College rodeo champions crowned in Casper
The 2025 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) has officially come to an end.
After a week of intense competition from some of the best college rodeo talent in the country, three Wyoming athletes came out on top.
Cowboy State champions
In a sweet ending to her college rodeo career, Haiden Thompson of Gillette College was crowned the Women’s All-Around Cowgirl for the second time. A week of competitive runs in the goat tying and breakaway roping helped boost the Yoder native to victory once again, having won her first title in 2023.
During Saturday’s short go, Thompson posted the fastest time of the entire rodeo in the breakaway, smoking the competition with a 1.7-second run. A 2.1-second run in the first round, a no-time in the second round and a 2.2-second run in the third round landed her in seventh place overall in the breakaway roping.
Thompson did not make it back to the short round in the goat tying, but a consistent week of goats that stayed tied landed her in 14th place and contributed to all-around points.
The national champion bareback rider also hailed from Gillette College.
After three years of qualifying for nationals and a reserve title last year, New Underwood, South Dakota native Cooper Filipek finally walked away from the CNFR with a national championship to his name in 2025.
Filipek cleared the competition by more than 10 points, landing scores of 82.5, 82.5, 76.5 and 83.5 for an aggregate total of 325 points by the time the bucking chute gate cracked on his final ride of the week.
Casper College’s James Perrin came out on top in the saddle bronc riding.
A native of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada, Perrin spurred the high-marked ride of the short go with 84.5 points aboard Wandering Witch of Summit Pro Rodeo to clinch the 2025 title, in addition to rides worth 82.5, 80.5 and 77 points in the qualifying rounds.
Two other Casper College T-Birds claimed spots in the top 10 saddle bronc standings, with Eastan West landing sixth and Malcom Heathershaw splitting seventh overall with Bailey Small of Tarleton State University.
Top finishers in each of the individual events were as follows.
Bareback riding
Cooper Filipek of Gillette College was the champion cowboy in the bareback riding with an average score of 325 points on four horses.
Kooper Heimburg of Missouri Valley College trailed Filipek by one point to earn reserve champion, ending his week at the CNFR with an average score of 324 points on four head.
In third place was Bradlee Miller of Sam Houston State University, followed by Kash Martin of McNeese State University in fourth.
A two-way tie for fifth place between Bryce Eck of Missouri Valley College and Luke Thrash of Southeastern Oklahoma State University rounded out the top scorers in the bareback riding.
Tie-down roping
Tyler Calhoun of Southwest Texas College came out on top in the tie-down roping with a total time of 38.7 seconds on four head.
Brey Yore of South Plains College earned reserve champion with a total time of 40.2 seconds on four head, followed by Tanner Scheevel of Northeastern Oklahoma State A&M (NEOKAM) in third.
Another NEOKAM cowboy, Blake Tatham, landed fourth in the calf roping, followed by Central Arizona College’s Garrett Jepson in fifth.
Breakaway roping
Two cowgirls split top honors in the breakaway.
Kate Eiland of Pearl River Community College and Rylee George of East Texas A&M were crowned co-champions with aggregate times of 10 seconds flat on four calves.
Alissa Erickson of Cisco College took third, followed by Murphy Gaasch of Cochise College in fourth and Tarleton State cowgirl Jacelyn Frost in fifth.
Saddle bronc riding
Proud Thunderbird James Perrin brought the saddle bronc title home to Casper College by a nearly 10-point advantage, scoring 324.5 points on four horses in comparison to Reserve Champion Montgomery Parsons’ aggregate score of 315 points.
Parsons, who rodeos for Tarleton State, was closely followed by teammate Coleman Shalbetter, who landed third.
Two cowboys representing Fort Scott Community College by the names of Blake Steuck and John Allen placed fourth and fifth respectively to round out the week’s competitive display of saddle bronc riding.
Steer wrestling
A steer wrestler originally hailing from Honolulu, Hawaii took home the buckle in the “big man’s event.”
Sul Ross State University Cowboy Cameron Haumea led the aggregate in the steer wrestling by more than five seconds, ending his week with a total time of 20.6 seconds on four head compared to Reserve Champion Cole Detton of Montana State University’s 25.5-second finish.
Wyomingite Jace Mayfield of Central Wyoming College took third in the bulldogging, followed by Nathan Duvall of Connors State College and Clay Tom Hurt of Sam Houston State in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Goat tying
Cowgirls from the Lone Star State proved their salt in the goat tying to take home the grand and reserve championship titles.
Tori Brower of Tarleton State took home first with an average time of 24.5 seconds on four head, while Jacee Graff of Weatherford College earned the reserve title with a total time of 25.5 seconds on four.
In third place was Parker McIntyre of Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Maggie Usher of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo finished fourth, followed by Ashley Barrett of Utah Valley University in fifth.
Team roping
Texas cowboys also showed out in the team roping.
Cason Richey of Texas Tech and Cashton Weidenbener of Weatherford College reigned supreme with a total time of 26.2 seconds across four rounds, followed by Jacob Walters of Texas Tech and Jeryn Ellerd of Howard College with a total time of 27.5 seconds.
Third place went to University of Montana Western duo Cole Trexler and Kyler Erickson, followed by McCrae Fillmore and Wyatt Rindlisbacher of Snow College in fourth.
Cael Hilzendeger of Bismarck State College and Ryan Shepherd of Mid-Plains Community College rounded out the top team ropers in fifth place.
Barrel racing
Acey Pinkston of Southwest Texas College posted the fastest run of the entire rodeo during the short go. Her 13.9-second-run on Saturday night was the final stepping stone to clinch her 2025 title, making for a total time of 56.23 seconds across four nights.
Tycie Phalen of Dickinson State University came in second place, rounding out her week at 56.89 seconds on four runs.
Adyson Wright of Treasure Valley Community College (TVCC) took third, followed by Emma Ricke of Southeastern Oklahoma State and Brylee Grubb of Gillette College. Grubb was also named the 2025 Central Rocky Mountain Region’s Rookie of the Year.
Bull riding
Trace Scarlavai of Mid-Plains Community College was crowned champion in the bull riding, covering three out of four bulls throughout the week for an aggregate score of 242.5 points.
Gavin Knutson of Montana Western University also rode three throughout the week to land in second place with 221.5 overall points.
Brad Moreno of New Mexico State University found the whistle twice to finish in third place, followed by Lane Vaughn of Western Texas College and Brock Dean Cooper of TVCC in fourth and fifth.
Teams and all-around results
In the overall standings, the Tarleton State University men’s team swept the competition while Southwest Texas College took top honors on the women’s side. Haiden Thompson was the women’s all-around champion and Brad Moreno captured the men’s all-around title. Trace Scarlavai was the men’s Rookie of the Year and Adyson Wright was the women’s Rookie of the Year.
Although it may seem like the arena dust only just settled, plans for the 2026 CNFR to return to Casper are already underway.
Grace Skavdahl is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
