SHARON BROTHERS SHARE THE SPOTLIGHT AT CNFR AS THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE INTENSIFIES

CASPER, Wyo. (June 18, 2026) — Thursday night at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) was a great night for saddle bronc riding fans, especially those whose last name is Sharon.

Last year, rodeo fans saw saddle bronc rider Waitley Sharon from Ordway, Colorado win the second round of competition at his first CNFR. This year, they watched him move to the top of the leaderboard in round three and overall. The sophomore representing Tarleton State University is having a different experience this year.

He’s now married, making a name for himself in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and  competing alongside his younger brother, Traven Sharon, who is a freshman at the University of Wyoming. To represent both of her boys, their mother took two t-shirts and combined them into one, half for Tarleton and half for Wyoming.

Waitley was the first Sharon brother to compete Thursday night and scored 84.5 points on Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo’s horse named Disco Fever. That took the lead in the third round. With that score combined with his previous ones, he now is the overall leader with 249 on three head. Then Traven got on Red Man, another horse from Muddy Creek. He scored 82, which was now second in the third round. Traven has a total of 235.25 points and is fourth overall.

Now the brothers are looking good for spots in Saturday night’s championship which will feature the top 12 in each event from all previous competition. Waitley is also 25^th in the PRCA world standings.

Wyoming was also well represented in the bull riding on Thursday. Hayden Welsh, who grew up in Gillette, has qualified for his second CNFR riding for Texas’ Odesssa College. Welsh had a successful ride in round one. That score combined with his 83.75 from Thursday night, he now leads the overall standings with 130 points on two rides. Unfortunately, he bucked off in the  second round, but with just one more performance before Saturday night’s championships, there have only been five bull riders who have earned scores on two bulls.

Welsh is likely to be riding again here on Saturday night. He has been burning up the highways as he is also competing at pro rodeos this week. He is fourth in the PRCA world standings and along with trying to win his first CNFR title, he is on his way to qualifying for rodeo’s ultimate championship, the National Finals Rodeo.

Last year’s barrel racing champion is trying to win back-to-back titles. Riding the same horse that she had success here a year ago, Acey Pinkston is second in the overall standings with a time of 41.36 seconds on three runs. Devin Young representing Texas A&M University has the overall lead with 41.20 seconds.

Pinkston won her title here a year ago for Southwest Texas Junior College. This year the, Stephenville, Texas, resident is competing for another Texas institution, Weatherford College. She won the first round of competition and placed in round two. Her third run on Thursday was the slowest of her week at 13.91 seconds but fast enough to keep her among the best barrel racers at this year’s CNFR.

The fourth performance of the CNFR will start at 7 p.m. on Friday night. It will conclude of the third round of competition and determine the final spots for Saturday’s championship round. 

CASPER, Wyo.—The following are results from the College National Finals Rodeo, June 18, 2026, courtesy of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.
Complete results are available at www.cnfr.com.

Bareback Riding: (third round leaders) 1, Carson Hildre, Clarendon College (Texas), 85 points on Mo Betta Rodeo’s Sweet Caroline. 2, Colton Farrow, University of Wyoming, 83.75. 3, (tie) Jace Lomheim and Taylon Carmody, both of Tarleton State University (Texas), 81.5. 5, Jason Wilson, Missouri Valley College, 81.25. 6, Gauge McBride, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 80. 7, Blayn Hughston, Western Texas College, 78.25. 8, Jackson Lunn, Mid-Plains Community College, 77.25. (overall leaders) 1, Hildre, 243.25 points. 2, Farrow, 239.5. 3, (tie) Carmody and Wilson, 238.25. 5, McBride, 235.25. 6, Wyatt Warneke, Clarendon College, 234.75. 7, Collin Roland, Missouri Valley College, 234.5. 8, Hughston, 232.75. 9, Toby Deudney, Odessa College (Texas), 232.25. 10, Lomheim, 230.5.

