After winning the Big Sky Region by the slimmest of margins and qualifying six cowboys for the College National Finals Rodeo, the Northwest College men’s rodeo team didn’t quite live up to expectations in Casper last week. When the dust settled at the Casper Event Center after Saturday night’s finals, the Trappers had placed 15th out of 54 teams with 285 points.

Panola Junior College out of Carthage, Texas, won the team title with 825 points. Hill College of Hillsboro, Texas, finished second with 675 points, while Clarendon College of Clarendon, Texas, rounded out the top three with 660 points.

Sheridan College was the lone Wyoming team to crack the top five, finishing fourth with 570 points.

NWC sophomore Caleb McMillan, ranked first in the men’s all-around heading into the CNFR, finished second with 225 points, just 15 points behind Fresno State’s Colton Campbell for the title. Though he didn’t post a score in three rounds in the saddle bronc, McMillan was seventh in bull riding and 17th in tie down roping. He was the only Trapper to qualify for Saturday’s short round, and was in a good position to win the all-around, needing a successful ride on his final bull. Sadly, it was not to be, as he was thrown a couple of seconds after clearing the gate.

Other Trappers who qualified for the CNFR included Clancy Glenn in saddle bronc, Keaton Martz and Justin Ketzenberg in bull riding and the team roping duo of Will Griffel and Colten Fisher.

After failing to complete a ride in his first two attempts, Glenn finally got on the board in the third go of saddle bronc, scoring a 66.5-point ride. He finished in 28th after failing to make the short round. Clarendon’s Riggin Smith won the championship with 370 points, while Hill’s Parker Fleet was second with 195 points. Tegan Smith of Clarendon was third with 180 points.

Trappers Martz and Ketzenberg had a tougher go, with neither bull rider able to post a score after three rounds. Panola’s Daylon Swearingen won the bull riding title with 275 points, followed by Howard’s Dalton Kasel (255 points) in second and Sheridan’s Coby Johnson (240 points) in third.

NWC’s Griffel and Fisher also struggled in the first two rounds before getting on the board in their final run with a time of 5.6 seconds, good for 26th place. The Southeastern Oklahoma State team of Dalton Titsworth and Kolton White won the championship with a score of 200. Cal Poly’s Sterling Humphry and Chase Onaka were second with 155 points, while Cochise College’s Wyatt Hershberger and Central Arizona’s Junior Zambrano finished third with 130 points.