![\"Unknown\"](\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2023\/06\/Unknown.jpg\")
Gaillard, a sophomore agribusiness major from Morse, Texas, is the 2023 regional reserve champion saddle bronc rider. One of the most consistent performers in the region, he posted event titles at the Western Texas College and Ranger College rodeos, and finished in the top 10 eight times during the 2022-23 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His rodeo roots go back generations. His mother was a breakaway roper, and his father and grandfather both rode broncs. He has been in the saddle since he was 7 and achieved success at every level. That makes his first CNFR appearance a little less nerve-racking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is another thing for me to try to go win,\u201d he said. \u201cI came into college thinking I was going to be a CNFR champion. I knew if I took care of everything that\u2019s what would happen. So we\u2019re got one step closer to the goal by qualifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to keep the same mindset I\u2019ve had all year \u2014 take everything one horse at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bray and Rice took the two top slots in the final regional team roping header standings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bray, a senior marketing major from Stephenville, won the event in \u201922-\u201923 at rodeos hosted by Vernon College and Clarendon College, and he made the finals at seven stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The younger brother of former Tarleton standout Paden Bray, he began competing in youth rodeos at 5 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been at it for a while,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody ropes in my family, so I just picked up right after them. My dad is a hell of a horseman, so I had some good training.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bray\u2019s partner in the event is Western Texas College roper Cutter Thomason. After a successful regular season, the duo are primed for success in Casper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we have the best team ropers going,\u201d Bray said. \u201cKorbin Rice, he is amazing. Wyatt Crandall is great at roping calves, and Gus is a hell of a roughstock rider. There are a couple of tough teams from other regions, but I think it\u2019s just them and us. I\u2019m thinking we look pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rice, another CNFR first-timer, has been on horseback since he was in elementary school. \u201cI\u2019ve been roping from as far back as I can remember. My dad roped a little bit, and he got me started. Since I was 7 or 8, I would rope any time I could get into any kind of junior rodeo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019ll compete with former Cisco College teammate Cooper Freeman. They will attempt to treat their time in Casper as just another rodeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike at most of them, if you score good on every catch, you\u2019re going to do all right,\u201d Rice said. \u201cThat\u2019s my mindset going in.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tie-down roper Crandall, a senior animal science major from Spanish Fork, Utah, finished 10th<\/sup> in the region, making the finals in three rodeos and winning third at Howard and Clarendon. He is the oldest of four brothers, all of whom are ropers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a family thing,\u201d he said. \u201cMy mom was a barrel racer, and Dad was a roper and a bareback rider.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He already has some experience in the CNFR spotlight, having qualified as a member of the Ranger JC team last year. \u201cI know how fast I need to be. It helps me strategize a little more. Sometimes on the big stages the nerves can creep in, but since I\u2019ve been before I kind of know what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like his purple-vested teammates, Crandall is confident they have a good shot at defending Tarleton\u2019s 2022 team crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe could be pretty dominant,\u201d he said. \u201cTarleton is always good at the CNFR, and the guys we have going this year are really talented. We\u2019ve been there and done that, so I think we should be pretty confident going in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why wouldn\u2019t they be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 A seasoned group of Tarleton State cowboys are brimming with confidence heading into the College National Finals Rodeo, June 11-17 in Casper, Wyo. Representing Tarleton from the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":49117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":382,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,425],"tags":[455],"class_list":["post-49115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-campus-community","tag-rodeo"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"priddle","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/priddle-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2023\/06\/IMG_0128.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Rodeo<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Rodeo<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 8, 2023","modified":"Updated on June 5, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 8, 2023 8:00 am","modified":"Updated on June 5, 2023 1:11 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Rodeo rider on horseback with a lasso, wearing a Tarleton State University vest.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}