Championship Saturday at the 2023 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) began with the top 12 student athletes in nine events roping and riding for individual and team honors, The night ended with the crowning of 10 individual and two all-around national champions along with new women’s and men’s national champion teams.
The night began with bareback riding. Kade Sonnier, a graduate student in health and human performance at McNeese State University, qualified in eighth place in the finals but made a bid for the title when he scored 84.5 points on Vold Rodeo’s horse Brubby Spoon. Sonnier’s total of 314 points on four rounds held first place until the final bareback rider of the night.
Weston Timberman, who was born and raised in Casper before moving to Columbus, Montana, came in with the highest total after the first three rounds. Rodeo insiders were anticipating the matchup between Timberman and Vold’s horse Crossbreed’s Captain Hook – the horse Missouri Valley College’s Ty Pope rode to win last year’s title. The freshman science major at Clarendon College matched Sonnier’s score of 84.5 and won the championship by 11 points. Timberman was instrumental in Clarendon College winning another men’s team championship and also earned men’s rookie of the year honors.
Kincade Henry of Mount Pleasant, Texas, became one of the few tie-down ropers to win back-to-back college championships. The junior ag business major at Texas A & M University – Commerce came into the finals with a 2.7-second overall lead. His time of 10.5 seconds was good enough for second in the round and his second consecutive college title.
The first upset of the night came in breakaway roping. Makayla Farkas of Leona Valley, California, was in third place when the night began. The senior kinesiology major at West Hills College tied for second in the round with a time of 2.7 seconds and roped the championship with 10.9 seconds on four runs.
The saddle bronc riding had been a battle all week with a single point separating Quintin McWhorter of California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo and Damian Brennan of Western Texas College. The pair were the final two cowboys to compete with McWhorter, an ag education graduate student from Petrolia, California, going first. McWhorter scored 85 points on Vold Rodeo Company’s bronc named Jerry’s Justice for 323.5 total points. Brennan, an Australian who just wrapped up his junior year in farm and ranch management, and Vold’s bronc Moon Valley combined for 84 points, tied for second in the round and matched McWhorter’s total. Both athletes were crowned national saddle bronc riding champions.
JT Ellison, a senior at the University of West Alabama, came into the finals with a three-second lead overall. As the final competitor in steer wrestling Ellison, who majored in cell and molecular biology, made a business-like run of 6.7 and won the championship by 1.3 seconds.
The goat tying was the tightest event with six-tenths of a second separating the top eight finalists when the night began. Almost every cowgirl clocked a time in the six-second range. When the dust settled Montana State University senior Paige Rasmussen jumped from third to first overall when she won the final round with a time of 6.0 seconds. The psychology major from Bozeman won the all-around cowgirl national championship here in 2021, but this was her first individual national title.
A pair of Texans took national honors in the team roping. Slade Wood, a freshman from New Ulm, and Logan Moore, a junior from Pleasanton, held a lead of almost two seconds when Saturday’s action began. They finished second in the round and were named champion header and heeler, respectively. Wood is a business major representing Southwest Texas Junior College and Moore is a wildlife biology major at Wharton County Junior College.
Taycie Matthews of Wynne, Arkansas, won her first national title in her third trip to the CNFR. Matthews, a junior business major at the University of West Alabama, won two of the first three rounds and finished second in the other. She was the 12th barrel racer to compete in the finals and her time of 13.94 was good enough for second in the round and won the championship by 32-hundredths of a second. Three of the 12 finalists in barrel racing were from the University of West Alabama and Matthews led her team to the school’s first women’s team championship.
The night ended with Tristan Hutchings winning his second collegiate bull riding championship in three years. The Idaho native just wrapped up his senior year at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, with a degree in agriculture. Ironically, he drew the same bull that cost him the 2022 bull riding title here – Vold Rodeo Co’s Night Trip. Although he bucked off at 7.56 seconds, Hutchings won the title as the only bull rider to make three qualified rides this week.
The men’s all-around title went to Quade Hiatt of Canyon, Texas, a junior business marketing major at West Texas A & M University. He and partner Jace Helton of Weatherford College finished as reserve champions in team roping. Hiatt also finished fifth in tie-down roping.
Freshman Haiden Thompson of Yoder, Wyoming, won both the women’s all-around and rookie of the year titles. A business major at Gillette College, Thompson qualified for the finals in both breakaway roping and team roping.
The 2024 College National Finals Rodeo returns to Casper next June.
