CSC cowboys need good rodeos to qualify for nationals

With only the rodeos at Casper College this weekend and the one at the University of Wyoming April 27-29 remaining, steer wrestling is Chadron State’s strongest event.

Three of the top five doggers through the first eight rodeos this school year are CSC cowboys.

Devin Dibbern of Riverdale, Nebraska, leads with 445 points, Kalane Anders of Bayard, Nebraska, is tied for second with 410 points and Prestyn Novak of Newell, South Dakota shares fourth place with 300 points.

The three contestants with the most points in each of the nine events at the end of the season advance to the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Casper in June.

Dibbern and Anders have risen to the top of the steer wrestling leader board by winning the event at the last two rodeos. Dibbern tallied 160 points while taking first at the Eastern Wyoming College rodeo in Torrington March 23-25 and Anders earned the maximum of 180 points while posting the fastest times in both go-rounds at Colorado State in Fort Collins April 6-8.

Taylor Davidson of Central Wyoming College at Riverton also has 410 points to share second place in the regional standings with Anders. Another Central Wyoming contestant, Thomas Davis, is tied with Novak for fourth and fifth with 300 points.

Chadron State’s Rowdy Moon of Sargent, Nebraska, also has an excellent chance of qualifying for the CNFR. He’s ridden 15 of the 16 barebacks he’s drawn at regional rodeos this year, accumulating 760 points to rank second in the standings. The event leader is Chance Ames of Sheridan College with 895 points while another Sheridan cowboy, Hunter Carlson, is third with 640.

Thomas Davis, the Central Wyoming steer wrestler, is also in contention in bareback riding with 570 points, good for fourth in the standings.

Two Chadron State bull riders, Ethan Lesiak of Clarks, Nebraska, and Chasen Cole of Hermosa, South Dakota, are in contention to qualify by nationals, but they will need to stay aboard until the eight-second buzzer sounds at least a couple times during the final two rodeos.

Lesiak is fifth in the standings with 260 points and Cole is sixth with 230. The top two bull riders in the region at this point are University of Wyoming contestants Jacob Smith and Coby Lane with 430 and 395 points, respectively. Third on the list is Ken Thompson of Sheridan with 290 and fourth is Nathan Hoey of Lamar College in Colorado with 270.

The Chadron State cowboys remain in the hunt to be one of the three teams from the region to make it to the finals, but, again, they will have to tally lots of points to make it happen.

The CSC team is fifth in the regional standings with 2,570 points. Sheridan with 3,240 has the lead, followed by Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne with 2,885, Gillette with 2,820 and Casper with 2,740.

Men’s teams can earn more than 500 points at a rodeo if they have an exceptional weekend. Chadron State’s high so far this year was 495 at Gillette. But, to finish among the top three teams, the CSC men will have to pass two of the other contenders, which figures to be a tall order.