Young athletes: Wyoming High School Rodeo competitors qualify for nationals
The Wyoming High School Rodeo Association State Finals took place in Douglas June 7-12. Results are in and contestants had a successful event. The top four in all events will be representing Wyoming at the National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR). This year, the NHSFR will take place in Lincoln, Neb. July 18-24.
Girls’ events
Maddie Fantaskey from Worland with 248.50 points won the barrel racing event. Fantaskey will be joined at the national event by Jordan Morman of Gillette, Ashlyn Goven of Rozet and Rayne Grant of Wheatland.
Gillette’s Maddie Escew won pole bending with a combined total of 244.5 points. Wyoming will also be represented at the NHSFR by Rayne Grant of Wheatland, Ashlyn Goven of Rozet and Jordan Morman, also of Gillette.
With a combined total of 226.00 points, Hadley Furnival of Casper won the state finals breakaway event. Haiden Thompson of Yoder, Shelby Petersen of Douglas and Tavy Leno of Sheridan will be joining Furnival at the national event.
Haiden Thompson punched her second ticket to the national event, winning the goat tying at the Wyoming High School Rodeo Association State Finals with 247 points. Tavy Leno of Sheridan, Raelee Caldwell of Gillette and Rozlyn Herren, also of Gillette will be competing in goat tying in Lincoln.
Roughstock
Concluding the bareback event with 247 points, Tucker Carricato of Saratoga won the state finals. Joining him in the national area will be Roedy Farrell of Thermopolis, Jaspur Brower of Big Piney and Colton Farrow of Shell.
Jase Longwell of Thermopolis won the saddle bronc event with a score of 222.50 points. Also representing the Cowboy State in July will be Cain Ahern of Wyarno, Kayson Dory of Laramie and Jake Schlattmann of Greybull.
After no qualifying rides in the first round of the championships, Brody Hasenack of Jackson won the bull riding event with a grand total of 152 points. Newcastle’s Kacy Jones, Riverton’s Brodie Bates and Lusk’s Colton Coffman will also be traveling to Lincoln to represent Wyoming in the event.
Steer wrestling and roping
Securing 229.5 points in Douglas, Kall Mayfield of Midwest won the state championship in steer wresting. He will be joined at the NHSFR by Chance Sorenson of Arvada, Jase Longwell of Thermopolis and Bohdi Coombs of Wellington, Colo.
Coy Thar punched his ticket to nationals in the tie-down calf roping event after winning with 204.5 points. Startton Kohr of Gillette, Cord Herring of Veteran and William Albrect of Sherdian will also be competing.
In the team roping, Jade Espenscheid of Big Pine and Coy Johnson of Buffalo led the pack with a total of 390 points earned throughout the entirety of the Wyoming High School Rodeo Association State Finals. Teagan Bently and Mason Trollinger of Casper followed closely with 381 points, with the team of Broc Schwartzkopf of Douglas and Cord Herring of Veteran placing third to qualify for the NHSFR. Cort McBride of Meriden and teammate Bodie Herring of Veteran tied with Jase Longwell and McCoy Longwell of Thermopolis in fourth place, also qualifying for the national event.
Cow horse competitions
Maddie Fantaskey of Worland won her second event with a grand score of 210 points. Other national qualifiers in the reined cow horse competition include Haiden Thompson, Yoder; Broc Schwartzkoph, Douglas; and Sydnee Roady, Worland.
Coming in with a score of 229.5 points, Keyton Hayden of Gillette won the boys cutting. Cody Boller of Weston, Broc Schwartzkoph of Douglas and Joseph Hayden of Gillette will also be competing in the national arena.
The girls’ cutting events only qualified three contestants. Nonetheless, Emme Norsworthy of Thermopolis took home the state champion title with 246.5 points. Other contestants include Maddie Fantaskey of Worland and Baliegh Lane of Huntely.
Shooting events
Colter Nunn of Laramie wins the light rifle with 55.00 points. Also competing in July in the light rifle event will be Tipton Wilson of Jackson, Jessie Graves of Wheatland and Peityn Manor of Gillette.
The final event to come in was trap shooting. This year, Kolton Miller of Gillette won with 55.00 points. He will be joined by Jessie Graves of Wheatland, Ryan Nunn of Lovell and Matthew Wakkui of Wheatland at the national finals.
Other awards
At the end of the Wyoming High School Finals Rodeo, the committee selected other awards. Rookie awards went to Baliegh Lane of Huntley and Keyton Hayden of Gillette.
The committee also awarded an all-around athlete. The female award winner was Haiden Thompson of Yoder. Thompson will compete in breakaway, goat tying and reined cow horse. Maddie Fantaskey of Worland was reserve year end all around. Fantaskey won barrels and reined cow horse events.
Jase Longwell of Thermopolis punched his ticket to nationals in saddle bronc and steer wrestling, earning him the year end all-around title. Reserve was Broc Schwartzkoph of Douglas. Schwartzkoph placed in the reined cow horse, team roping and boys’ cutting events.
Finally, the Wyoming Rodeo Queen was announced. This year, Wheatland’s Roberta Cordingly holds the title.
Savannah Peterson is an intern for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