Tie-down Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Travis Staley, Tarleton State University (Texas), 7.1 seconds. 2, Trey Stembridge, Utah Valley University, 8.5 seconds. 3, Cutter Pareo, Eastern New Mexico University, 8.7. 4, Noodle Miller, Walla Walla Community College (Wash.), 8.9. 5, Tyler Hansen, Bismarck State College, 9.1. 6, Ryan Wells, Cal Poly Tech University, 9.5. 7, Tate Talkington, University of Wyoming, 9.6. 8, Wyatt Jensen, Montana State University, 10.1. (overall leaders) 1, Hansen, 28.4 seconds. 2, Pareo, 30.3, 3, Clint Southworth, University of Tennessee – Martin, 31.2. 4, Cooper Duffin, Utah Valley University, 34.7. 5, Miller, 35.7. 6, Tommy Jack Rose, Treasure Valley Community College, 36.6. 7, Jensen, 40.7. 8, Garrett Jepson, Blue Mountain Community College (Ore.), 41.2. 9, Brody Clemons, Tarleton State University (Texas), 41.3. 10, Treg Thorstenson, University of Wyoming, 42.9.

Breakaway Roping: (third round leaders) 1, Joslyn Arnold, Walla Wall Community College (Wash.), 1.8 seconds. 2, (tie) Hayden Corta, College of Southern Idaho and Payton Levine, New Mexico State University, 2.1 each. 4, (tie) Sloan McFarlane, Blue Mountain Community College, (Ore.), Jessi Everett, Texas Tech University; Emily Ward, Weatherford College; Emma Ricke, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and Helen Poer, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, 2.2 each. (overall leaders) 1, Everett, 7.0 seconds. 2, Ivy Bone, University of West Alabama, 8.6. 3, (tie) Ricke and Ella Begger, College of Southern Idaho, Levine, 9.3 each. 5, Arlee Morrisson, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.), 9.5. 6, Regan Russ, Cal Poly Tech University, 10.1. 7, Quincy Downey, Central Arizona College, 17.9. 8, Staheli Adams, Gillette College (Wyo.), 18.3. 9, 5, Levine, 19.9. 10, Addison Amzen, Blue Mountain Community College (Ore.), 26.9.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (third round leaders) 1, Waitley Sharon, Tarleton State University (Texas), 84.5 points on Muddy Creek Rodeo’s Disco Fever. 2, Traven Sharon, University of Wyoming, 82. 3, Kaden Miranda, New Mexico State University, 79. 4, Jack Ford, McNeese State University (La.), 78.75. 5, Cardell Laughery, University of Montana Western, 78.25. 6, Jett Williams, Fort Scott Community College (Kan.), 77.75. 7, Bryett Larsen, Western Texas College, 76.50. 8, (tie) Zane Magner, Fort Scott Community College, and Mitchie Story, Weatherford College (Texas), 76.25 each. (overall leaders) 1, Waitley Sharon, 249 points. 2, Ford, 241.75. 3, Larsen, 235.75. 4, Traven Sharon, 235.25. 5, Magner, 227.75. 6, Skinny Parsons, Tarleton State University (Texas), 221.25. 7, Caleb Miller, McNeese State University, 219.75. 8, Lonnie Dunn, Sheridan College (Wyo.), 219.25. 9, Heston Harrison, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 207.75, 10, Miranda, 205.

Steer Wrestling: (third round leaders) 1, Cameron Haumea, Sul Ross State University (Texas), 4.0 seconds. 2, Parker Sandstrom, Bismarck State University, 4.6. 3, Tydon Tsosie, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 4.8. 4, Jacob Wang, University of Wyoming, 5.0. 5, Dawson Doggett, Southeast Community College, (Neb.), 5.1, 6, Clay Tom Hurt, Sam Houston State University (Texas), 5.4. 7, Hadley White, Texas Tech University, 5.5. 5, (tie) Will Collier, Northwest Community College; Sam Gallagher, University of Wyoming; Chase Andrade, College of Southern Idaho, and Justus Peterson, Montana Technological University, 5.6 each. (overall leaders) 1, Sandstrom, 13.6 seconds. 2, Hurt, 14.4. 3, White, 18.3. 4, Collier, 18.5, 6, Haumea, 24.1. 7, Doggett, 33.5. 8, Caleb Lake, Angelo State University (Texas), 28.6. 9, Ryder Gaasch, Montana State University, 33.9. (on two) 10, Cole Pugh Sam Houston State University (Texas), 8.5.

