The Utah Valley Rodeo Club was started in 1968 when Utah Valley Unversity was known as the Utah Trade Technical Institute. The club is one of the longest-lasting organizations here at UVU.
“From what I understand it is the first athletic program that what is now UVU ever had,” said head coach Shane Draper.
For those unfamiliar with rodeo, there is a wide range of events that take place. Among rodeo events is the breakaway, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, goat tying, team roping, and barrel racing.
Draper says the club does not hold tryouts, however, all with experience are welcome to apply. The application can be accessed on the UVU Rodeo website.
“We don’t necessarily have tryouts if I feel like they are experienced enough that it’s not gonna be a risk we let them come and rodeo for us.”
“We have prerequisites because of the risk factor that comes with it,” said Draper. “Most kids are from Utah so I’ve seen them high school rodeo. If it’s out-of-state kids or kids I haven’t watched I just have them send me videos to make sure there’s not the risk factor there.”
UVU’s Rodeo team events take place all over the western United States, but they will have one home event held in Spanish Fork in April. Students can keep up with the Rodeo team on their Instagram, Facebook and TikTok accounts, where they post updates and content from each rodeo. You can also find their full schedule here.
At their first event of the season, the Wolverines competed at Southern Utah University, where they had top finishers across the board. The results from that event are included below.
Breakaway – Montana Landis split 1st/2nd, Hattie Cornia 3rd, Maddie Roche 4th, Taylee Cornia 9th
Tie Down Roping – Wyatt Ahlstrom 3rd, Hayes Giles 7th, Rhett Nebeker 8th
Steer Wrestling – Hayden Boren 3rd, Wyatt Ahlstrom 7th, Eli Dansie 8th, Sam Carson 9th
Goat Tying – Hattie Cornia 3rd, Maddie Roche 4th, Montana Landis 6th, Skylee Draper 8th
Team Roping – Jace Hanks/Wyatt Ahlstrom 1st, Bret Olsen/Hayden Boren 4th, Quade Matthews/Hayes Giles 5th, Cottar Deveraux 7th
Barrel Racing – Dallie Bastian 3rd, Kiara Elegante 4th