2023 COLLEGE NATIONAL FINALS RODEO CHAMPIONS
Bareback
Weston Timberman, Clarendon College, 325 points.
Tie-Down Roping
Kincade Henry, Texas A&M University
Commerce, 35.8
Breakaway Roping
Makayla Farkas, West Hills college, 10.9
Saddle Bronc Riding (tie)
Quintin McWhorter, Cal Poly State University, and
Damian Brennan, Western Texas College, 323.5 points
Steer Wrestling
Joshua Ellison, University of West Alabama, 26.0 seconds.
Goat Tying
Paige Rasmussen, Montana State University, 24.3 seconds.
Team Roping
Slade Wood, Southwest Texas Junior College and
Logan Moore, Wharton County Junior College, 22.8
Barrel Racing
Taycie Matthews, University of West Alabama, 55.53
Bull Riding
Tristen Hutchings, Sul Ross State University, 236 points
Men’s All-Around
Quade Hiatt, West Texas A&M University, 365 points
Women’s All-Around
Haiden Thompson, Gillette College, 180
Men’s Team
Clarendon College 855 points
Women’s Team
University of West Alabama, 696.3 points
Men’s Rookie
Weston Timberman, Clarendon College, 320 points
Women’s Rookie
Haiden Thompson, Gillette College, 180
Men’s AQHA Horse of the Year
Coral Lil Dual, Cutter Carpenter, Texas A&M University – Commerce
Women’s AQHA Horse of the Year
No Mistaken He’s Fine, Paige Rasmussen, Montana State University
The following are final results from the College National Finals Rodeo, June 17, 2023, courtesy of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. www.collegerodeo.com.
Bareback riding:
(final round) 1, (tie) Weston Timberman, Clarendon College, and Kade Sonnier, McNeese State University, 84.5 points each. 3, Ty Pope, Missouri Valley College; Nick Pelk, Missouri Valley College and Bradlee Miller, Sam Houston State University, 79. (total on four) 1, Timberman, 325. 2, Sonnier, 314. 3, Pope, 313. 4, Miller, 311.5. 5, Kooper Helmburg, Missouri Valley College, 310. 6, Donny Proffit, University of Wyoming, 309. 7, Sage Allen, College of Southern Idaho, 306.5. 8, Pelke, 305.
Tie-Down Roping:
(final round) 1, Cutter Carpenter, Texas A&M University
Commerce, 9.5 seconds. 2, Kincade Henry, Texas A&M University
Commerce, 10.4. 3, Connor Atkinson, Texas A&M University, 10.6. 4, Cole Walker, University of Tennessee
Martin, 10.7. (total on four) 1, Henry, 35.8. 2, Carpenter, 39. 3, Atkinson, 39.1. 4, Bodie Mattson, University of Wyoming, 39.5. 5, Quade Hiatt, West Texas A&M University, 40.7. 6, Walker, 40.8. 7, Daniel Miranda, Cal Poly State University, 42.1. 8, Logan Smith, Northwest College, 45.9.
Breakaway Roping:
(final round) 1, Raegan Steed, College of Southern Idaho, 2.6 seconds. 2, Makayla Farkas, West Hills College, and Kyleigh Winn, Kansas State University, 2.7 each. 4, Kennedy Buckner, Blue Mountain Community College, 3.1. (total on four) 1, Farkas, 10.9. 2, Buckner, 11.3. 3, Samantha Kerns, Treasure Valley Community College, 12.2 4, Steed, 13.3. 5, Winn, 21.3. 6, Sutton Mang, Allan Hancock College, 21.5. 7, Morgan Foss, Dickinson State University, 21.7. 8, Mikenna Schauer, Montana State University Northern, 29.4.
Saddle Bronc Riding:
(final round) 1, Quintin McWhorter, Cal Poly State University, 85 points. 2, (tie) Dylan Hancock, Clarendon College, and Damian Brennan, Western Texas College, 84. 4, Isaac Richard, McNeese State University, 83.5. (total on four) 1, (tie) McWhorter and Brennan, 323.5 each. 3, Richard, 320.5. 4, Hancock, 319. 5, Slade Keith, Clarendon College, 314. 6, Will Pollock, Clarendon College, 310. 7, Lance Gaillard, Tarleton State University, 308.5. 8, Parker Fleet, Hill College, 308.
