Your future, our focus
As the Northwest College rodeo team embarks on a months-long break and focuses more on classroom work, saddle bronc rider Clancy Glenn is sitting on an “A” grade.
Glenn leads the Big Sky Region rankings in saddle bronc, an event Trapper teammates have also crowded into.
After what seemed like a hurry-up fall season, Northwest is second in team points awaiting the split-season continuation next spring.
Northwest trails Montana State by more than 1,400 points after last weekend’s two rodeos at the University of Montana-Western.
“We got our butts handed to us,” coach Del Nose said of the first rodeo. “The second rodeo we did a little bit better. But we’re still in second.”
Saddle bronc has been a consistent strength. Glenn is first in the rankings with teammates Kade Bruno third, Logan Nunn sixth and Cody Weeks seventh.
“He should have another 200 points,” Nose said of Glenn being hurt by some off-rides last weekend.
Glenn agreed.
“I definitely could have ended up better,” he said. “It’s just part of the game.”
Beginning the season in early September, Glenn said he had no thoughts of emerging with the region’s No. 1 saddle bronc rating. But by last weekend it was on his mind.
“It was in my head a little bit,” he said.
By winning a rodeo last weekend, Justin Ketzenberg propelled himself into the top spot in bull riding. Bruno is third in that discipline and Austin Herrera sixth.
“Our bronc riders and bull riders are doing good,” Nose said.
So is Paden Wade Woolstenhulme, who holds top-15 ratings in tie-down roping, steer wrestling, and whom Nose believes will make a bigger splash in the spring.
Likewise, Bruno, a freshman who is second in the All-Around and is viewed as a burgeoning star, perhaps to someday equal recently departed Caleb McMillan, now on the pro circuit.
“Bruno could be the next McMillan,” Nose said.
In an uncharacteristically low finish, Northwest was fifth in the first Montana-Western rodeo, but was third in the second one. The women’s team was sixth in the second rodeo, on the strength of Scout Yochum’s breakaway roping.
This was an unusual fall for Northwest. Ordinarily, the Trappers host the first rodeo of the season in early September. A horse virus outbreak in Powell foreclosed that and a postponement to this weekend was also eventually shelved. That meant Northwest was unable to have a home event at all this year.
Telescoping rodeos with two in a weekend twice as a regional rescheduling move meant things went along quickly in September.
“That was part of it,” Glenn said. “It did seem like it went by really fast.”