STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State University’s men’s rodeo team will be going for the program’s third national title in a row and the fourth in five years when the chute opens for action at the College National Finals Rodeo June 14-20 in Casper, Wyo.
Tarleton State dominated the newly formed Lone Star Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, winning at eight of 10 stops in the 2025-26 campaign. Like last year, head coach Mark Eakin thinks the team chemistry has played a big part in its success.
“They are really a close group,” Eakin said. “They practice together, they travel together and most of them live together at the facility. They have all bought into the team concept. They cheer for each other, and that closeness motivates them to do well for each other.”
The two-time defending national champs will take 11 riders and ropers to the annual event but will be without Lone Star Region bareback riding champion Devon Moore, who was injured in a pro rodeo in May.
Though he won’t be riding, Moore will travel to Casper to root for his teammates in their bid for another national title. He echoes Eakin’s thoughts on the team members’ commitment to the unit.
“We have a lot of good camaraderie, a lot of good people,” said Moore, a junior marketing major living in Stephenville. “I attribute that to our coaches. They don’t let us slack; they make sure we put in the work and help us to make each other better. That’s a big deal. It’s really important to how it all works.”
Moore’s alternate in the lineup is Jace Lomheim from Hughenden, Alberta, Canada. He finished the regular season in fourth place among bareback riders within the region, turning in six top-10 efforts in 2025-26 including a first in the Vernon College Rodeo and runner-up finishes at the Ranger College Rodeo, the Sul Ross State fall rodeo and the Tarleton Stampede.
He joins a group of fellow bareback riders who form the backbone of a formidable roster of rough stock specialists. Teammate Taylon Carmody finished the season as runner-up in the Lone Star regular season standings, followed by Daxtyn Field, who took third.
Carmody earned five top-five regular-season finishes, including wins at Cisco, Weatherford, and the Tarleton Stampede, while Field made the finals in six of the season’s 10 rodeos, featuring firsts at Ranger and the Sul Ross spring rodeo and second at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo College Rodeo.
Also on the CNFR roster are saddle bronc riders Waitley Sharon, who won the regional crown, two-time CNFR qualifier Montgomery Parsons, Lone Star Region all-around champion Clay Greenslade, bull riders Brenson Bartlett and Zane Monnett, and tie-down ropers Travis Staley, who won the Lone Star Region crown, and Brodey Clemons, who was third on the final regional leaderboard. All-around reserve champ Dalton Porch, who will compete as a calf roper and steer wrestler, rounds out the Tarleton State list of qualifiers.
Sharon, also making his second appearance in Casper, captured top honors at Weatherford, Pecos, and at the season-ending Tarleton Stampede to earn the regional saddle bronc title. He said high expectations that come from the program’s success motivate him.
“It’s not like pressure,” he said. “It helps you want to work hard during the week so when the weekend comes, you’re ready to go.”
He said success at the CNFR comes from keeping goals in perspective and maintaining a positive attitude.
“You have to keep your mindset moving forward, even when things aren’t going just the way you want them to,” he said. “Don’t let yourself get down. It’s just another rodeo. Take care of business.”
Parsons, who finished in the top 10 in seven rodeos, wound up in third place in the region’s final standings. Bartlett took second in the final regional standings, and fellow bull rider Monnett was third.
Travis Staley’s tie-down roping title leads Tarleton State’s timed event competitors into the CNFR. He earned the regional crown by virtue of five top-10 efforts, featuring firsts in Alpine at the Sul Ross Rodeo, and in Cisco, Pecos and Stephenville.
He is taking a businesslike approach to the College National Finals, maintaining a rigid practice schedule to keep his skills sharp and his horse in shape.
“I thought college rodeo would be hard,” said Staley, a senior agribusiness major from Nashville, Ga., “but it’s not really different from any other rodeo. If you go out there and do your job, you can win. If things don’t go your way, just keep your head down and keep doing the same thing the next time and it’ll work out. Keep practicing, keep hustling and it’ll pay off.”
Clemons, from Weatherford, earned his spot in Casper following a season that featured three firsts and a half-dozen top-five finishes. Porch qualified by taking fourth in tie-down roping and seventh in steer wrestling for the reserve championship in the men’s all-around race.
Tarleton State, one of the favorites heading into the CNFR, has won six men’s national titles. The rodeo begins Sunday, June 14, at the Ford Center in Casper and winds up with the championship finals on Saturday, June 20.
“As long as we draw well and don’t beat ourselves, it’s a great possibility,” Eakin said of the squad’s chances at a three-peat. “This team is very capable.”
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State University is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of more than 21,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. For over 125 years, Tarleton State has been committed to accessible higher education opportunities for all while helping students grow academically, socially and professionally through programs that emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.