UW Rodeo Teams Regroup With Solid Lineups for Season Opener

With just one round left and what appeared to be a breakthrough for both University of Wyoming rodeo teams at last summer's College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), the two squads appeared ready to be among the nation's elite.

Back in June, the Cowboys were sixth in the nation, while the Cowgirls were 10th, poised to send a number of team members into the CNFR's short go. But, with a tough third round and no points coming out of the short go, both UW teams fell in the final standings. The Cowboys ended the season 15th, while the Cowgirls were 19th overall.

Just three months later, Coach Seth Glause and his teams have added new points team members, but make no mistake: The Cowboys and Cowgirls have set high goals for themselves heading into the fall season this weekend at the Chadron State College (CSC) rodeo in Nebraska.

In his second year, Glause says the three main goals for his team are to have a team grade-point average above a 3.0; win the men's and women's Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) titles; and put themselves in a position to win a national team championship.

The Cowboys will be competing for their seventh straight CRMR team title, while the Cowgirls are attempting to win for the fifth time in seven years. The last two seasons, the UW women have been the regional runners-up.

"Going into the fall season, our teams look sharp. My expectation is that we capitalize at each and every rodeo," he says. "We need to put ourselves into a position to be successful on short round Sundays. I feel confident in the group that we have. If we execute how we are capable of, we should have a great year."

It all starts with selecting the six-man and four-woman points teams at each of the five fall and spring rodeos. Five of the six men on the points team entering the opening rodeo have CNFR experience:

-- David Gallagher, from Brighton, Colo., will compete in team roping, tie down roping and steer wrestling. He qualified for the CNFR last season in steer wrestling and is the defending regional champion steer wrestler.

-- Colton Farrow, of Greybull, returns in bareback riding and also qualified for his first CNFR last season as the region's third-best competitor in the event.

-- Rio Nutter, from Rapid City, S.D., opens the season in team roping, tie down roping and steer wrestling. He is a two-time CNFR qualifier in team roping and scored the third-most header points last season.

-- Jacob Wang, from Baker, Mont., won the regional steer wrestling title in 2023 and has one year of experience competing in the finals.

Two new team members will compete for Cowboy points at CSC:

-- Dixon Tattrie, of Youngstown, Alberta, Canada, is a former Laramie County Community College (LCCC) saddle bronc and bull rider who qualified for last season's CNFR.

-- Rhett Witt, from Valentine, Neb., another LCCC transfer, will compete in team roping, steer wrestling and tie down roping.

Three of the women's points team members bring in plenty of CNFR experience:

-- Riata Day, from Fleming, Colo., is a three-time CNFR qualifier and will compete in goat tying and barrel racing. She finished third in last season's CRMR goat tying standings.

-- Wheatland's Rayne Grant is one of Glause's top recruits. The LCCC transfer was last summer's CNFR's reserve all-around champion, scoring points in barrel racing and breakaway roping. She will open the season competing in both events, along with team roping and goat tying. Grant is the defending regional barrel racing champion and was the reserve all-around champion.

-- Landry Haugen, from Sturgis, S.D., qualified for last season's CNFR in her first season and will compete in goat tying, breakaway and team roping, and barrel racing. She was the region's second-best breakaway roper last season and was third in the all-around.

-- Cowgirl veteran Josie Mousel, of Egan, S.D., will compete in goat tying and breakaway roping this weekend. She was among the top five in both events in the region last season.

Glause will evaluate the points teams each week before each weekend rodeo, and he has the luxury of having overall depth for both clubs.

"We are really deep overall, from top to bottom. This helps our incoming students know how to compete and be successful in the arena," he says. "Practices have been great, and our students are really pushing each other to reach their maximum potential."

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.