CSC rodeo teams hoping for another big weekend

The Chadron State cowboys wrapped up the regional team championship two rodeos ago and hold more than a 1,000-point lead in the standings. They have 4,176 points while Gillette College is second with 3,140. Casper College with 3,058.33 points is in the running to finish as the runner-up.

Both of the top two teams and the top three individuals in each event at the end of the regular season advance to the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper June 13-18.

Although Chadron State cowboys have placed at the CNFR seven times and won national championships on four of those occasions, this year’s team is just the second men’s team that has qualified for the finals rodeo. The first team qualified in 2002.

Although currently fourth in their standings, the CSC cowgirls are still within striking range of qualifying as a team for the CNFR. Gillette College has nailed down the women’s team title with 2,579.96 points. The University of Wyoming is second with 1,850 points, Northeastern Junior College (NJC) at Sterling, Colorado, is third with 1,773.33 and Chadron State is fourth with 1,670.

At the most-recent regional rodeo hosted by Casper College, the CSC cowgirls scored 385 points. A similar performance this weekend could vault them into second place in the team standings.

Regardless of what happens this weekend, Chadron State’s most prominent cowgirl, Shelby Winchell of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, is on her way to the CNFR for the fourth time in her career. She has scored 1,055 points to hold a 550-point lead in the goat tying.

Winchell finished third in goat tying at the CNFR in 2012 while she was attending Eastern Wyoming College, qualified again and was among the 12 goat tying finalist in 2013 after transferring to Chadron State and tied for second in the event in 2014.

Another Chadron State cowgirl, Bandi Jo Cwach of Geddes, South Dakota, is tied for fourth in the latest goat tying standings with 450 points, just 20 points out of third place and 55 out of second.

CSC’s Jessie Miller of Woodland Park, Colorado, also is solidly in contention to qualify in breakaway roping. After not placing at the first seven rodeos on the schedule, she has been second and first at the last two rodeos to collect 280 points and climb into third place in the regional standings.

Taylor Engesser of Gillette College has a big lead in breakaway roping with 490 points, but Callie Robinson of Sheridan College is in second place just 13 points ahead of Miller. However, five contestants have at least 231 points and could pass Miller in the standings if she fails to catch her calves in Laramie.        

In the men’s standings, Clayton Van Aken of Descanso, California, leads Chadron State. He is second in the tie down roping standings and third on the team roping header’s list. He’s also second on the region’s all-around cowboy list with 960 points, but Trenton Turner of NJC has a 250-point lead and is pretty well assured of winning the all-around honor.

The other leaders for the Chadron State men’s team are bareback riders Nate McFadden of Elsmere, Nebraska, and Justin Kissack of Gillette.

Dylan Wahlert of Casper College has wrapped up the region’s bareback title with 1,405 points. McFadden is second with 1,045 points and Kissack is third with 890. No one else has more than 555.

CSC freshman Dakota Rice of Kellogg, Idaho, is third in the bull riding standings heading into the final regional rodeo. He has 310 points, just 40 fewer than the runner-up, but three other bull riders have at least 230.

Chadron State rodeo coach Dustin Luper said leading candidates to fill CSC’s six-man roster for the national finals rodeo are senior Lane Day of Bartlett, Nebraska, junior Colby Anders of Bayard and sophomore Prestyn Novak of Newell, South Dakota. All three compete in both the tie down roping and steer wrestling.