CASPER — The University of Wyoming’s three steer wrestlers and team ropers came alive during Tuesday’s second slack round at the College National Finals Rodeo at the Casper Events Center.
That effort gave UW 240 points after two rounds, and fifth place in the team standings. The Cowboys are 65 points behind first-place Tarelton State.
Leading the way for the steer wrestlers was junior Ty Everson of Helena, Montana, who turned his steer over in 3.7 seconds to give him a two-round time of 9.5. That moved him into third place in the aggregate.
“I knew I had a good steer. I saw him go (Monday), and I knew he would give me a pretty good chance,” Everson said. “I was making sure I was right on the barrier and didn’t have to run him very far. He came around and did all the work. I just kind of had to hang onto his head.
“It feels pretty good to be third. This is the first time I’ve caught two steers in a row in this building. I’ll take it. Anything at this point feels pretty good.”
Everson wraps up his third round tonight with a trip to the finals on the line.
Freshman Caden Camp of a Belgrade, Montana, won the second round of steer wrestling with a time of 3.5. He had a no-time the day before to take him out of the aggregate.
“I didn’t have a good day (Monday), so I wanted to win the round (Tuesday),” Camp said. “My steer wasn’t supposed to be that great. I had good horsepower on both sides. My hazer did a great job, and my mare does a great job and gives me her all. I just happened to make a good run.”
Everson followed Camp with the round’s second-best time. Together, the UW teammates scored 150 points.
Junior Seth Peterson of Minot, N.D., kept his steer wrestling finals bid alive when he had his best time in two rounds at 4.8. He’s at 11.6 seconds on two, moving him up to seventh in the aggregate. His last shot at the finals is Thursday night.
“I got a better start, for sure, out of the box,” Peterson said. “With a better start, everything came together a lot better than the day before. I sure hope I can get another one down and see how it plays out. If I do my job, hopefully I can make it back.”
UW’s team ropers scored team points by placing fourth and fifth, respectively, Tuesday.
Lusk product Denton Shaw and partner Cooper White of Gillette College -- who have roped together for years but for the first time on the collegiate level -- stopped the clock in 5.5 seconds. They had a no-time the day before.
“After a no-time, you really have to let it all out. We were just going to be aggressive and fight our way back into the next round and, hopefully, make the finals Saturday,” Shaw said. “Cooper and I know each other and, if stuff doesn’t go right, we just try really hard each time.”
Camp returned more than an hour later after steer wrestling to combine with UW senior JC Flake of Mesa, Arizona, to record their best time of the week of 5.9. That made up for a no-time in their first round.
“We tried to be the fastest we could without beating ourselves,” Camp said. “I missed the barrier just a bit, but I knew I needed to because our steer didn’t start very hard. JC did a great job getting him heeled, because I didn’t have a very good handle, and JC cleaned up my mess.”
The UW women are in a tie for third place in the team standings with Northwest Oklahoma State with 140 points. The leaders are Tarelton State and the College of Southern Idaho at 160.
One of the Cowgirls remained alive for a spot in the finals after a successful second-round run in barrel racing.
Sophomore Rachael Calvo of Bassett, Nebraska, had a time of 14.36 seconds. Her first-round time was 14.38, and she is third in the aggregate at 28.74. Ashtyn Carlson of the College of Southern Idaho leads at 28.62.
“I was kind of hoping to improve from Monday, because we kind of got hung up on the second barrel and we came up wide on the third barrel,” Calvo said. “I just wanted to be quicker, so it was a good reliever to be more consistent.”
Other UW results Tuesday included:
-- Peterson’s tough week continued in tie-down roping when he missed his calf. Peterson won the region all-around title this season, had a 19.8-second time on one head Monday, which included a 10-second penalty for breaking the barrier.
-- Junior Jase Staudt was just a five-tenths of a second away from recording his best tie-down roping time of the week after tying his calf in 9.8 Tuesday. However, the calf broke loose from the tie at the 9.5-second mark, leaving him with a no-time.
-- Senior Teisha Coffield of Yuma, Colorado, is still looking for her first successful catch in breakaway roping. For the second straight round, the two-time regional roping champion recorded a no-time.
-- Junior Payton Donnelly of Elk Point, S.D., could not match her opening breakaway roping run when she missed on her second attempt. Donnelly had a 2.5-second time Sunday.
-- Sophomore Kelsey Lensegrav remained in contention for the barrel racing finals with a 14.77 time Tuesday and 29.48 on two.
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