Miller brings home buckle; Kautzman moves up in the region

Colton Miller, senior brought home the buckle for the Central Wyoming College men’s rodeo team this past weekend at the Lamar Community College rodeo. Miller placed first in the saddle bronc riding receiving a score of 74 in the long go-round and came back in the short go-round with a better ride; scoring a 79.

“One of the highlights of the weekend was Colton Miller receiving 180 points in saddle bronc riding,” said Drew Schrock, rodeo coach. “He practiced hard riding four broncs last week which helped him clear his head and he drew well at this last rodeo which moved him to the number four spot in the region.”

Freshman Kassie Kautzman moved up to first place in the region standings after a having good weekend in the breakaway roping. Kautzman placed third overall with a time of 3.5 seconds in the long go-round and 3.7 seconds in the short go-round.

“Kassie had a great weekend and was the other highlight of the weekend. She drew well and moved herself up to the number one spot in the region,” Schrock said. “I’m proud of the way she has been performing; she scored really well and roped two tough calves to put her in third place at this rodeo.”

Also making it in the top ten for the saddle bronc riding was Shawn Butner, junior placing ninth with a score of 71 in the long go-round followed by teammate Tanner Butner, freshman with a score of 65 in the long go-round; both received no scores in the short go-round. The short go-round proved to be tough for many of the participating cowboys in the saddle bronc riding with six cowboys not making the eight second ride.

Currently in the regions standings Tanner Butner is in third, followed by Miller and Shawn Butner in seventh place.

In the tie down roping, freshman Brady Thurston’s time in the long go-round was 12.6 seconds but he received a no time in the short go-round moving him into the number ten spot.

Three cowboys made the top ten in the steer wrestling. Teigen Finnerty, freshman had a time of 5.5 seconds in the long go-round and 16.3 in the final round; placing him seventh overall. Sophomore Danny Huxtable placed eighth with a time of 4.6 in the long go-round and 18.5 in the short go-round. And teammate Kyle Choate, junior placed tenth with a time of 5.6 in the short go-round and a no time in the final round. In the region standings Coltin Hill is in second place, Thurston is in sixth place followed by Huxtable and Dalton Burgener in eighth.

“It was a long weekend but the team did an outstanding job. We had quite a few cowboys do well in their events,” Schrock said. “Our bulldoggers have had a great appearance at all the rodeos this fall and this past weekend having three come back to the final round is quite impressive. Huxtable came back for the fourth time in a row and I’m proud of him and the way he has been working hard; even making it to the finals riding a backup horse. I think it’s great that Teigen and Kyle made it to the final round for the first time this fall and I look forward to watching them grow and improve next season.”

The team will wrap up the fall season in Cheyenne this weekend at the Laramie County Community College rodeo, Oct. 9-11.