CNFR 2026 CHAMPIONS CROWNED AS COLLEGIATE RODEO’S BEST SHINE IN CASPER

CASPER, Wyo. (June 20, 2026) – After finishing as college rodeo’s reserve champion bareback rider in 2025, Kooper Heimburg of Missouri Valley College got the title that he has been working for, but he had to share it.

The bareback riding at the 2025 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) has been extremely tough and close through the first three rounds of competition. That continued in the final round where the top three athletes were separated by just two points. During the final round, Tarleton State University freshman Daxtyn Feild rode Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics horse Lewandowski’s Shoutin’ Shoes for 85 points, the highest of the night.

Feild started the night in third place but that 85 put him in the lead. Then Carson Hildre from Clarendon College and Heimburg rode. When it was all said and done, all three athletes tied for the championship with a total score of 326.5 points on four rides.

This was Heimburg’s fourth qualification and last time for the San Tan Valley, Arizona, athlete to compete with college rodeo’s best. Feild, from Roosevelt, Utah, is following in his uncle Kaycee Feild’s footsteps. The older Feild won the title here in 2008 before going on to win six world championship buckles in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Hildre is from Velva, South Dakota and is also making his first appearance for the Texas college that has produced several collegiate champions.

Tie-down roper Tyler Hansen started his CNFR strong and finished the same way. The senior at Bismarck State College in North Dakota earned the championship with a total time of 38.3 points. Hansen, who is from Killdeer, North Dakota, also qualified for the Finals in the Ford Wyoming Center in the team roping. Although he did not have success in that event Saturday, he was still able to clinch the all-around title based on his performance across the competition.

In the breakaway roping Jessi Everett, a native Texan attending Texas Tech University, rose to the top. Everett had a total of 9.9 seconds on four runs for the championship. The communications major is competing in that event in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association and making a career for herself with her own social media agency.

Tagg Bond made history in the saddle bronc riding earning the top score in every category. He won the three preliminary rounds of competition. The Clarendon College athlete from Eden, Kansas, came into the final round as a favorite to win the championship. Then, he won the final round with an 85-point ride on Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics horse named Badger Mountain. His total score of 340 points earned him the championship by a whopping 17 points. His domination in the bronc riding also earned him the Men’s Rookie of the Year title.

Clarendon College won their third and final individual title in the steer wrestling with Andrew Morian from Gardnerville, Nevada. This is Clarendon’s first championship at the timed-event end and it helped them win the men’s team title. Morian had a substantial lead coming into the finals and a fourth-place finish Saturday sealed the deal. He had a total time of 17.1 seconds for the win.

The goat tying has been close all week and it finished the same way. Josie Mousel had a slight edge coming in, and kept it with a 6.4-second run in the finals. She had a total time of 24.4 seconds to earn the championship for the University of Wyoming. Mousel is a junior who will return to Laramie in the fall to finish her degree in ag communications. She also earned points here in the breakaway roping and took the women’s all-around title.

The Northwest Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association took home the team roping title with Marcus Marriott and Sam Saunders. Marriott is a sophomore from Canby, Oregon, who is attending Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon. He did the heading for Saunders, who is a freshman at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Oregon, not far from his hometown of Homedale, Idaho. They stopped the clock in 4.4 seconds in the final round to give them 23.1 seconds on four runs and the championship.

The women’s barrel racing champion is a Texas A&M Aggie who didn’t place in the final round, but was consistent enough throughout the competition to win the title. Devin Young, a freshman from Smithville, Texas, who plans to go to pharmacy school, had a total time of 55.0 seconds. Young also helped carry the Aggies to the Women’s Team championship and was named Women’s Rookie of the Year.

The bull riding title was won by an Odessa (Texas) College athlete, but Wyoming fans were on their feet cheering for one of their own. Hayden Welsh grew up near Gillette, Wyoming and while he is following in his father, Bobby Welsh’s footsteps, his bull riding path has taken him to new opportunities. One of those has been competing in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. He qualified for the CNFR last year and finished eighth. This year, he came into the final round ranked first after riding two out of three bulls for 163.5 points. He made one of four successful rides in the finals and had the highest-marked ride of the event at 88.25 aboard a Wyoming bull from Summit Pro Rodeo named Who’s Your Daddy.

Plans are underway for the 2027 CNFR which will be back at the Ford Wyoming Center next June 13 – 19.

