Men’s and Women’s Teams Qualify for the CNFR

Guymon, Okla. — The Oklahoma Panhandle State University Rodeo Team hosted the last college rodeo of the year right here in Guymon, Okla. The team put on a great rodeo and was very successful in the arena. The women’s team won the rodeo and the men’s team placed third. In the year as a whole, both teams won second place in the Central Plains Region, which allows them to take a full team to the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) consisting of six men and four women.

Jade Taton had a great weekend in the bareback riding winning the first round with a score of 80 points and placing second in the second round with a score of 68 points. Not only did Taton win the weekend, he also won the year-end title making him a CNFR qualifier.

Hadly McCormick was very consistent this weekend in the tie-down roping. McCormick turned in times of 11.1 seconds in both the long round and the short round giving him the reserve champion title for the weekend. Quint Bell also made the short round in the tie-down roping and won sixth in the short round and sixth in the average.

Five out of the 10 breakaway ropers in the short round were from Panhandle State. Hagen Brunson split for second place in the long round with a time of 2.3 seconds. Brunson placed fourth in the short round with a time of 4.5 seconds giving her the third place in the average. Beau Peterson was 2.6 seconds in the long round and 4.3 seconds in the short round placing her fourth in the average. Ayvree Smith rode the horse of the year, Rambo, and had a time of 2.1 seconds in the long round and 13 seconds in the short round with a ten second penalty. Smith placed fifth in the average. Sierra Smith and Mariah Dermody also made it to the short round, but unfortunately got no times in the short round.

Dawson Dahm scored 75 points in the long round. Dahm then scored 77 points in the short round placing him second in the round and second in the average. Dahm won the year-end title making him another of our CNFR 2019 qualifiers. Ira Dickinson won fifth in the average. Sam Martin won sixth in the average. Tanner Hays also qualified for the short round, but did not place in the average.

Quint Bell also made the short round in the steer wrestling. Bell placed fourth in the long round with a time of 8.6 seconds. Bell then had a time of 8.9 seconds in the short round placing him third in the average. Lane Giovanetti was also in the steer wrestling short round and placed fifth in the average.

Panhandle State won the first through fourth place in the goat tying this weekend and the first through third place in the year-end. Kaylee Smith had a perfect weekend in the goat tying. Smith won both rounds and the average with the two fastest times of the rodeo. Smith therefore secured her spot as the 2019 Goat-Tying Champion qualifying her for the 2019 CNFR. Baylee Henderson won second in the average. Sierra Smith and Linzie Van Horn tied for third in the average. Beau Peterson did not have the weekend she expected with her goat getting up in the long round, but still won second in the region followed by Sierra Smith in third place. These three girls will therefore be competing at the CNFR in June.

Luke Meier and his partner won second in the long round of the team roping with a time of 6.9 seconds. The team then placed third in both the short round and the average. Trey Hall and his partner placed sixth in the long round, but did not get a time in the short round.

There is still one spot to fill on the women’s team and three spots to fill on the men’s team that will be heading to Casper, Wyo. for the CNFR in June. Coach Robert Etbauer and Assistant Coach Shelbie Weeder Rose will decide whom the best candidates would be to fill these spots. The rodeo team would like the thank the community for such a great turn out at their rodeo and show appreciation to everyone who has made this successful year possible. The teams will keep up the hard work and be ready to keep the winning tradition alive at the CNFR.