UTM dominates in 44th annual rodeo

Horse poop, dirt and cheering fans packed UTM’s 44th Annual Spring Rodeo.

Many in the crowd were, of course, outfitted with button-up shirts and cowboy hats and boots. The rodeo clown was joking with the emcee and yes, clowning around.

The men’s team won 2nd place with 780 points, while Missouri Valley College place first with 795. The women’s team snatched first place with 495 points.

Several UTM students on the men’s team placed in the events of the weekend.

Matt Smith, a sophomore Agriculture major, not only won the bull riding competition with a 54 point average, but was also the only person to complete a ride on a bull.

Austin Duckett,  a freshman Engineering major, won the steer wrestling competition, with a combined time of 9.8 seconds.

The men made a strong showing in other events as well. Ty Hughston, a junior Agriculture major, place third in the average for saddle bronc riding. Tyler Waltz, another junior Agriculture major, placed third in the average for bareback riding. Ben Walker, a junior Geoscience major, tied for second/third in the average, while John Alley, a junior Agriculture major, came in fourth and Clark Adcock, a sophomore Agriculture major, came in fifth in the calf roping competition. In team roping, Clay Mitchell, a sophomore Agriculture major, paired with John Alley to come in second. Clark Adcock and Ben Walker teamed up to come in fourth.

The women’s team cleaned up on their side of the competition, racking up victories in the average. Katie Brown came in second, Dacia Horne, a freshman Health and Human Performance major, came in third,  freshman Mary Francis Gorsuch came in fourth and Heather Moore, a senior Agriculture major, rounded the wins by coming in sixth.

UTM students and alumni came out in force to support their hometown rodeo. The Greer sisters are longstanding fans of the rodeo.

“This’ll be my fourth or fifth time. We love bulls, cows, anything like it,” said Shelley Greer, a UTM alumnus, who is also a big fan of the cowboys. “It’s really hard not to look.”

“I’ve come about three years, I guess. We love the rodeo. We were watching the bull riding,” said Bethany Greer, a junior Social Work major here at UTM. “I’m glad they do it. We really enjoy it, that’s all I have to say.”

People from the local community also flocked to the UTM rodeo.

 “I’ve never been. First time. It was great,” said Kristina Powers, a Martin resident who came with her family.  “I like the clown and the bull riding.”

The UTM rodeo team has two more rodeos, where they must place first or second to automatically advance to the College National Finals Rodeo, which will take place in Wyoming in June.

John Luthi, the head rodeo coach for UTM, had some insight into the situation.

“We need to keep competing well and take advantage of our opportunities. The good Lord willing, we will be OK.”