               2026 COLLEGE NATIONAL FINALS RODEO CHAMPIONS

(times and scores are total on four)

Bareback – (tie) Kooper Heimburg Missouri Valley College, 326.5 points
Carson Hildre, Clarendon College (Texas) 326.5 points
Daxtyn Feild, Tarleton State University (Texas) 326.5 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Tie-Down Roping – Tyler Hansen, Bismarck State College, 38.3 seconds
Photo Credit: CNFR

Breakaway Roping – Jessi Everett, Texas Tech University, 9.9 seconds
Photo Credit: CNFR

Saddle Bronc Riding – Tagg Bond, Clarendon College (Texas), 340 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Steer Wrestling – Andrew Morian, Clarendon College (Texas), 17.1 seconds
Photo Credit: CNFR

Goat Tying – Josie Mousel, University of Wyoming, 24.4 seconds
Photo Credit: CNFR

Team Roping – Marcus Marriott, Blue Mountain Community College (Oregon)
Photo Credit: CNFR

Sam Saunders, Treasure Valley Community College (Oregon), 23.1 seconds
Photo Credit: CNFR

Barrel Racing – Devin Young, Texas A&M University, 55.00 seconds
Photo Credit: CNFR

Bull Riding – Hayden Welsh, Odessa College (Texas), 251.75 points on three
Photo Credit: CNFR

Steer Roping – Seth Ross – Cisco College
Photo Credit: CNFR / Cisco College

Men’s All-Around – Tyler Hansen, Bismarck State College, 310 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Women’s All-Around – Josie Mousel, University of Wyoming, 395 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Men’s Team – Clarendon College (Texas), 1,100 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Women’s Team – Texas A&M University, 692.5 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Men’s Rookie – Tagg Bond, Clarendon College (Texas), 400 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Women’s Rookie – Devin Young, Texas A&M University, 380 points
Photo Credit: CNFR

Men’s AQHA Horse of the Year – C A Breeze owned by Emmett Edler, Northwestern Oklahoma State University

Women’s AQHA Horse of the Year – Jettin to Docs Bar owned by Devin Young, Texas A&M University

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CASPER, Wyo.—The following are final results from the College National Finals Rodeo, June 20, 2026, courtesy of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. Complete results are available at www.cnfr.com.

Bareback riding: (final round) 1, Daxtyn Feild, Tarleton State University (Texas), 85 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Lewandowski’s Shoutin’ Shoes. 2, Blayn Hughston, Western Texas College, 83.75. 3, Carson Hildre, Clarendon College (Texas), 83.25. 4, Kooper Heimburg, Missouri Valley College, 83.

(total on 4) 1, (tie) Feild, Heimburg and Hildre, 326.25 points each. 4, Colton Farrow, University of Wyoming, 320. 5, Jason Wilson, Missouri Valley College, 317.25. 6, Wyatt Warneke, Clarendon College, 316.75. 7, Hughston, 316.5. 8, Taylon Carmody, Tarleton State, 315.75.

Tie-Down Roping: (final round) 1, Cooper Duffin, Utah Valley University, 7.6 seconds. 2, Cutter Pareo, Eastern New Mexico University, 9.2. 3, Noodle Miller, Walla Wall Community College (Wash.), 9.6. 4, Tyler Hansen, Bismarck State College, 9.9.

(total on 4) 1, Hansen, 38.3 seconds. 2, Pareo, 39.5. 3, Clint Southworth, University of Tennessee – Martin, 42.0. 4, Duffin, 42.3. 5, Miller, 45.3. 6, Lucas Cruz, New Mexico State University, 49.5. 7, Tommy Jack Rose, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore), 50.5. 8, Garrett Jepson, Blue Mountain Community College (Ore.), 51.2.

Breakaway Roping: (final round) 1, Kassidy Robertson, South Plains College (Texas), 1.8 seconds. 2, Ivy Bone, University of West Alabama, 2.1. 3, Regan Russ, Cal Poly Tech University, 2.3. 4, Staheli Adams, Gillette College (Wyo.), 2.6.

(total on 4) 1, Jessi Everett, Texas Tech University, 9.9 seconds. 2, Bone, 10.7. 3, Robertson, 11.0. 4, Russ, 12.4. 5, Arlee Morrison, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.), 12.8. 6, Quincey Downey, Central Arizona College, 20.6. 7, Adams, 20.9. 8, Emma Ricke, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 21.3.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (final round) 1, Tagg Bond, Clarendon College (Texas), 85 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Badger Mountain. 2, Dane McPhail, Fort Scott Community College, 84.25. 3, (tie) Zane Manger, Fort Scott, and Traven Sharon, University of Wyoming, 82.75 each.

(total on 4) 1, Bond, 339.75 points, 2, Jack Ford, McNeese State University, 322.25. 3, McPhail, 320.75. 4, Sharon, 318. 5, Bryett Larsen, Western Texas College, 313.5. 6, Manger, 310.5. 7, Darcy Wockner, Western Texas College, 308.5. 8, Matt Cicisly, Cal Poly Tech University, 303.25.

Steer Wrestling: (final round) 1, Emmett Edler, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 4.2. 2, Parker Sandstruom, Bismarck State College, 4.3. 3, Clay Tom Hurt, Sam Houston State University (Texas), 4.7. 4, Andrew Morian, Clarendon College, 4.9.

