Chadron State pokes star at their own rodeo

Chadron State’s event winners were saddle bronc rider Jeff Cover of Ashby, bareback rider Wyatt Clark of Wellfleet and goat tier Shaylee Hance of Circle, Mont. All three are seniors.

A freshman, Prestyn Novak of Newell, S.D., finished second in tie down roping to join Cover and Clark in leading the Chadron State cowboys to the team title with 605 points. Casper College was second with 420 and Eastern Wyoming third with 340.

A 2010 graduate of Hyannis High School, Cover was the only saddle bronc rider (27 entries) to make the eight-second whistle on both of his rides. He also placed fourth in tie down roping to win the all-around cowboy honors, and is the third Chadron State cowboy to claim the all-around title at the CSC rodeo since 1981.

Clark scored 76 and 75 points to win the bareback riding by a single point.

Hance won both goat tying go-rounds in 7.1 seconds to lead Chadron State to third place in the women’s team standings.

All-around cowgirl Taylor Engesser led Gillette College to the women’s team title with 590 points. Northeastern Junior College of Sterling, Colo., was second with 395.

Engesser had the fastest times in both go-rounds of the barrel race and also placed fourth in breakaway roping. Deena Norrell of Casper was the breakaway winner in 2.5 and 3.4 seconds.

Besides Cover and Clark, two more cowboys born and raised on Nebraska ranches won championships at the CSC rodeo. David Hinman of Hay Springs was the tie down roping winner while competing for Northeastern Junior College and Dillon Simonson, a 2012 graduate of Sandhills High at Dunning who attends the University of Wyoming, was the top steer wrestler.

The next rodeo in the Central Rocky Mountain Region will be this weekend at Sheridan, Wyo.

The top six teams and individuals in each event follow:

Men’s team standings—1, Chadron State, 605 points; 2, Casper College, 420; 3, Eastern Wyoming, 340; 4, Gillette College, 285; 5, Northeastern Junior College, 270; 6, Wyoming, 205.

Women’s team standings—1, Gillette College, 590; 2, Northeastern Junior College, 395; 3, Chadron State, 180; 4, Casper College, 165; 5-6, Lamar College and Central Wyoming, 120.

Bareback riding—1, Wyatt Clark, CSC, 76-75, 151 points; 2, Neil Williams, Casper, 83-67, 150; 3, Dantan Bertsch, Casper, 76-68, 144; 4, Dylan Wahlert, Casper, 69-74, 143; 5, Jeff Zdiarski, Gillette, 68-73, 131; 6, Ethan Hecht, Wyoming, 65-70, 135.

Saddle bronc riding—1, Jeff Cover, CSC, 54-70, 124 points; 2, Tayte Clark, Sheridan, 69; 3, Wyatt Hageman, Wyoming, 50; 4, Cody Smith, Chadron, 45; 5, Reed Johnson, Laramie County, 34; 6, Aaron Higgins, Colorado State, 24. Note: Cover was the only saddle bronc rider to have two qualified rides.

Tie down roping—1, David Hinman, NJC, 10.9-11.0, 21.9 seconds; 2, Prestyn Novak, CSC, 11.1-13.1, 24.2; 3, A.J. Freeman, EWC, 12.7-13.0, 25.7; 4, Jeff Cover, CSC, 12.7-15.5, 28.2; 5, Matt Peters, Gillette, 12.7-19.0, 31.7; 6, Tanner Nielson, CWC, 13.0, 23.6-36.6.

Steer wrestling—1, Dillon Simonson, Wyoming, 5.4-6.4, 11.8 seconds; 2, Jake Fulton, Casper, 4.6 -8.0, 12.6; 3, A.J. Freeman, EWC, 5.4-8.0, 13.4; 4, Triston Eklund, CWC, 5.3-9.5, 14.8; 5-6, Casey Sellers, Gillette, 6.3-9.7, 16.0, and Jack Greer, 6.1-9.9, 16.0.

Team roping—1, Brady Wakefield, Gillette, and Levi O’Keefe, EWC, 7.6-5.4, 13.0 seconds; 2, Logan Milligan, EWC, and Joby Barquin, Casper, 7.7-7.3, 15.0; 3, Erika Wolaver, CWC, and Ryan Sadlier, CWC, 8.3-7.1, 15.4; 4, Colby Anders, NJC, and Cody Hill, Otero, 8.4-7.4, 15.8; 5, Blaine Finney, EWC, and Denum Santero, EWC, 7.0-11.5, 18.5; 6, Toby Dunlavy, Casper, and Hayli Bonham, Casper, 8.1-18.1, 26.2.

Bull Riding—1, Drew Antone, Casper, 69-71, 140 points; 2, Cawl Braithwaite, Casper, 71; 3, Chance Engelebert, LCCC, 67; 4, Ethan Hecht, Wyoming, 62. Note. Antone was the only bull rider to have two qualified rides.

Barrel racing—1, Taylor Engesser, Gillette, 15.42-15.49, 30.91 seconds; 2, Malanie Roman, Lamar, 15.79-15.61, 31.40; 3, Kristi Steffes, Gillette, 15.76-15.66, 31.42; 4, Tally Roepke, Gillette, 15.72-15.72, 31.44; 5, Skyler Eagles, NJC, 15.70-15.93, 31.63; 6, Cara Jolly, NJC, 16.03-15.93, 31.63.

Breakaway roping—1, Deena Norell, Casper, 2.5-3.4, 5.6 seconds; 2, Skyler Eagles, NJC, 3.1-3.1, 6.2; 3, Brandy Brown, LCCC, 3.5-3.4, 6.9; 4, Taylor Engesser, Gillette, 2.8-12.9, 15.7; 5, Kailee Webb, Wyoming, 3.3-12.8, 16.1; 6, Kailee Webb, Wyoming, 2.8-no time.

Goat tying—1, Shaylee Hance, CSC, 7.1-7.1, 14.2 seconds; 2, Coralee Spratt, Gillette, 7.3-8.0, 15.3; 15.3; Paxton Segelke, NJC, 7.8-7.6, 15.4; 4, Tioni Erickson, Sheridan, 7.2-9.1, 16.3; 5, Casey Reimler, Gillette, 8.0-9.8, 17.8; 6, Breanna Reimler, Casper, 7.6-10.3, 17.9.