Two cowboys snag second

Bareback rider Whitten Hoover, junior of Ainsworth, and steer wrestler Tyrel Bonnet, junior of Newell, S.D., both placed second in their events at the Lamar Community College rodeo this past weekend in Lamar, Colo.

Hoover tied for first in the long round with a score of 71 points. His score of 73 landed him second in the short round. Hoover has been in the top three positions in all four rodeos of the season.

“My first horse wasn’t really the pick of the pen, but he bucked and I managed to get him rode,” Hoover said. “My second horse was really good, and I didn’t get him started as good as I should have, but I felt like I finished really strong.”

Bonnet and two others Chadron State cowboys make the short round of steer wrestling.

Bonnet’s first time of 7 seconds flat placed him in tenth, barely carrying him to the short round, but his time of 6 seconds flat placed him first in the short round and second overall.

“It was kind of a joke, really. I came back tied in the tenth hole, no points, no money,” Bonnet said. “It ended up working out. I made an all-right run on that steer. It wasn’t fast by any means.”

Bonnet compares rodeo to an everyday job.

“It’s just another day at the office,” he said. “Last weekend I missed the barrier. It was a bad day at the office. That’s all it is. It’s a fun office. The minute you start looking at points is the minute it stops being fun and everything goes downhill. This is what makes me happy. This is my thing.”

Fellow bulldogger Miles Spickelmier, junior of Imperial, wrestled his steer in the winning time of 4.8 seconds in the long round, but his time of 9.5 seconds pulled him back to his fourth place finish.

Levi Gorsuch, junior of Bridgeport, placed a far-behind seventh in steer wrestling. He was standing in third heading into the final round, where he flipped his steer in 9.7 seconds.

Collin Chytka, freshman of Broken Bow, rode his bronc to a sixth place spot in bareback riding. Tanner Olson, sophomore of Bartlett, also made it back to the short round in barebacks, but didn’t place once there.

Marcy Henderson, junior of Deer Trail, Colo., stayed consistent this weekend in her home state. She roped both her calves in 3.4 seconds, but tripped the barrier in her second run. She wound up seventh in breakaway roping averages.

Teammate Stormy Fink, sophomore of Billings, Mont., tied for eighth with two other women in the same event.
Kelsey Scott, junior of Douglas, Wyo., made the short round in goat tying, but didn’t place in the top eight.
Rodeo participants have a weekend off before their next rodeo, Oct. 15 – 17 at Laramie Community College in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Hoover said he has mixed feelings about a week off.

“I want to compete, but I like to have the time to work on some things,” Hoover said.