CASPER, Wyo. (June 11, 2024) — After three days of competition at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), contestants are seeing their dreams of national championships fading away or coming closer to reality.
The first performance of the rodeo kicked off at the Ford Wyoming Center on Tuesday night. It featured all nine rodeo events with contestants starting their third round of competition. The first round started Sunday at the Bulls, Broncs and Breakaway and finished during Monday’s slack. Tuesday was an action-filled day which featured the second round during the day. After a short break, fans filled the stands for the first full performance.
Those fans nearly brought down the house when Wyoming’s own Ira Dickinson competed in the saddle bronc riding. Dickinson, who grew up near Rock Springs, is making his second appearance at the CNFR. His first was in 2022 while he was attending Oklahoma’s Panhandle State University at Goodwell where he got his bachelor’s degree.
He has now transferred and is a recent graduate of Tarleton State University with a master’s degree in Agri and Consumer Resources. When he was here in 2022, he rode only one of his three preliminary horses. This year, he has done much better than that. On Tuesday night he took the lead in the third round with an 84.5-point ride on Kirsten Vold Rodeo Company’s Painted Fling. That also moved him to the top of the overall leaderboard with a total of 234 points on three rides. He has a 17.5-point lead over the rest of the field.
With three more performances before Saturday night’s championship finals, his position may change, but it is quite likely that he will be among the top 12 that advance to the finals. For the next three days, he will be enjoying his last CNFR as a competitor.
Enjoying his first time as a competitor is Wacey Schalla from Arapaho, Oklahoma. Schalla qualified in the bareback and bull riding and is representing Clarendon (Texas) College. He has ridden two of three bulls and all three of his bareback horses. He leads the overall standings in the bareback riding with a total of 229 points.
He won the first and second round in bull riding and is the only contestant who has the potential to ride all three of his preliminary bulls. If he does, he will be racking up points towards the all-around championship which is a big item on his goal list.
The second performance of the CNFR will begin at the Ford Wyoming Center on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. where the third round will continue with new contestants.
CASPER, Wyo.—The following are results from the third round of the College National Finals Rodeo, June 11, 2024, courtesy of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. Complete results are available at www.collegerodeo.com.
Barrel racing: (third round leaders) 1, Jordan Driver, Tarleton State University, 13.84 seconds, 2, Taycie Matthews, University of West Alabama, 13.92. 3, Allie Murphy, South Plains College (Levelland, Texas), 14.04. 4, Saydee Sue Davis, Utah State University Eastern (Price, Utah), 14.14.
(overall leaders) 1, Taycie Matthews, University of West Alabama, 41.66 seconds. 2, Jordan Driver, Tarleton State University, 42.38. 3, Saydee Sue Davis, Utah State University Eastern (Price, Utah), 42.81. 4, Kennedy Buckner, Blue Mountain Community College (Pendleton, Ore.) 43.06.
Bareback riding: (third round leaders) 1, Wacey Schalla, Clarendon College, 74.5 points. 2, Dylan George, Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College, 74. 3, Jackson Lunn, Mid-Plains Community College (North Platte, Neb.), 73. 4, (tie) Wyatt Wood, Cal-Poly State University – San Luis Obispo, and Hunter Greenup, Blue Mountain Community College (Pendelton, Ore.), 68.
(overall leaders) 1, Wacey Schalla, Clarendon College, 229 points. 2, Chase Siemens, Casper College, 218. 3, Wyatt Wood, Cal-Poly State University – San Luis Obispo, 210. 4, Jackson Lunn, Mid-Plains Community College (North Platte, Neb.), 208.5.
Tie-Down Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Ty Moser, Gillette College, 9.8 seconds. 2, Zane Kilgus, Northeastern Oklahoma A & M College, 11. 7. 3, Brayden Bennette, Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), 17.2. 4, Tate Talkington, Northeastern Junior College (Sterling, Colo.), 17.5.
(overall leaders) 1. Zane Kilgus, Northeastern Oklahoma A & M College , 30.2 seconds. 2, Tate Talkington, Northeastern Junior College (Sterling, Colo.), 40.6. 3, Cael Stratton, Central Arizona College, 47.0. 4, Blake Bowler, Southern Utah State University, 54.2.
Breakaway Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Taylor Jones, Blue Mountain Community College (Pendleton, Ore.), 2.4 seconds. 2, Landry Haugen, University of Wyoming, 2.4 seconds. 3, Maggie Usher, Cal-Poly State University – San Luis Obispo, 2.9. 4, Riley Donnelly, Black Hills State University (Rapid City, S.D.), 3.0.
(overall leaders) 1, Riley Donnelly, Black Hills State University, 18.1 seconds. 2, Lena Berens, New Mexico State University, 19.3.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (third round leaders) 1, Ira Dickinson, Tarleton State University, 84.5 points. 2, James Perrin, Casper College, 73.5. 3, Blake Steuck, Fort Scott (Kansas) Community College, 71. 4, Carson Neal, Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas), 68.5.
(overall leaders) 1. Ira Dickinson, Tarleton State University, 234 points. 2, James Perrin, Casper College, 216.5. 3, Caleb Meeks, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 202. 4, (on two) Blake Steuck, Fort Scott (Kansas) Community College, 146.5.
Steer Wrestling: (third round leaders) 1, Sam Carson, Utah Valley University, 4.1 seconds. 2, Nate Clark, New Mexico State University, 4.6. 3, Jude Leonards, McNeese State University, 5.3. 4, Dane Hass, College of Southern Idaho, 5.4.
(overall leaders) 1, Sam Carson, Utah Valley University, 13.2 seconds. 2, Trisyn Kalawai’a, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 15.5. 3, Colin Fox, Sam Houston State University, 19.5. 4, Hayden Andersen, Utah Valley University, 27.5.
Bull Riding: (third round leaders) No qualified rides. (overall leaders- on two) 1, Wacey Schalla, Clarendon College, 164 points. (on one) 2, Lane Vaughn, Western Texas College, 79. 3, Zeke Martinez, Wharton County (Texas) Community College, 78.5. 4, Zane Monnett, Western Texas College, 77.5.
Goat Tying: (third round leaders) 1, Justise Jones, Colorado Mesa University, 6.6 seconds. 2, (tie) Macie Fowlie, Cochise (Ariz.) College, and Tori Brower, Tarleton State University, 7.1 each. 4, Madison Baumberger, Walla Walla Community College, 8.6.
(overall leaders) 1, Justise Jones, Colorado Mesa University, 20.2 seconds. 2, Macie Fowlie, Cochise (Ariz.) College, 20.5. 3, Tori Brower, Tarleton State University, 21.3. 4, Hailey Wilbur, California State University – Fresno, 23.6.
Team Roping: (third round leaders – three times) 1, Joseph Rawls, Feather River College (Quincy, Colo.), and Billy Aviles, Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), 6.0 seconds. 2, Jett Stewart, Weatherford (Texas) College, and John Hisel, South Plains College (Levelland, Texas), 6.1. 3, Zane Kilgus, Northeastern Oklahoma A & M College, and LJ Yeahquo, Western Oklahoma State College, 8.4.
(overall leaders – on two) 1, Trey Hughes, Angelo (Texas) State University, and Caden Tinsley, Ranger (Texas) College, 15.1 seconds. 2, James Arviso, Hill College (Hillsboro, Texas), and Kaden Profili, Texas A & M University – Commerce, 15.5. 3, Lan Fuhrer, South Dakota State University, and Clayton Backhaus, Black Hills State University (Rapid City, S.D.), 17.3. 4, Blake Bowler, Southern Utah University, and TJ Bowler, Utah State University, 18.6.
