Odessa College Men's Rodeo Team Qualifies for Nationals

After ten collegiate rodeos, held from September until last weekend, the Odessa College Men's Rodeo team have qualified for the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Finals to be held June 10-17, 2018 in Casper, Wyoming.  The men's team at the 2018 finals will be comprised of the top six ranked Odessa College cowboys in the 18 College/University NIRA Southwest Region.  Tarleton State University men won the Southwest title with 3,885 points.  Odessa College barely edged out Western Texas College for the second position with 3,405 to the 3,380 points earned by WTC.  Only the top two teams are allowed to advance from each region to the NIRA finals.   In each Region, the top two teams and the top three individuals per event are allowed to advance to nationals. 

The Wrangler men last qualified a team for the NIRA Finals during the 2012 season.  Prior to the 2012 season, one must go back to the 1989 season to locate a year in which Odessa College qualified a rodeo team for the intercollegiate rodeo championships. 

Representing the Wranglers in Wyoming on the Men's team will be:

BoDell Jessen    SO          Utah                      Finish 3^rd in the SW Region in Bareback in 2018.  BoDell qualified in both the bareback and the Bulls during the 2017 national finals. 

Wyatt Johnson SO          Payson, UT          Finished 4^th in the SW Region in Bareback in 2018. Won the bareback event in 3 collegiate rodeos in 2018.  Qualified for the American Rodeo in Dallas with the opportunity to win a million dollars.  Finished 4^th in the American Rodeo.  Wyatt had the highest three bareback riding scores in the Southwest Region during the 2017-18 intercollegiate season.

Austin Allred     SO          Cleveland, UT    Finished 5^th in the SW Region in Bucking Bulls in 2018. 

Kyler Dick            FR           Oakley, UT          Finished 4^th in the SW Region in Steer Wrestling in 2018.

Ty Allred             SO          Tooele, UT          Finished 8^th in the SW Region in Steer Wrestling in 2018.

Brock Powell     SO          New Mexico       Finished 10^th in the SW Region in Steer Wrestling in 2018.

On the Women's side of the Odessa College Rodeo team, Maddie Dickens of Loveland, Colorado has qualified for two events at the NIRA National Rodeo.  Maddie was the only Wrangler in 2018 to win an event, capturing the Southwest District Barrel title and also finishing 8^th in the goat tying.  Maddie was the all-around female champion in both the Southwest District and the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.

The Odessa College Women's Rodeo team scored 1,363 points to finish 4^th place in the Southwest District.  This point total and the 4^th place finish are the highest total and finish for the women's team in the history of Odessa College Rodeo.  Congratulations to all the team members from the OC women's rodeo team that contributed points to this awesome finish for the women's team.

High praise is indeed warranted for Head Rodeo Coach CJ Aragon and the entire rodeo squad for their dedicated performance during the 2017-18 rodeo season.  Best of luck at nationals.