MARSHALL, MO - The Northwest Mississippi Community College rodeo team got off to a strong start at the Viking Stampede hosted by Missouri Valley College on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, taking third as a team on the men's side, seeing seven Rangers make it back to the short go and picking up 540 team points for the men and another 20 points on the women's side.
The performances were highlighted by bull riding and team roping where the Rangers picked up champions in both events.
Dakota Smith began his title defense in bull riding by winning the average at the Viking Stampede, staying on his first bull for a 78-point ride, finishing third in the first round before blowing away the field with an 87-point ride on his second bull for the highest score of the rodeo. His combined score of 165 was best in the average and he picked up 150 points in the regional standings putting him in second, only ten points behind the top spot.
The team of Cole McCorkle and Tucker Douglas took home the top spot in team roping and moved to the top spot in the regional standings with a time of 21.4 on two-head in the average, pairing an 8.3 in the first round with a 13.1 in the second round to just edge out East Mississippi Community College for the top spot. McCorkle was on the points team, picking up 160 points for the team score and both he and Douglas are holding on to the top header and heeler spots after the first rodeo with ten points separating them from second place.
McCorkle also picked up some points in calf roping where he made it back to the short go in the sixth spot with an 11.0 on his first calf for ten more points and a 170 point weekend in the all-around race. His 14.9 in the second round wasn't enough to pick up any points in the go or the average, finishing in seventh place in both.
The Rangers weren't left out in calf roping though.
Tate Williams finished in third in the average with a time of 21.8 on two head after putting up matching 10.9's in the first and second rounds. Williams finished in fifth in the first round and was less than a second behind the top two times in the second round to pick up another 40 points there, finishing the weekend with 100 points in the regional hunt, only 55 points out of the top spot and 25 points out of second.
One of the most consistent weekends came from
Will Collier in steer wrestling who is looking to build on a second place finish in the regional standings last year. Collier's 4.5 in the first round was good for third in a lightning fast start for the region where a 3.9 was the winning time in the round. He came back with a 5.7 in the second round which was also good for third, and his 10.2 on two head was third in the average for a 120-point weekend putting him in second in the regional points standings, trailing the top spot by 50 points.
Trey Lee Weekley also made it back to the short go with a time of 5.4 in the first round giving him a tie for fifth and 15 points but he failed to catch his steer in the second round and finished ninth in the average.
Only one member of the Ranger's women's team made it back to the short go. Reagan Chance was the eighth fastest time in the first round in barrel racing and despite tipping a barrel in her second go, her time of 20.38 held up for sixth in the round and moved her up to sixth in the average for a 20 point weekend.
The Rangers as a team sit in third in the standings on the men's side, trailing Missouri Valley who picked up 630 team points and East Mississippi who had 595 points. There is a sizable gap between NWCC and fourth place where the University of West Alabama sits with 280 points. On the women's side, the Rangers sit in eighth.
Both the men and women are back in action this weekend when they travel to Livingston, Alabama for the UWA Rodeo Showdown on Thursday through Saturday. More information on the weekend and the full schedule can be found nwccrangers.com or by following Ranger social media accounts.