(total on 4) 1, Morian, 17.1 seconds. 2, Sandstrom, 17.9. 3, Hurt, 19.1. 4, Edler, 20.4. 5, Damian Padilla, New Mexico State University, 28.2. 6, Will Collier, Northwest Mississippi Community College, 32.1. 7, Hadley White, Texas Tech University, 32.2. 8, Cameron Haumea, Sul Ross State University (Texas), 33.0.

Goat Tying: (final round) 1, (tie) Faith Lundberg, Tarleton State, and Kaylee Stroud, Texas Tech, 6.0 seconds. 3, Ashley Barratt, Utah Valley University, 6.1. 4, Alyssa Gary, McNeese State University, 6.2.

(total on 4) 1, Josie Mousel, University of Wyoming, 24.4 seconds. 2, Lundberg, 25.0. 3, Gary, 25.3. 4, Barratt, 25.6. 5, Stroud, 26.1. 6, Michaela McCormick, Montana State University, 26.4. 7, (tie) Lucy Richards, Texas A&M University, and Molly Rotenberger, Dickinson University (N.D.), 26.5 each.

Team Roping: (final round) 1, Marcus Marriott, Blue Mountain Community College (Ore.), and Sam Saunders, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.), 4.4 seconds. 2, Hunter Helton and Jerry Ellerd, Weatherford College (Texas), 5.1. 3, Blake and T.J. Bowler, Southern Utah University, 5.6. 4, Jett Stewart and Belden Cox, Weatherford College, 2.7.

(total on 4) 1, Marriott and Saunders, 23.1 seconds. 2, Stewart and Cox, 24.4. 3, Bowler and Bowler, 26.3. 4, Helton and Ellerd, 28.6. 5, Caleb Miller, Western Oklahoma College, and Rydan White, Fort Scott Community College, 30.3. 6, Coleman Canton, Southwest Texas College, and Carson Sonnier, Wharton County Junior College (Texas), 30.6. 7, Bryson Crawford, Pearl River Community College (Miss.), and Stone Reeves, University of West Alabama, 36.4. (on three) 8, Heston Harrison, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and Nick Lovins, Garden City Community College, 17.7.

Barrel racing: (final round) 1, Ceily Simpton, Texas A&M, 13.71 seconds. 2, Devin Young, Texas A&M, 13.80. 3, Raegen Chance, Northwest Mississippi Community College, 13.87. 4, McKinlee Paschal, Texas A&M, 13.91.

(total on 4) 1, Young, 55.00. 2, Chance, 55.72. 3, Simpton, 55.85. 4, Paschal, 55.98. 5, Brylee Grubb, Gillette College, 56.01. 6, Molly Harper, Odessa College (Texas), 56.21. 7, Lauryn Motley, Sam Houston State University (Texas), 56.29. 8, Baylee O’Leary, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, 56.29.

Bull Riding: (final round) 1, Hayden Welsh, Odessa College (Texas), 88.25 points. 2, Mecate Trammell, Weatherford College (Texas), 85.75. 3, Brock Cooper, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.), 84. (on two) 4, Dakota Smith, Northwest Mississippi Community College, 82.75.

(total on 3) 1, Welsh, 251.75. 2, Lane Vaughan, Western Texas College, 237. 3, Cooper, 231.75. 4, Trammell, 223.5. (on two) 5, Smith, 163. 6, Gavis Knutson, University of Montana – Western, 143. (on one) 7, Jace Hensley, Missouri Valley College, 84.5. 8, (tie) Mossy Waite, Treasure Valley Community College, and Braden Cayce, Wharton County Junior College (Texas), 80.25 each.

Men’s All-Around: 1, Tyler Hansen, Bismarck State College. 2, Coleman Canton, Southwest Texas College.

Women’s All-Around: 1, Josie Mousel, University of Wyoming. 2, (tie) Quincy Morgan-Montoya, New Mexico Junior College, and Emma Ricke, Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Men’s Rookie of the Year: 1, Tagg Bond, Clarendon College. 2, Andrew Morian, Clarendon College.

Women’s Rookie of the Year: 1, Devin Young, Texas A&M. 2, Faith Lundberg, Tarleton State University.

Men’s Team Champions: 1, Clarendon College (Texas), 1,100 points. 2, Weatherford College, 980. 3, Tarleton State University, 608.33. 4, Missouri Valley College, 590.

Women’s Team Champions: 1, Texas A&M University, 692.5. 2, University of Wyoming, 405. 3, Tarleton State University, 360. 4, Texas Tech University, 320.

American Quarter Horse Association Horse of the Year:  Men’s Horses – 1, C A Breeze, Emmett Edler, Northwestern Oklahoma State University. 2, FQH Paddys Hijack, Clint Southworth, University of Tennessee-Martin.

Women’s Horses – 1, Jettin to Docs Bar, Devin Young, Texas A&M. 2, Shine Miss Catole, Faith Lundberg, Tarleton State University.

PROVIDED COURTESY OF SUSAN KANODE / CNFR TO TENN TEXAS RADIO & MEDIA