CASPER, Wyo. - Three Northwest Mississippi Community College athletes, and a bonus former Ranger, competed in Wyoming on Tuesday at the College National Finals Rodeo.  The competition started for the Rangers just after 7:00 A.M. MDT, and continued until nearly 10:00 P.M., with five attempts made for a shot at Saturday night's Short Go. 

All three current Rangers - barrel racer Raegan Chance (Mendenhall), steer wrestler Will Collier (Malden, Mo.), and bull rider Dakota Smith (Kaufman, Tex.) - competed intensely and put themselves in a good position to return on Saturday night.

Two of the Rangers, veterans Collier and Smith, completed their third go during the performance round on Tuesday night.  Both must now wait for the results in their respective events during the performance rounds on Wednesday - Friday nights.

The third Ranger rider, Chance, completed her second go on Tuesday and will have her final shot to record a score and gain points towards the finals on Wednesday night at the Ford Wyoming Center.  Her performance will be broadcast on ESPN+ beginning at 7:00 P.M. MDT/8:00 P.M. CDT. 

Collier, after a tough first go on Monday morning, returned to the arena on a mission on Tuesday and laid down two solid runs to put himself in contention.  The third-year team leader was disappointed in his run during the slack on Monday and came out focused on a return to the final night.  

"Yesterday was just kind of weird," Collier said about his first go.  The scouting on his steer did not quite match the animal's performance.  "He was very sharp to the gate, so I, expecting him to be slow, kind of gave him a step out in front of me. And then when he took off, it was just kind of panic mode-just get him caught and throwed.  That was a chore in itself."

The veteran took to heart his lessons learned from past trips to Casper. "Today it was just going back to basics. I mean, just not worried about it, not letting it get in my head. Just going out and doing what I know how to do."

Collier got his second go during the Tuesday morning slack portion and made the most of his run, getting his steer to the ground in 4.7 seconds.  "Today felt great. They missed him in the first round yesterday. He left sharp, but he just wants to shoulder under you.  He's pretty tight on me.  But it's just getting my knee down and getting my right arm around him. And after that it was easy," said the Ranger.

The bulldogger climbed from 21st to 11th after Go 2, but still had work to do Tuesday night during the first performance round of the CNFR.  "With tonight being the first performance and being the first runs of the third round, I'm just going to go out there and set the pace - give everybody else behind me something to chase and just do my best; do my job."

"Do your job." has been a familiar refrain from Northwest's steer wrestlers in the four years since professional steer wrestler Will Lummus took over as head coach.  Collier has taken that to heart and made it somewhat of a mantra.

On Tuesday night under the big lights, Collier did his job and wrestled his steer in 5.6 seconds for a total time of 18.5 on three head.  That time places him in second place of the 10 steer wrestlers who also competed on Tuesday.  Now he must wait and see which of the other competitors catches a third before Saturday.  There are currently 12 remaining who have caught their first two and will have a shot.

Smith, the no-nonsense bull rider from Texas, also had two shots to score on Tuesday.  He wowed the crowed in Casper during the Sunday "Bulls, Broncs & Breakaway" event, scoring an 80.5 on the way to a second-place finish in the first go.

He had his second go during the Tuesday slack round and drew a bull named Magic Hustle out of the Sankey Pro Rodeo stock.  Early in the ride it looked like Smith would get his second score, but Magic Hustle turned hard left twice and threw the Ranger rider towards the chutes.  The ride ended in a No Score mark for Smith.  When asked about it between rides, Smith said, matter-of-factly, "It's eight or nothing."

Smith, still confident, drew Quick Draw out of the Summit Pro Rodeo stock for his final go.  The two exited the chute and the bull went hard right after clearing.  Smith turned him four times as the clock ticked on what looked like a certain points ride.  Quick Draw had other ideas midway through the fourth and turned back to the left, throwing Smith.  The arena announcer noted that the timer had 7.57 seconds at the stop-very nearly a qualified ride.  

Two riders have ridden two bulls after Go 2.  Each of them have one more bull to ride this week.  Six riders have ridden one bull in three tries.  Smith has the highest score out of those six at 80.5.  Seven other riders have ridden one bull with another left to try this week.  Like Collier, all Smith can do is wait and watch in hopes of making it back to the Short Go.

Chance, the freshman barrel racer, had a successful first go in Casper during slack on Monday.  She needed a strong run to stay in contention on Tuesday morning and, unlike the previous day, didn't have a fresh arena drag before her run. 

The lack of fresh dirt did not affect the ride, but an incident around the second barrel brought excitement in the arena down the stretch.  Sky's (Chance's horse) reins flipped over the horse's neck rounding the barrel.  Chance and Sky rounded the final barrel and the reins snatched from the rider's hands and went over Sky's head.

There was an audible gasp in the arena, then a cheer erupted.  Sky did not step into the reins as Chance gripped the horse's mane to finish the ride all the while reaching for the tack. Raegan reflected on the moment: "I did not want her in trouble.  Thankfully they (the reins) stayed in the air...Will (Coach Will Lummus) was there to actually catch my reins through the fence."

Despite the added excitement, Chance and Sky managed to cross the timer in 13.90 seconds.  That time is one of the top in this rodeo so far, and garnered the horse and rider 25 team points.  It also placed Chance in fourth in the aggregate scoring going into Go 3.

The barrel racer will get her third go on Wednesday night under the bright lights of the performance round.  The Ranger shared her excitement about going in the round after two slack runs.  "I'm excited.  We got to run twice in the slack, and now she (Sky) will be fully prepared to get around in the third round in perf.," said Chance.

As a bonus this week, former Ranger Emily Fugate (Baker, Fla.) got her first opportunity to perform at the CNFR.  Fugate, a junior at Murray State, is a breakaway roping specialist who qualified for Casper for the first time in 2025-26.  She spent her first two collegiate years in Senatobia training with the Rangers.

Fugate and her horse, Sug, finished their third go as well on Tuesday and were able to score on their first time out in the arena.  She had a 2.1 second score, but broke the barrier to finish with 12.1.  She reflected on her first opportunity on Wednesday afternoon.  "I was pretty excited to come out here.  I had a really bad year all year long with a new horse...and my first run went pretty good.  Being third out in the first section it was kind of hard to see the start, so I just went for it."  "I'm just ready to get back to the house and continue practicing so I can make it next year."

You can catch Chance's final run Wednesday night on ESPN+ beginning at 8:00 P.M. CDT.

You can keep up with Ranger Rodeo on social media and nwccrangers.com.  You can see full CNFR results here.