The Northwest College men’s rodeo team is off to a blazing start to the 2018-19 rodeo season, taking the top spot in the first three rodeos of the season. That included winning last weekend’s Dawson Community College rodeo in Glendive, Montana.

The Trappers took first at Dawson with 550 points, while the Lady Trappers were fifth with 10 points.

For the second straight week and third straight rodeo, Trapper Caleb McMillan won the men’s all-around, scoring 340 points. The sophomore from Soap Lake, Washington, had himself a weekend, finishing tied for second in saddle bronc riding, first in tie down roping and fifth in steer wrestling.

“[McMillan] is off to a great start,” NWC head coach Del Nose said. “I’m not sure if the final numbers are up yet, but he should be right up there in the top four of the national standings. He won both rounds of the calf roping at Glendive, so he’s pretty strong in that and the bull riding. The steer wrestling, he’s nickel-and-diming it a little bit.”

The Trappers had three riders place in the top five in saddle bronc, with Clancy Glenn and McMillan tied for second with a score of 124, and Calvin Shaffer in fourth with a score of 72.

“Our bronc riders are really stepping up early,” Nose said. “Calvin Shaffer and Clancy Glenn are really coming on. The bull riders have stepped up as well, but we didn’t have much luck in bull riding at Glendive, except for Keaton Martz.”

Martz was second in bull riding for the Trappers with a score of 118, while Bubba Boots finished eighth in tie down roping with a score of 11.9.

Danny Hildebrand was seventh in steer wrestling, with a score of 6.0, while Ethan Stensrud and Hagen Wallace were fifth in team roping header and heeler with 10.5 points.

The Lady Trappers are also making their prescence known, with one fourth-place finish and a pair of fifth-place finishes to start the season — a solid start for a program that wasn’t able to field a full women’s team last season.

“We have a good turnout for the women, but they’re struggling,” said Nose. “A couple of them made it back to short round at Glendive, but nothing really came of it. They had a hard time.”

Nose said practices are a different story for the Lady Trappers, and he’s seen their potential in those controlled workouts.

“I really have high hopes for them when they go in to rodeo, but something happens. If I could figure it out, I’d be a rich man,” he said. “I think they just over-think everything, they just don’t go and rope. In practice, they’re really roping. I know they’re just thinking too much instead of reacting. But it will come around.”

Lady Trapper Scout Yochum tied for eighth in goat tying with a score of 19.4.

The NWC rodeo teams travel to Havre, Montana, this weekend for the Montana State University-Northern Rodeo. Nose hopes the Trappers can maintain the momentum they’ve created in the first three rodeos of the season.

“Three rodeos, three wins, we’ve never done that,” he said. “We might win one or two in the fall, then we come on strong in the spring. But holy buckets, Montana State, I didn’t think we’d even be close to them. They have a lot of talent — 70 students to our 29. ... I just hope we get into the spring season with enough of a lead that if we have a bad rodeo, we still have a shot of going in first.”

Trapper Stampede

The Trappers opened their season hosting the Trapper Stampede Rodeo, two separate events held on consecutive days at Stampede Park in Cody on Sept. 7 and 8. They won both with a combined score of 1,547.5.

McMillan took the men’s all-around in both events, and in Saturday’s run, the Trappers took the top four spots in bull riding, with McMillan in the top spot with an 81. Austin Herrera was second with a 74, followed by Justin Ketzenberg with a 65 and Keaton Martz with a 64.

The two-day event was bittersweet for the NWC rodeo programs, as the Trappers and Lady Trappers honored former teammate Kolten Moss, who was killed in an auotmobile accident following the completion of last year’s spring season. Coach Nose said the tribute helped to bring closure to a team that’s still grieving.

“It was a good way to start the season,” Nose said. “Kolten Moss was an amazing kid. It’s kind of a tough trip through paradise when you have to do that kind of stuff. But it turned out really good. The guys stepped up to the plate and had a good rodeo.”

Trapper Stampede Results Day 1

Men’s Team: 1. Northwest College 769

Women’s Team: 5. Northwest College 6.5

Men’s All-Around: 1. Caleb McMillan 303

Saddle Bronc Riding: 2. Clancy Glenn 63, 3. Calvin Shaffer 57, 4. Cody Weeks 52

Tie Down Roping: 1. Caleb McMillan 9.6

Steer Wrestling: 8. Caleb McMillan 6.8

Team Roping Header: 1. Caleb McMillan 6.2, 3. William Griffel 7.4

Team Roping Heeler: 1. Bubba Boots 6.2, 3. Colten Fisher 7.4

Goat Tying: 8. (Tie) Trysten Shepard 9.3

Trapper Stampede Results Day 2

Men’s Team: 1. Northwest College 778.50

Women’s Team: 4. Northwest College 95

Men’s All-Around: 1. Caleb McMillan 265, 2. Bubba Boots 242.50

Saddle Bronc Riding: 1. Clancy Glenn 62, 2. Calvin Shaffer 58, 4. Caleb McMillan 54

Bull Riding: 1. Caleb McMillan 81, 2. Austin Herrera 74, 3. Justin Ketzenberg 65, 4. Keaton Martz 64

Tie Down Roping: 2. Bubba Boots 10, 6. Logan Nunn 12.8, 7. Caleb McMillan 12.9

Steer Wrestling: 2. (Tie) Bubba Boots 4.8

Team Roping Header: 5. Dawson Cvancara 9.8, 8. Braily Newman 11.5

Team Roping Heeler: 5. Cashe Davis 9.8, 8. Natalee Jones 11.5

Goat Tying: 5. Trysten Shepard 8.5