(Con Marshall)
A newcomer made his debut on the Chadron State College rodeo team special last weekend by winning the tie down roping during the CSC rodeo at the Dawes County Fairgrounds.
Grant Turek, a senior transfer from St. Paul, Neb., had the fastest times in both tie down go-rounds. He caught and tied his first calf in 9 seconds flat and wrapped up the second in 11.4 seconds during the finals on Sunday.
Tie down championships are not new for Turek. He was the Nebraska State High School Rodeo winner each of his final three years at St. Paul High. He gives plenty of credit for the success to his sorrel gelding, Cat.
After high school, Turek spent the last three years on the rodeo team at Gillette College, but wanted to take upper division course and transferred to CSC this fall. He’s never qualified for the College National Finals, but hopes his triumph last weekend is an omen of things to come.
Turek also was a member of the fifth-place team roping duo, giving him 240 points, enough to make him the runner-up all-around cowboy. Bodie Matson of the University of Wyoming finished with 275 points as the header on the winning team roping entry and placing third in the tie down standings.
Although the competition was tough, Turek wasn’t the only Chadron State entry to fare well in the home rodeo. Sophomore Rylee Naprstek of Gothenburg placed fourth in breakaway roping, which had 100 entries. Her 2.9-second run Sunday was the fastest in the finals go-round.
Also, CSC junior Tanner Whetham of Morrill teamed up with Cameron Jensen of the University of Wyoming to place fourth in team roping.
One of the rodeo’s big winners has a Dawes County heritage. Haiden Thompson was the breakaway roping winner with times of 2.5 and 3.1 seconds and also was fourth in goat tying. She the daughter of Thorpe and Shelly Hollibaugh Thompson, both Chadron High School graduates and former Whitney residents. The family now has a Yoder, Wyo., address.
Haiden attends Gillette College. Her many honors include winning the goat tying at the National High School Rodeo Finals in 2021. Among those cheering her on at the CSC rodeo were her great-grandfather, Dr. Vern Holmes of Chadron, who will celebrate his 100th birthday on Oct. 23. Her grandparents, Tom and Dixie Thompson of Whitney and Mike and Tammy Hollibaugh of Chadron, also are among her proudest fans.
Haiden ended the CSC rodeo with the most all-around points among the cowgirls, but the final tally will have to wait. That’s because the barrel race was called off during Saturday slack after a few of the horses slipped while running the cloverleaf pattern.
Chadron State Rodeo Coach Dustin Luper said a large quantity of sand was recently placed in the arena on top of the native soil that has a gumbo nature.
“The sand was a great addition for all the other events, but the old surface was still there, and the new footing was pretty slick when the horses had to make sharp turns like they do in the barrels,” Luper said. “The judges made the decision to halt the barrel race. They’re like baseball umpires. Once the game starts, they’re in charge.”
Luper added that during slack at the rodeo hosted by Central Wyoming College in Riverton this weekend, it planned to have extra barrel racing so points for both rodeos can be calculated.
Other event winners at the CSC rodeo included University of Wyoming contestants Kenna McNeill in goat tying, Bruce Patterson and Danny Proffit, who tied for top honors in bareback riding, and Dylan Grant in bull riding. Others wre Kasey Rosendahl of Casper College in saddle bronc riding and Dane Pokorny of LCCC, a native of Thedford, in steer wrestling. Mattson’s team roping partner was Carson Johnson of Casper College.
The top six finishers in each event and their marks follow:
Bareback riding—1-2 tie, Bruce Patterson, UW, 77-77, 154 points, and Donny Proffit, UW, 72-82, 154; 3, Myles Carlson, Casper, 80-68, 148; 4, Colton Farrow, UW, 74-61, 155; 5, Austin Broderson, 75-0, 75; 6, Drake Amundson, UW, 74-0, 74.
Saddle bronc riding—1, Kasey Rosendahl, Casper, 67-65, 132 points; 2, Carter Sandberg, Casper, 60-70, 130; 3, Parker Minor, Gillette, 66-46, 112; 4, Cian Ahern, Casper, 72-0, 72; 5, Cody Weeks, Sheridan, 64-0, 64; 6, Dixon Tattrie, LCCC, 58-0, 58.
Tie down roping—1, Grant Turek, Chadron, 9.0-11.4, 20.4 seconds; 2, OT Edwards, Lamar, 10.0-12.6, 22.6; 3, Bodie Mattson, UW, 10.7-13.2, 23.9; 4, Braxton Morgan, Otero, 12.5-15.0, 27.5; 5, Cameron Jensen, 10.4-19.8, 30.2; 6, Clay Reiner, 9.8-0, 9.8 on one.
Steer wrestling—1, Dane Pokorny, LCCC. 4.0-5.6, 9.6 seconds; 2, Jacob Wang, UW, 4.5-5.4, 9.9; 3, Kaden Berger, UW, 4.6-5.7, 10.3; 4, Bernie Girard, LCCC, 6.4-4.3, 10.7; 5, Riley Barber, Cent. Wyo., 6.5-4.5, 11,0; 6, Sam Damele, Cent. Wyo., 7.5-7.0, 14.5.
Team roping—1, Bodie Mattson, UW, and Carson Johnson, Casper, 5.7-6.6. 12.3 seconds; 2, Don Quick and Coy Thar, East. Wyo., 8.1-8.4, 16.5; 3, Jasper Neal and Jace Tekrony, Casper, 7.0-13.5, 20.5; 4, Cameron Jensen, UW, and Tanner Whetham, Chadron, 6.5-0, 6.5 on one; 5, Grant Turek, Chadron, and Chance Demer, LCCC, 6.8-0, 6.8 on one; 6, Teagan Bentley and Tracer Olson, Casper, 7.0-0, 7.0 on one.
Bull riding—1, Dylan Grant, UW,0-70, 70 points on one; 2, Tanner Drueke, LCCC, 0-60. Only qualified rides.
Goat tying—1, Kenna McNeill, UW, 7.6-7.7, 15.3 seconds; 2, Kelsey Lensgrav, UW, 8.0-8.1, 16.1; 3, Staheli Adams, Gillette, 7.9-8.2, 16.1; 4, Haiden Thompson, Gillette, 7.9-8.3, 16.2; 5, Kodey Hoss, UW, 8.2-9.1, 17.3; 6, Rayne Grant, LCCC, 8.6-9.3, 17.9.
Breakaway roping—1, Haiden Thompson, Gillette, 2.5-3.1, 5.6 seconds; 2, Peyton Feyder, LCCC, 2.9-3.3, 6.2; 3, Rayne Grant, LCCC, 3.2-3.4, 6.6; 4, Rylee Naprstek, Chadron, 3.8-2.9, 6.7; 5, Jordyn McNamee, UW, 3.8-3.0, 6.8; 6, Amy Shuckburgh, LCCC, 3.7-3.4, 7.1.