The 26th of Sept. culminated the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association fall season for the UVU rodeo team. After four rodeos, the men’s team currently ranks first in the nation with the women’s team sitting thirteenth.
The Rocky Mountain Region met in Cedar City, Utah to officially begin their fall rodeo season. Saddles were cinched, bucking horses were run into the chutes and cowboys and cowgirls alike dawned their hats, jeans, boots and team vests.
The UVU team was one of seven teams competing that weekend. Among the nine rodeo events, 21 competitors represented the wolverines.
Of those 21 competitors, 17 team members made it to the top ten in their individual events, qualifying them to compete again in the short go Saturday night.
Tori Thacker, a senior at UVU won breakaway roping with 2.9 seconds. “My calf was a medium runner,” said Thacker, “so I held to the shoulder and I hit the barrier just right. Everything just came together!”
Colton Bair, also a senior, won bareback with a score of 68.
Timed event cowboy Jake Woolstenhulme won steer wrestling with a time of 5.5 seconds. “It felt good,” said Woolstenhulme, a senior in the health education program. “I was ready to get the year off to a good start!”
Woolstenhulme remained successful throughout the season, retaining the number one ranking among college rodeo steer wrestlers.
Both men and women’s teams won the Cedar City rodeo and the following three rodeos held similar results for the UVU rodeo team.
Junior Sky Defa is ranked second in the region in breakaway roping. “I had a great season,” said Defa. “This is the best I’ve ever roped!”
Luke Pulham finished the season as an all around cowboy placing third in the region and seventh in the nation. Pulham is a sophomore business management major at UVU.
Rodeo coach Shane Draper was pleased with the success of the team. “We made a good show this season,” said Draper. “We’ve got a great team with a lot of potential.”
The UVU team has a five-month break ahead of them to prepare for the start of the spring rodeo season.