Steer Wrestling:
(final round) 1, Mason Couch, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 3.6 seconds. 2, Tyler Bauerle, Cisco College, 4.7. 3, Bradley Hesnor, McNeese State University, 5.0. 4, Colt Honey, Texas Tech University, 5.2. (total on four) 1, JT Ellison, University of West Alabama, 26.0. 2, Hesnor, 27.3. 3, Bauerle, 29.1. 4, Traver Johnson, Montana State University, 29.2. 5, Honey, 30.6. 6, Bode Spring, Montana State University, 32.8. 7, Jesse Keysaer, University of Tennessee
Martin, 33.8. 8, Kason Davis, Pearl River College, 34.2.
Goat Tying:
(final round) 1, Paige Rasmussen, Montana State University, 6.0 seconds. 2, Kaylee Cormier, McNeese State University, 6.1. 3, Kenna McNeill, University of Wyoming, 6.2. 4, (tie) Cheyenne Vande Stouwe, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 6.3 each. (total on four) 1, Rasmussen, 24.3. 2, Madelyn Richards, Texas A&M University, 24.7. 3, (tie) Cormier, and McNeill, 24.8. 5, Kaytlyn Miller, Texas Tech University, 25.1. 6, Haiden Thompson, Gillette College, 25.5. 7, Vande Stouwe, 25.7. 8, Avery Ledesma, New Mexico State University, 26.1.
Team Roping:
(final round) 1, Mason Appleton and Nicholas Lovins, Western Oklahoma State College, 5.5 seconds. 2, Slade Wood, Southwest Texas Junior College and Logan Moore, Wharton County Junior College 6.5. 3, Jace Hanks, and Wyatt Ahlstrom, Utah Valley University, 6.9. 4, Cam Jensen, University of Wyoming and Tanner McInerney, Gillette College, 10.3. (total on four) 1, Wood and Moore, 22.8. 2, Quade Hiatt, Western Texas A&M University and Jace Helton, Weatherford College, 29.1. 3, Appleton and Lovins, 32.4. 4, Hanks and Ahlstrom, 36.4. 5, Ty Johnson, Texas A&M University
Commerce and Cooper Parsley, Panola College, 49.5. (on two) 6, Cobie and Cole Dodds, Feather River College, 18.2. 7, Wyatt Bray, Tarleton State University and Cutter Pake Thomison, Western Texas College, 18.4. 8, Chilly Hernandez and Juanito Montoya, New Mexico State University, 21.0.
Barrel Racing:
(final round) 1, Tayla Moeykens, Montana State University, 13.84 seconds. 2, Taycie Matthews, University of West Alabama, 13.94. 3, Abby Hepper, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 14.05. 4, Annie alexander, New Mexico State University, 14.06. (total on four) 1, Matthews, 55.53. 2, Moeykens, 55.85. 3, Hepper, 56.40. 4, Raven Clagg, University of West Alabama, 56.93. 5, Emme Norsworthy, University of Wyoming, 56.97. 6, Annie Alexander, New Mexico State University, 57.26. 7, Jordan Driver, Tarleton State University, 57.52. 8, Gwyneth Cheyne, Blue Mountain Community College, 57.56.
Bull Riding:
(final round two rides) 1, Caden Bunch, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 84.5 points. 2, Dawson Gleaves, Weatherford College, 805. (total on three) Tristen Hutchings, Sul Ross State University, 236. 2, Dawson Gleaves, Weatherford College, 233.5. (on two) 3, Bunch, 166. (on one) 4, Wyatt Phelps, Sheridan College, 85.5. 5, Cole Skender, University of Arkansas
Monticello, 82.5, 6, Brad Moreno, Central Arizona College, 71.
Men’s All-Around:
1, Quade Hiatt, West Texas A&M University, 365 points. 2, Cole Walker, University of Tennessee
Martin, 113.3.
Women’s All-Around:
1, Haiden Thompson, Gillette College, 180 points. 2, Bailey Stuva, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, 45.
Men’s Team:
1, Clarendon College 855 points. 2, McNeese State University, 790. 3, Texas A&M University
Commerce, 690. 4, Missouri Valley College, 520.
Women’s Team:
1, University of West Alabama, 698.3 points. 2, Montana State University, 593. 3, University of Wyoming, 382.5. 4, Southwestern Oklahoma State university, 382.5.
“This is life-changing for us,” said Oklahoma cowboy Cody Doescher.“We live in a single-wide, and we’re trying to get out of it because we’ve outgrown it with three kids. We’re trying to get us a place either bought or built. Right now, that money couldn’t have come at a better time. We’ve never seen that much money at one time. To be able to put it to good use, it’s all a blessing in itself.” This is his 10th time competing at the CTEC.
