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Northwest Trappers Compete In First Spring Rodeo At Bozeman
The Northwest College rodeo team burst out the gates to start off the spring half of the 2015-16 rodeo season with a double rodeo in Bozeman, Montana, last weekend.
The first rodeo ended with the Trapper men in third place with 520 points, not far behind University of Montana, Western who ended the night with 555. The Trapper women placed seventh that night with 30 points, but came back kicking up the dust for a second-place finish on Saturday with 195 points, nearly double third-place’s Montana State University, Northern, who had 101 points.
“Well we had a great weekend and some tough luck at times,” said NWC head rodeo coach Del Nose. “The girls had tough luck the first day, the horses were indoors and in enclosed spaces, they get spooked. They just weren’t locked on, they were having hell.”
The Trapper men also progressed on Saturday, climbing the ranks to second place for the evening with 718 points, not far behind Montana State University’s 764.5-point total.
The Bozeman rodeo ended with the Trapper men in second-place for the Big Sky Region with 3,225.5 points, followed by University of Montana, Western, who currently have 3,158.5 points for the season. MSU leads the region with 4,221.5.
The Trapper women are currently ranked sixth in the region with 441 points.
RODEO NO. 1
Trapper cowboy Bubba Boots ranked second in the all around with 230 points thanks to his second-place time in the steer wrestling with 11.9 and his 23-second time in the tie down roping event, good for fourth place.
Fellow Trapper Lane Lahaye placed first in steer wrestling with 10.8. NWC’s Jesse Nelson placed third in bareback with 140 points, just nine shy of second, and Robby Cobler placed seventh with 62.
“Nelson made some great rides — the first horse was strong and heavy and he ended up 74 and second round he had a nicer horse and rode 77,” Nose said. “Then in the bull riding we had some problems there — and bronc riders got bucked off. The stock bucked, there was maybe two rides the whole weekend from all the schools and only six or seven in the bronc riding. The horses were pretty rank.”
NWC Trapper cowgirl Sierra Lyons placed eighth in goat tying with 7.7 in the first rodeo.
RODEO NO. 2
The second rodeo went better for the men’s and women’s teams with both ranking second. The Trapper men had 718 points, not far behind first-place team, Montana State University, with 764.5. The Trapper women tallied up 195 points, for a solid second-place finish against four-year universities.
Boots continued to showcase his versatility in the arena, ranking second in the men’s all around with 214 points thanks to his first-place win in tie down roping with a 9.9 and a fifth-place time in steer wrestling with 12.2.
“He didn’t draw pretty good, but he made some excellent runs on cattle who were stronger in the pen and he made excellent runs,” Nose said.
Meanwhile, Trapper cowboy Justin Honken pulled off a speedy throwdown in steer wrestling with a first-place time of 5.1.
Although it was a rough weekend for the roughstock events, Nelson was able to finish one of the few successful rides of the weekend with his 77-point, second-place ride in the bareback event followed by Cobler’s fifth-place 57-point ride.
NWC’s team ropers Lahaye and Shawn Bird also took home a second-place finish, tying it together in the team roping event with a 7.4.
It wasn’t just the Trapper men who had this rodeo all tied up, Tori Lewis placed third in goat tying with a 7.5 and Sierra Lyons wasn’t far behind with 7.6, good for fifth-place.
The Trapper cowgirls had two rank in the top 10 for barrel racing with Taylor Werbelow in fifth-place with 15.26 and Shelby Mann in seventh with 15.33.
EYES ON THE PRIZE
As the National College Finals Rodeo approaches, eyes are turning to overall individual rankings in the Big Sky Region, but anything could happen in the final regional rodeos of the season.
Currently, Lahaye leads the region by 159 points for the men’s all around with 1,156 and is third in steer wrestling with 391 points.
In what could be a repeat performance of last year’s stunning top of the region finish for Shawn Bird, he and Lahaye are currently ranked first in the region for team roping with 529 points each.
Boots is second in steer wrestling with 505 points, 11 shy of first-place and fourth in the tie down roping with 320 points. Casey Fredericks is currently ranked fifth for bull riding in the region with 150 points.
The Trappers have this weekend off from competing before hitting the arena again, this time in Miles City, Montana, on April 22-24.
“They have good guys there and had bad luck, so we are on a roll and that is what we are looking at,” Nose said. “We are all healthy and practice is good. They’re on their game, so we will see how it pans out.”