This past weekend, at the annual Southwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo, Kade Stokes won the first round and finished second overall. It was the biggest hit of the season for him.Only six bull riders scored in the opening round, and only one rode two bulls.
“The long round went pretty good, and it paid off in the average,” said Stokes to Ted Harbin. Kade added 110 points to his season total and moved up to a tie for seventh in the Central Plains Region stand-ings.
“It was really big. I’d never been 82 points at a college rodeo, and to be able to do that on a Ben-nie Beutler bull was pretty cool.”
While the Ranger’s bull rider scored his first points of the season, six Northwestern steer wrestlers all added points to their season.
All-around talent Jacob Haren placed in both rounds and won the aggregate title, while Kade Chace utilized a third-place finish in the championship round to place third overall.
Cam Fox placed second in the opener and fifth in the short round to finish fifth overall, and Trisyn Kalawaia finished sixth in both rounds and the average.
Emmett Edler won the first round with a 4.1, the fastest run of the weekend. Tevin Cowan was 5.1 to finish third in the opening round.
The Rangers men finished third in the team standings and kept progressing up the standings.
Meanwhile, Stokes, has found the right frame of mind to close out his season, thanks to coach Stockton Graves.
“His mental approach is all about having the right mindset on winning,” Stokes said to Harbin of his coach. “If you go in with a winning attitude, you give yourself a better chance to win.”
The Central Plains will wrap its 10-event season with rodeos at Hays, Kansas, and this coming weekend and at Guymon, Oklahoma, the final weekend of April.
That means there are just two more chances to gather the points necessary to finish on top.
Only the top two teams and the top three individuals in each event will advance to the College National Finals Rodeo, which takes place June 9-15 in Casper, Wyoming.
-Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo.com
Next events:
Apr 18-20
@ Fort Hays State University
Apr 25-27
@Oklahoma Panhandle State
