CHADRON, Neb. – The good-size crowds who attended the Chadron State College rodeo this past weekend at the Dawes County Fairgrounds in Chadron were greeted by favorable weather and lots of competition. The rodeo drew 474 entries while opening the 2026-27 season in the Central Rocky Mountain Region that covers Colorado, Wyoming and western Nebraska.

Chadron State had four entries finish among the top six in their events. Sid Miller in tie down roping and the duo of Amanda Sellin and Levi Noyes in team roping earned fifths and Leighton Sander and Shelby Derner were sixth in bareback riding and barrel racing, respectively. Two more CSC contestants—Pepper Rhyne in tie down roping and Morgan Rosander in barrel racing—were among the 10 qualifiers for Sunday's finals. 

Led by the reigning all-around cowgirl at last June's College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Josie Mousel, the University of Wyoming ran away with the women's team title at the rodeo. Mousel won the goat tying crown with a pair of 7.0-second runs and also shared top honors in breakaway roping with teammate Landry Haugen, each with two runs totaling 5.4 seconds. 

Mousel, who was also the all-around cowgirl at the CSC rodeo, caught each of her calves this weekend in 2.7 seconds while Haugen caught her first calf in 2.8 seconds and roped the second on Sunday in 2.6 seconds to match Mousel's cumulative time.  

Those victories helped the Wyoming Cowgirls tally 555.8 team points. Gillette College was second with 245.83 points, Laramie County Community College at Cheyenne was third with 130 and Central Wyoming College at Riverton was fourth with 105.  

A Gillette College contestant won the other event—barrel racing—that is exclusively for women. She's Kally Sorenson of whose times were 17.68 and 17.47 seconds for a total of 35.15 seconds. That allowed her to edge Kloe Nichols of LCCC by seven-hundredths of a second for top honors. 

Nichols was the barrel racing winner at last year's CSC rodeo when her times of 17.61 and 17.37 seconds added up to 34.98 seconds, or 24 hundredths of a second faster than her cumulative mark this year. 

Both barrel racing and breakaway roping are popular events.  There were 111barrel racers and 116 breakaway ropers at the Chadron State rodeo this past weekend. 

Gillette College won the men's team title at the CSC extravaganza with 470 points. Wyoming was the runner-up with 382 points, followed by Sheridan College with 355 and LCCC with 300. 

Gillette's leaders included Sage Burress and Sern Weishaar, who shared the team roping championship with Cameron Capshaw of Eastern Wyoming College at Torrington and Kelly Hogan of Otero College at La Junta, Colo.  Both duos finished their two runs in 13.2 seconds. 

Other cowboys who were event winners at the CSC rodeo included the University of Wyoming's Tate Talkington, who repeated as the tie down roping winner. His times this year were 10.1 and 9.8 seconds for a total of 19.9 seconds, exactly the same as it was a year ago when he completed his runs in 10.4 and 9.5 seconds.  

Two LCCC cowboys—bareback rider Tate Miller and bull rider Stetson St. Clair—also won events along with saddle bronc rider Chris Nelson of Sheridan College and steer wrestler Jackson Phillips of Casper College.   

The all-around cowboy was Jet Jensen of Gillette College, who was third in tie down roping and joined teammate Hayes Espenscheid to place third in team roping.    

This weekend's Central Rocky Mountain Region rodeo will be at Central Wyoming College in Riverton. 

The top six placings in each event follow;  

Bareback riding—1, Tate Miller, LCCC, 71-81, 158 points; 2-3 tie, Cian Daly, Gillette, 74-79, 153, and Talon Ping, Gillette, 74-79, 153; 4-5 tie, Dewey Chaz, Sheridan, 71-73, 144; and Roany Proffit, Gillette, 69-65, 144; 6, Leighton Sander, Chadron, 68-69, 137. 

Saddle bronc riding—1, Chris Nelson, Sheridan, 79-82, 165; 2, Rylan Elshere, Gillette, 76-80, 156; 3, Traven Sharon, Wyoming, 79-76, 155; 4, Cade Else, Eastern Wyoming, 82-72, 132; 5, Hunter Mancina, Eastern Wyoming, 74-76, 150; 6, Colby Smith, Wyoming, 73-76, 149. 

Tie down roping—1, Tate Talkington, Wyoming, 10.1-9.8, 19.9 seconds; 2, Tyon Aneson, Sheridan, 11.1-11.3, 22.4; 3, Jet Jensen, Gillette, 12.0-11.3, 23.3; 4, Keyton Hayden, Gillette, 11.8-12.0, 23.8; 5, Sid Miller, Chadron, 12.1-11.8, 23.9; 6, Tace Berglund, Sheridan, 12.6-11.6, 24.2. 

Steer wrestling—1, Jackson Phillips, Casper, 11.1-12.0, 23.1 seconds; 2, Cooper Dorenkamp, Lamar, 19.8-14.9, 34.7; 3, Trey Bohmbach, Gillette, 31.4-8.9, 40.3; 4, Chase Olson, LCCC, 6.4-no time; 5, Colby Runner, Wyoming, 8.9-no time.   (No 6th placer). 

Bull riding—1, Stetson St. Clair, LCCC, 82 points; 2, Gage Hillis, LCCC, 73. (Only qualified rides). 

Team roping—1-2 tie, Sage Burress and Sern Weishaar, Gillette, 6.9-6.3, 13.2 seconds, and Cameron Capshaw, Eastern Wyoming, and Kelly Hogan, Otero, 5.4-7.8, 13.2; 3, Hayes Espenscheid and Jet Jensen, Gillette, 8.6-11.0, 19.6; 4, Cade Thar, Gillette, and Pate Tavegie, Eastern Wyoming, 15.4-18.9. 34.3; 5, Amanda Sellin and Levi Noyes, Chadron, 15.1 and 26.3, 41.4; 6, Diesol Meraz and Gavin Wash, Otero, 6.5-no time. 

Goat tying—1, Josie Mousel, Wyoming, 7.0-7.0, 14.0 seconds; 2, Sophie Hruby, Gillette, 7.0-7.2, 14.2; 3, Layni Stevens, Wyoming, 7.6-7.3, 14.9; 4, Raelee Caldwell, Wyoming, 7.7-7.6, 15.3; 5, Brylee Grubb, Gillette, 7.8-7.7, 15.5; 6. Kassidy Dunigan, Wyoming, 7.8-8.0, 15.8.  

Breakaway roping—-1-2 tie, Landry Haugen, Wyoming, 2.8-2.6, 5.4 seconds, and Josie Mousel, Wyoming, 2.7-2.7, 5.4; 3, Kamryn Farrell, Central Wyoming, 2.7-3.1, 5.8; 4, Rylan Swanson, Sheridan, 2.2 and no time; 5, Ryen Sheppick, Sheridan, 2.4 and no time; 6,  Ali Vaugh, LCCC, 2.8 and no time. 

Barrel racing—1, Kally Sorenson, Gillette, 17.68-17.47, 35.15 seconds; 2, Kloe Nichols, LCCC, 17.73-17.49, 35.22; 3, Shayda Lestmeister, Wyoming, 17.63-17.66, 35.29; 4, May McKinlee, Colorado State, 17.74-17.62, 35.36; 5, Irelynn Campbell, LCCC, 17.88-17.55, 35.43; 6, Shelby Derner, Chadron, 17.66-17.78, 35.44.