. (total on three) 1, Rayhill, 18.2. 2, (tie) Duncan and Adams, 20.6. 4, Taylor Mason, Missouri Valley College, 21.2.
Team Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Wyatt Bray, Tarleton State University, and Cutter Thomison, Western Texas College, 5.6 seconds. 2, Mason Appleton and Nicholas Lovins, Western Oklahoma State College, 6.3. 3, Ty Johnson, Texas A&M University and Cooper Parsley, Panola College, 13.5. 4, Jayce Blake, Treasure Valley Community College and Dylan Orr, Blue Moutnain Community College, 16.7. (total on three) 1, Bray and Thomison, 18.4. 2, Appleton and Lovins, 26.9. 3, Johnson and Parsley, 33.6. (on two) 4, Cannon Smith, University of Tennessee – Martin, and Chase Graves, University of West Alabama, 23.7.
Barrel racing: (third round leaders) 1, Jaylie Matthews, University of West Alabama, 14.14 seconds. 2, Emma Ricke, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 14.25. 3, Kiersten Pettus, Central Arizona College, 14.26. 4, Annie Alexander, New Mexico State University, 14.27. (total on three) 1, Matthews, 42.22. 2, Alexander, 43.20. 3, Pettus, Central Arizona College, 43.34. 4, Ricke, 43.43.
Bull Riding: (third round leaders ) No qualified rides. (total on two) 1, Tristen Hutchings, 152 points. (on one) 2, Wyatt Phelps, Sheridan College, 85.5. 3, Cole Skender, University of Alabama – Monticello, 82.5. 4, Caden Bunch, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 81.5.