Your future, our focus
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
After a difficult year which saw only two Northwest Trapper cowboys advance to the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, the Trappers had a strong end to the season with one finishing in the top ten.
Leading the way for Northwest was Logan Smith in the tie down roping, earning a top-10 spot after a strong few days during the week.
In his first attempt Smith finished in 11.4 seconds to tie for 18th in the first go.
He continued to finish in the top 25 with a time of 12.6 the second go and finished 23rd in that session.
In the third session he shot up the leaderboard, finishing in 9.5 seconds to take 11th for that go and advancing him to the finals on Saturday.
In the short go, he finished in 12.4 and earned a seventh place finish overall for the weekend.
“He worked so hard and so long for two years to get through to the finals,” coach Del Nose said. “A lot of those guys come out from Texas and Arizona that come out roping and he hung with them.”
Nose said that Smith will continue his career by heading to Montana State University for his junior year.
The other competitor for the Trappers at the CNFR was Zane Young, who battled in a week that proved to be too tough in bull riding.
Young was unable to get a qualifying ride, and he was not the only competitor left behind throughout the week.
Only two bull riders got times out of 33 the first go around, and only nine total scores were completed from the three sessions throughout the week.
Three of those belonged to the same rider, while another finished with two resulting in only six bull riders advancing to the championship round Saturday.
Despite only having two at the finals, Nose said it was special to have somebody competing despite the recent struggles of the program overall since COVID-19.
“It’s always special to be taking someone to CNFR,” Nose said.
Heading into the new season which kicks off in just two short months, Nose said that he is bringing in the strongest recruiting class the team has seen since the pandemic hit.
“This is the best recruiting we have had since Covid,” Nose said. “They are very special and very competitive.”
He said that on top of the group coming in being talented, they are an intelligent group that brings in one of the highest cumulative GPAs that the program has had in awhile.
“They are good ranch kids that work hard and practice hard while being competitive,” Nose said. “It’s going to be the best team for us in a long time.”
He said that they usually do not receive a ton of Letters of Intent to compete, but he has signed six cowboys and three cowgirls for next year already.
Nose said that on top of a strong freshman class coming in, the Trappers also have some strong returners from this past year’s squad that showed promise and should improve alongside the freshman.
“We have some talented sophomores that should have made finals this year but just missed out,” Nose said. “These freshmen are really going to dress up the sophomores.”
The rodeo season kicks off with practice on Aug. 20 just before school starts on Aug. 23, with the first rodeo of the season being the Trapper Stampede in early September.