Rodeo Closes Regular Season with OPSU Rodeo

GOODWELL, Okla. – Rowdy Nimrod and Bailey Witt paced Southeastern in its regular season finale event at the Oklahoma Panhandle State Rodeo in Goodwell, Okla.
 
Nimrod would split the All-Around Championship on the men's side, while Witt posted a second-place finish in the goat tying to lead the women's team.
 
Nimrod got his run started in the tie down roping where he made the finals on a time of 10.7 which was second in the round. He followed it up with a 12.4 in the finals which was good for fourth in the round and moved him to second in the average.
 
Mason Couch joined him in the tie down finals after posting a 12.8 in the first round and followed it up with an 11.8 in the finals which split 2^nd/3^rd in the round and moved to fifth in the average.
 
Garrett Elmore also reached the finals after splitting 6^th/7^th with an 11.9 in the first round but suffered a no time in the finals.
 
Regionally, Rowdy Jackson would finish seventh in the Central Plains in the event while Couch ranked 12^th.
 
Nimrod would also advance in the steer wrestling which featured a trio of SE competitors in the finals.
 
Nimrod would post a 7.1 in the long-go to finish 11^th, while Gus Franzen was eighth with a 6.0 and Traden Anderson placed ninth on a 6.2 run.
 
Nimrod would come back with a 5.4 in the finals to finish third in the round and third in the average, while Anderson clocked a 10.2 in the finals to finish fifth in the round and the average. Franzen would suffer a tough run and his 23.2 would take him out of the average competition.
 
However, Franzen would hold onto second place in the Central Plains region and advance to a fourth College National Finals Rodeo, while Couch finished third and qualified for the CNFR as well. Anderson would finish 13^th regionally.
 
For Witt in the goat tying, she would reach the finals with a run of 9.4 which ranked eighth in the round before coming back with an 8.4 in the finals to finish second in the round and second in the average.
 
That finish would allow her to pick up the Central Plains Region Championship in the goat tying, earning her a CNFR qualification, while Kayla Earnhardt finished ninth, Jillian Pressley in 10^th and Hannah Giger in 11^th.
 
McKade Wickett would turn in an 8.1 with his partner in the team roping which was good for fifth place to reach the finals where they posted a 6.8 which finished third in the round and in the average.
 
In the bareback riding Montana Duvall would post a sixth-place finish in the long go to reach the finals where he would finish second and move up to third in the average.
 
A pair of SE riders advanced to the finals in the bareback as Josh Green would split the win in the long-go but suffered and injury and was unable to ride in the finals.
 
Luke Thrash would end up finishing second in the region to earn a CNFR qualification, while Green finished fourth and Duvall was fifth.
 
In the barrel racing, Giger would post a third-place finish in the long go, followed by Mataya Eklund and Avery Moyer who would all advance to the finals.
 
Once there it was Eklund who posted the fastest time of the weekend to win the round with Moyer finishing second in the round and Giger hitting a barrel in the finals. The finals runs would lift Moyer to fourth in the average and Eklund to fifth.
 
Eklund would end up fourth in the region in the event, followed by Katelyn Hobbie in eighth and Moyer in 10^th.
 
Tyler Pruitt would reach the finals in the saddle bronc riding after posting an eighth-place finish in the long-go. He would close the finals by splitting 4^th/5^th which moved him up to sixth in the average.
 
The finish would also move him to third in the region which would qualify him for the CNFR.
 
While SE had no final appearances over the weekend in the bull riding or the breakaway, Caden Bunch would take home the regional title and a CNFR berth in the bull riding while Hannah Hughes would end up fifth in the breakaway.
 
Overall for the teams, the men would also qualify as a team to the CNFR after finishing second in the region, while the women just missed with a third-place finish.