Photo by: Jack Power
Bobcats Head to Glendive After Strong Start to 2024-25 Fall Rodeo Season
9/11/2024 4:09:00 PM | Men's Rodeo, Women's Rodeo
MSU men take both NWC rodeos while women capture one of two
BOZEMAN, Montana – Any college rodeo season offers a wide range of challenges, and Montana State faced a singular one at the season-opening Northwest College Rodeo in Cody, Wyoming, last weekend.
"This one is a different format than we see the rest of the season," said Bobcat head coach Kyle Whitaker, because instead of two rounds, as most rodeos feature, it's two rodeos of one round each. "Crazy things can happen in a one-head rodeo."
The Cats stared down some craziness and came out as team champions in both men's rodeos and one of the two women's events to open the 2024-25 Big Sky Region college rodeo season, and as a result MSU leads the Big Sky Region team standings on both sides heading to the Dawson Community College Rodeo in Glendive on Friday and Saturday. Bobcat sophomore Cole Gerhardt won men's all-around honors in both rodeos, while MSU's Shantell Brewer took all-around honors in the first women's rodeo and teammate Haven Wolstein captured top honors in the second rodeo.
"We had some great individual performances," Whitaker said. He also acknowledged that the nature of selecting a team of individuals whose performances count toward the team points standings prior to each event can skew the standings. In both rodeos, several Bobcats finished high in the standings without boosting the team's point totals.
Gerhardt provided the headlines on the men's side, winning bareback and steer wrestling in the first rodeo and posting top five finishes in three events in rodeo two. Plenty other bright spots emerged over the weekend, starting with the Nannini brothers. Will Nannini joined Wyatt Beckly to win team roping in the second rodeo, while Mike Nannini made his return from a knee injury that cost him the 2023-24 season by winning steer wrestling in one event and finishing second in the other.
Other men's team event winners: Cole Detton, tie down roping, rodeo one; Wes Shaw, bareback, rodeo two; Mitchell Detton, tie down roping, rodeo two.
Task one for the women's team in 2024-25 is replacing the massive presence of Bobcat legend Tayla Moeykens, a national champion and three-time reserve champion in barrel racing. Cassidy Bolich (breakaway roping) and Michaela McCormick (goat tying) took wins in the first rodeo in Cody, while Wolstein (breakaway roping) and Jessica Stevens (goat tying) claimed titles in rodeo two. The Bobcats captured the top four spots in goat tying in rodeo two, and three of the top four in rodeo one.
"This is the strongest our men's team has been since I've been here," Whitaker said. "I think the women's team is really deep, it's just a matter of who shows consistency."
Montana State's men and women each hold a lead in the regional standings (available here) after the fall's first two rodeos. After convening in Glendive this weekend the Big Sky Region wraps up the fall's four-rodeo season at UM Western on September 27-28.
#GoCatsGo
"This one is a different format than we see the rest of the season," said Bobcat head coach Kyle Whitaker, because instead of two rounds, as most rodeos feature, it's two rodeos of one round each. "Crazy things can happen in a one-head rodeo."
The Cats stared down some craziness and came out as team champions in both men's rodeos and one of the two women's events to open the 2024-25 Big Sky Region college rodeo season, and as a result MSU leads the Big Sky Region team standings on both sides heading to the Dawson Community College Rodeo in Glendive on Friday and Saturday. Bobcat sophomore Cole Gerhardt won men's all-around honors in both rodeos, while MSU's Shantell Brewer took all-around honors in the first women's rodeo and teammate Haven Wolstein captured top honors in the second rodeo.
"We had some great individual performances," Whitaker said. He also acknowledged that the nature of selecting a team of individuals whose performances count toward the team points standings prior to each event can skew the standings. In both rodeos, several Bobcats finished high in the standings without boosting the team's point totals.
Gerhardt provided the headlines on the men's side, winning bareback and steer wrestling in the first rodeo and posting top five finishes in three events in rodeo two. Plenty other bright spots emerged over the weekend, starting with the Nannini brothers. Will Nannini joined Wyatt Beckly to win team roping in the second rodeo, while Mike Nannini made his return from a knee injury that cost him the 2023-24 season by winning steer wrestling in one event and finishing second in the other.
Other men's team event winners: Cole Detton, tie down roping, rodeo one; Wes Shaw, bareback, rodeo two; Mitchell Detton, tie down roping, rodeo two.
Task one for the women's team in 2024-25 is replacing the massive presence of Bobcat legend Tayla Moeykens, a national champion and three-time reserve champion in barrel racing. Cassidy Bolich (breakaway roping) and Michaela McCormick (goat tying) took wins in the first rodeo in Cody, while Wolstein (breakaway roping) and Jessica Stevens (goat tying) claimed titles in rodeo two. The Bobcats captured the top four spots in goat tying in rodeo two, and three of the top four in rodeo one.
"This is the strongest our men's team has been since I've been here," Whitaker said. "I think the women's team is really deep, it's just a matter of who shows consistency."
Montana State's men and women each hold a lead in the regional standings (available here) after the fall's first two rodeos. After convening in Glendive this weekend the Big Sky Region wraps up the fall's four-rodeo season at UM Western on September 27-28.
#GoCatsGo
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Rodeo
/ Women's Rodeo
/ Men's Rodeo
/ Men's Rodeo
/ Women's Rodeo
/ Women's Rodeo
/ Men's Rodeo
/ Men's Rodeo
/ Women's Rodeo
/ Women's Rodeo
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