Rangers’ Collier wins steer wrestling at PRCC Rodeo
Ranger men place fourth overall
Last weekend proved to be a strong one for the Northwest Mississippi Community College steer wrestlers at the PRCC Rodeo.
Three Rangers placed within the top five of the steer wrestling competition, highlighted by a first place finish from Will Collier. The freshman from Malden, Mo. logged a 10.1 average score, followed by a third-place finish from Christian Cagle (10.6) and Wyatt Newman (12.4).
Those three results helped the Northwest men earn 330 team points, placing fourth out of 10 teams. Missouri Valley College won the weekend with 875 team points, followed by runners-up East Mississippi (510) and West Alabama (335).
However, the Rangers placed in more than just steer wrestling. Cagle finished third in the men’s all-around standings, logging 190 points for the weekend, while also earning 66 points and a third-place finish in the saddle bronc riding event.
As for the Lady Rangers, Northwest tied for ninth place with Murray State. Freshman Emily Fugate recorded the only placed result for the women, tying for eighth overall in breakaway roping.
Following the first two rodeo events of the spring season, Northwest now sits in third place in the NIRA Ozark Region men’s team standings, with 2,670 points earned. The Rangers are close behind second-place West Alabama (2,805) and narrowly ahead of East Mississippi, which sits in fourth place with 2,595 team points.
In the updated women’s standings, the Lady Rangers are eighth with 210 team points. Northwest is not far behind East Mississippi, which currently ranks seventh with 300 team points, and the Lady Rangers are also ahead of five other programs.
In the individual Ozark Region standings, Cagle is currently second in the men’s all-around with 880 points. He also ranks second in the steer wrestling standings with 430 points, and fourth in the saddle bronc riding standings with 440 points. Meanwhile, Collier leads the region’s steer wrestling standings with 455 points, followed by Kent Jordan in fourth (390), Newman in sixth (345), Laine Moore in 10th (190) and Hank Burgess in 11th (140).
In bull riding, Luke Stanley is still holding in third place with 330 points on the season. In team roping, Moore is fifth with 340 points, joining his season partner Tanner Brown (EMCC).
Freshman Delaney Naifeh is currently the only Lady Ranger in the Ozark Region women’s individual standings, sitting at sixth place with 140 total points.
Northwest will be on hiatus for the next two weekends, before resuming competition at UT Martin from April 11-13. The Rangers will then compete at Arkansas-Monticello’s Boll Weevil Stampede from April 18-20, before closing out the regular season with the annual Northwest Rodeo from April 25-27.