Goat Tying: (third round leaders) 1, Addyson Derr, Missouri Valley College, 6.0 seconds. 2, Josie Mousel, University of Wyoming, 6.2. 3, (tie) Ayssa Gary, McNeese State University; Kaylee Stroud, Texas Tech University, and Jacee Graff, Weatherford College, 6.3 each. 6, Josie Menzel, Miles Community College (Mont.) 6.5. 7, (tie) Layni Stevens, University of Wyoming; Jaysee Jones, Dickinson University (N.D.), and Zaran Kirkpatrick, South Plains College (Texas), 6.6 each. (overall leaders) 1, Mousel, 18.0 seconds. 2, Faith Lundberg, Tarleton State University (Texas), 19.0. 3, Gary, 19.1. 4, Ashley Barratt, Utah Valley University, 19.5. 5, (tie) Molly Rotenberger, Dickinson University, and Greeley Eastep, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 19.6. 7, Menzel, 19.7. 8, (tie) Michaela McCormick, Montana State University; Stroud, Jones, and Macie Fowlie, Cochise College (Ariz.), 20.1 each.

Team Roping: (third round leaders) 1, (tie) Denton Parish and Brock Borkman, Weatherford College (Texas) and Sanders McElroy, East Mississippi Community College, and Scout McElroy, Southern Arkansas University, 4.3 seconds each. 3, Dexton Hoelting, Western Oklahoma State College, and Colter Snook, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 4.8. 4, Ty Taylor and Tommy Jack Rose, Treasure Valley Community College, 5.6 seconds. 5, (tie) Heston Harrison, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and Nick Lovins, Garden City Community College (Kan.); and Caleb Miller, Western Oklahoma State College, and Rydan White, Fort Scott Community College (Kan.), 5.9 each. 7, Marcus Marriott, Blue Mountain Community College (Ore.), and Sam Saunders, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.), 6.0. 8, Jantsen and Jayden Morris, South Plains College (Texas), 6.3. (overall leaders) 1, Harrison and Lovins, 17.7 seconds. 2, Marriott and Saunders, 18.7. 3, Canton and Sonnier, 19.5. 4, Drew and Jess Harper, Gillette College (Wyo.), 21.3. 5, Parish and Borkman, 22.9. 6, Hunter Helton and Jeryn Ellerd, Weatherford College (Texas), 23.5. 7, Miller and White, 24.5. 8, Bryson Crawford, Pearl River Community College (Miss.), and Stone Reeves, University of West Alabama, 29.2.  9, Sloan McFarlane and Garrett Jepson, Blue Mountain Community College (Ore.), 32.2. 10, Travis Smith, Cal Poly Tech University, and Clay Helton, Bakersfield College (Calif.), 49.5.

Barrel Racing: (third round leaders) 1, Devin Young, Texas A&M University, 13.62 seconds. 2, Madison Murphy, University of West Alabama, 13.65. 3, Baylee O’Leary, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, 13.66. 4, Morgan Addison, Texas Tech University, 13.73. 5, Molly Harper, Odessa College (Texas), 13.86. 6, McKinlee Paschal, Texas A&M University, 13.89. 7, Acey Pinkston, Weatherford College (Texas), 13.91. 8, Jada Trosper, Oklahoma State University, 13.93. (overall leaders) 1, Young, 41.20 seconds. 2, Pinkston, 41.36. 3, Addison, 41.50. 4, Raegan Chance, Northwest Mississippi Community College, 41.85. 5, Brylee Grubb, Gillette College, 42.03. 6, McKinlee Paschal, Texas A&M University, 42.07. 7, Emma Ricke, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 42.11. 8, Anneliese McCurry, Montana State University, 42.56. 9, O’Leary, 42.20. 10, Harper, 42.23.

Bull Riding: (third round leaders-seven rides) 1, Mecate Trammell, Weatherford College (Texas), 86.25 on Mo Betta Rodeo’s Uncle Kneebanger. 2, Hayden Welsh, Odessa College, 83.75. 3, Trace Scarlavai, Mid-Plains Community College (Neb.), 79. 4, Ashton Zabriskie, College of Southern Idaho, 77. 5, Mason Reine, College of Southern Idaho, 76.25. 6, Lane Vaughan, Western Texas College, 75.75. 7, Kahl Wasilow, Laramie County Community College (Wyo.), 75. (overall leaders- on two) 1, Welsh, 163.5 points. 2, Vaughan, 155.25. 3, Brock Cooper, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.), 147.75. 4, Gavin Knutson, University of Montana Western, 143. 5, Trammell, 137.75. (on one) 6, Jace Hensley, Missouri Valley College, 84.5. 7, Dakota Smith, Northwest Mississippi Community College, 80.5. 8, Mossy Waite, Treasure Valley Community College (Ore.), 80.25. 9, Scarlavai and Wyatt Davis, Mid-Plains Community College, 79.

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