Three bareback riders place in top seven

Solid rides from rough stock riders landed the men’s Chadron State rodeo team third out of ten teams at the Eastern Wyoming College rodeo in Torrington last weekend.

Whitten Hoover, sophomore of Ainsworth, carried the men’s team by placing first in average for the bareback bronc event. Hoover scored 75 in the long go, and 74 in the short round.

Jeddidiah Wilson, sophomore of Sugar City, Colo., took third in averages in the same event with 70- and 71-point rides, respectively. He placed fifth in the long round and third in the short.

“Sometimes taking a long time off produces a lot of rust that you’ve got to knock off,” Wilson said of the winter break between rodeos.

The last Chadron cowboy to place in the short go of bareback was Ty Werdel, sophomore of Chadron. His 71-point ride in the long go was enough to make the top 10, placing him in seventh.

Freshman of Dubois, Wyo., Casey Albright placed sixth average and fourth in the long round of saddle broncs. He scored 64 points for his ride in the long go, but was bucked off in the short round.

Teammate Chip Hartman, senior of Chadron, “blew both stirrups,” Wilson said of Hartman’s saddle bronc ride in the long round, “but still made eight.” He didn’t place.

In the speed events, Trey White, senior of Mullen, took fourth in the long round of tie-down roping with a time of 10.4 seconds. White didn’t place in the short go because his calf loosened the rope tied on three of his legs and stood up before the allotted 6 seconds.

Two cowgirls carried the women’s team last weekend. The women came in sixth out of nine teams.

An 8 second run placed Lacey Roberts, junior of New Underwood, S.D., fourth in the long round of goat tying, but her no-time in the short go landed her eighth average.

“Bob” carried Kaylee Gallino, sophomore of Wasta, S.D., to fifth place finishes in the long go, short go and overall in barrel racing. “I would say he’s doing real good for no more than I rode him,” Gallino said of her horse, Bob.

Colorado State University in Fort Collins is hosting the next rodeo this weekend. “We’re going to fix the little issues this week and they’re going to shine this weekend,” Coach Dustin Luper said. “The hard work we put toward the winners really paid off. I’m very proud of the kids.”