Six students represented Cochise College and the Grand Canyon Region this past week at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), in Casper, Wyoming.

Jake Burwash, Ty Everson, Jalen Joaquin, Rio Lee and Wyatt Nez were all part of the nearly 400 competitors that participated in multiple events at the finals.

“The men’s team did much better this year,” said head coach Rick Smith. “Jalen Joaquin and Rio Lee placed into the top 11 in the nation.”

Haley Dalton-Estes went solo at nationals to represent the Cochise College women’s rodeo team.

“I competed to the best of my ability to get to the point where I could represent Cochise College at finals with honor,” said Dalton-Estes.

This was the fourth consecutive year that the Cochise College Rodeo team competed at CNFR.

Jake Burwash and Jalen Joaquin took on the Saddle Bronc Riding event. Burwash earned a 59.5 average score placing him in the top 30 saddle bronc riders. Joaquin beat his national average from the previous year and improved to an average score of 145, placing him in the top 11 saddle bronc riders in the nation for the Saddle Bronc Riding event.

Rio Lee qualified for all three rounds of the Bareback Riding event averaging out to 218.5 points and placing him among the top 11 bareback riders in the nation.  

The Tie Down Roping competition was another event completed by Jake Burwash as he finished with an average score of 45 and was placed in the top 25 competitors.

Ty Everson was one of the top 35 steer wrestlers in the Steer Wrestling event. This particular event can carry a high risk of injury to the rider, but that was the last thing on Everson’s mind.

“I think it’s like any event, there’s a lot of risks involved in all of them, but I just try to go out and do everything the right way, every time. As long as you make sure that you do everything right, that lowers the risk quite a bit,” explained Ty Everson. “I think that at the college level and especially at (nationals), the risks are usually the furthest thing from the rider’s mind. I try to focus on making the best possible run that I can.”  

Bull riding was attempted valiantly by Jalen Joaquin and Wyatt Nez, but they both came up short finishing with a “no score” along with 21 other riders.

Joaquin explained the challenges of riding a bull are overcome with experience.

“It’s not really that difficult to ride a bull, but it’s more of a mindset because as soon as the chute gate cracks open it feels as though everything is happening in the blink of an eye,” said Joaquin. “This moment can dissipate with countless hours of practice both in and out of the arena. However, you have to rank the caliber of bulls as well as they can range from just a ranch raised bull to the best bloodlines in the business today.”

Haley Dalton-Estes competed in two separate events, Breakaway Roping and Goat Tying. She received an average score of 14.3 for the Breakaway Roping event, which placed her in the top 25 breakaway ropers in the nation. Her average score in the Goat Tying event was 20.7, placing her in the top 20 competitors at the Goat Tying event.

Out of all the colleges that participated this year in CNFR, Cochise College was ranked in the top 40 of the men’s rodeo teams and top 30 of the women’s rodeo teams.

Complete 2017 CNFR results can be found at http://www.collegerodeo.com/cnfr/cnfr-2017-results.