College National Finals Rodeo Moves to Championship Short-Go

The College National Finals Rodeo will conclude on Saturday night at the Ford Center in Casper with the top 12 qualifiers in each event competing in the short go. National Championships will be handed out on Saturday, starting at 7 pm, and the atmosphere is always electric for the final performance.

In the saddle bronc, James Perrin of Casper College enters the short-go leading the average by 5 points with 240 on 3. Malcolm Heathershaw of Casper College is 6th in the average, and another T-Bird, Eastan West, is 9th. Over in the bareback, Cooper Filipek from Gillette College has the #1 spot at 241.5 on 3, but just a half a point ahead of Kooper Hemlburg of Missouri Valley College. Just two guys rode all 3 bulls this week, and Trace Scarlavai of Mid-Plains leads the aggregate with 242.5, and Gavin Knutson from Montana Western is at 221.5.

In the tie-down roping, Slade Wood of Southwest Texas and his teammate, Tyler Calhoun, are tied for the lead in the average at 29.6 on 3. Jacob Wang of the University of Wyoming is 3rd in the bulldogging at 17.1 and in team roping, the Casper College duo of Clay Helm and Kash Reynolds are 3rd in the average at 22.5. Jace Mayfield of Midwest, along with his Central Wyoming College teammate Caden Gines, is 10th in the average of this event.

For the ladies in the goat-tying, Josie Mousel of the University of Wyoming enters in the short-go in 7th place at 20.1 on 3 while her teammate Landry Haugen is 11th in the aggregate at 20.7. Over in the breakaway roping, Jordyn McNamee of UW is 6th in the average at 9 and 2 while Haiden Thompson of Yoder, who competes for Gillette College, is 12th in the average. Thompson is running 1st in the women's all-around. Brylee Grubb of Gillette College is 5th in the barrel racing average, and the Pronghorns are leading the team standings, along with Southwest Texas with 285, and UW is 4th with 195.

We have another collection of photos from the CNFR, and these are from Friday night's performance at the Ford Center in Casper. The pics are located in our gallery below. Enjoy!