Final Two Rodeos Approach, CWC Cowboys Have a Shot at CNFR
With only two rodeos left in the season several Central Wyoming College cowboys are sitting well in the region. The Colorado State University rodeo this past weekend proved well for the team.
In the steer wrestling three cowboys placed in the top five. Danny Huxtable led the trio in second place with a time of 7.1 seconds in the long go-round and 11.5 seconds in the short go-round. Teigen Finnerty followed in third place with times of 7.1 in the long go-round and 11.6 in the short go-round. With a tough steer in the long go-round which resulted in a longer time of 13 seconds, Kyle Choate was able to bring down his steer in 6.7 seconds in the short go-round bringing him up to fourth place.
Brady Thurston placed in the top ten in two events at the rodeo. He placed second in the tie down roping with a time of 11.7 seconds in the long go-round and 8.8 seconds in the short go-round. Thurston also placed seventh in the saddle bronc riding. He scored 67 in the long go-round but received a no score in the short go-round.
With 7.2 seconds in the long go-round and 7.7 seconds in the short go-round Kyle and Klint Choate placed third overall in the team roping.
Placing for the women's team was Kassie Kautzman in the goat tying. In the long go-round Kautzman had a time of 7.6 seconds and 10.5 seconds in the short go-round resulting in an 11th place finish.
Also placing for the women's team was Deni Lou Nicholls who placed fourth in the breakaway roping. In the long go-round Nicholls roped her calf in 3.0 seconds and in the short go-round she roped her calf in 3.6 seconds.
In the Central Rocky Mountain Region leader boards Thurston is in fourth place for saddle bronc riding. In steer wrestling Finnerty is second, Thurston is third and Dalton Burgener is fifth. The Choate's are sitting in sixth place for team roping and Kautzman is in contentions for sixth place in the breakaway roping. Only the top three contestants in each event will make it to the national finals rodeo this summer.
"The team is really excited for the next two rodeos," said Drew Schrock, rodeo coach. "We have quite a few kids with legit chances of making the CNFR along with the men's team. The neatest part about this whole team is they have worked hard from day one and believe that they can win. They need to have two big rodeos but with all of the All Around talent we have on this team anything is possible. We will continue to practice hard and made sure that our horses are working the best they can when we leave for Casper on April 21."
The CWC men's team is fourth in the region with 2,505 points. Sitting in first is Sheridan College with 3,770, Gillette College with 3,225 and in third is Chadron State College with 2,723.33.
The next rodeo for this season will be April 21-23 in Casper, Wyoming.