STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 The Tarleton State University\u2019s men\u2019s rodeo team will look to pick up back-to-back championships for the first time ever at the annual College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) June 15-21 in Casper, Wyo. The 2024 national title marked the fifth for the Tarleton men since 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While a national crown is difficult in any sport, rodeo has its own unique challenges that make repeating an impressive feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got horses and cattle and people, there are a lot of variables that have to go your way,\u201d said Tarleton State head coach Mark Eakin. \u201cIt\u2019s not like you run your best 11 players out on the field and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This team, however, is in a great position to overcome those long odds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs long as we draw well and don\u2019t beat ourselves, it\u2019s a great possibility,\u201d Eakin said. \u201cThis team is very capable of repeating.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading the six-man Tarleton State team are three competitors with experience at the CNFR in steer wrestler Landris White, tie-down roper Brayden Roe and saddle bronc rider Bailey Small. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
White is headed to Casper for the second time. Last year\u2019s CNFR reserve champion qualified this year as the regional steer wrestling champion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is certain the experience of this year\u2019s team bodes well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will help us a whole lot,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know what to expect when we get up there. We know what it takes to win, and we know what we need to do to win another national title.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White, a graduate student from Angleton, is one of three who will represent Tarleton State for the final time. He was a key reason why the team won eight of 10 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Southwest Region regular season stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were all focused on getting back to the CNFR,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will be the last time several of us will be eligible to qualify. We knew if we wanted to be national champions again, we had to take care of business starting with the very first rodeo of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roe, who was part of Tarleton State\u2019s national championship team in 2022, is another graduate student winding up his college rodeo career. He took the regional reserve championship, accumulating third-place finishes at Ranger College and Odessa College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking a businesslike approach, he said he won\u2019t alter his routine in the run-up to Casper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Naturally, he wants that second title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the plan. We have as good a chance as anybody if we just go do our job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Small, now a three-time qualifier to the CNFR, is confident in his teammates and their ability to repeat as national champs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaving guys who have qualified in the past is a huge benefit for the team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a lot of the same guys who won the championship last year. These are some of the most talented guys I know. They know how to ride and how to rodeo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarleton State freshman Waitley Sharon earned his first trip to Casper by winning the Southwest Region saddle bronc title. He took top honors at the regular season Clarendon College rodeo and was a top-three finisher twice on his way to the regional crown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Excited at the prospect of being on a national championship team, he is already working to keep up with the Tarleton State veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting all the practice horses I can and going to all the good rodeos I can,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to keep a positive mindset and keep in mind this is just another rodeo. I have to take every horse one jump at a time and use whatever I draw to make the best ride I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saddle bronc riders Coleman Shallbetter and Montgomery Parsons took third and fourth in the regular season and are each making their first appearance in the CNFR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shallbetter was first at Odessa College and Sul Ross State on his way to qualifying for Casper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gunnison, Colo., native was aware of the team\u2019s experience when he signed with Tarleton State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the reason I came to school here,\u201d he said. \u201cI was traveling and rodeoing with those guys, and they just sort of talked me into it. It\u2019s such an honor to be part of this team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What would it mean to him to be part of back-to-back titles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat would be awesome,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019d be great to check that off the list.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parsons\u2019 fourth-place regional finish came on the strength of four top 10 efforts, including a championship at the Ranger College Rodeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even with his 2024-25 regular season success, the Springdale, Ark., senior recognizes the value of being around those who have been here before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt helps having those guys who know the ropes,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are there to kind of coach us through it and keep us on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has had conversations about the opportunity now in front of the Tarleton State team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve all visited about it, and we\u2019re just going to keep doing the same things we\u2019ve been doing \u2014 just take it one horse at a time and make sure everyone has their head on right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When all is said and done, the championship will, of course, be won in the arena, but experience and confidence will be part of the equation.\u201cWe have a great group of guys going this year,\u201d White said. \u201cWe can pull this off. The hard part is getting there. Now is the fun part.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 The Tarleton State University\u2019s men\u2019s rodeo team will look to pick up back-to-back championships for the first time ever at the annual College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":53436,"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":425,"footnotes":""},"categories":[425],"tags":[446,455],"class_list":["post-53404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-division-of-student-engagement-success","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\/2025\/06\/Mens-Team-300x200.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Campus & Community<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Campus & Community<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Division of Student Engagement & Success<\/a>","Rodeo<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Division of Student Engagement & Success<\/span>","Rodeo<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 10 months ago","modified":"Updated 10 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 12, 2025","modified":"Updated on June 23, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 12, 2025 8:00 am","modified":"Updated on June 23, 2025 9:04 am"},"featured_img_caption":"Tarleton State University\u2019s men's rodeo team is headed to the College National Finals Rodeo, June 15-21, in Casper, Wyo.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53404","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=53404"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53454,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53404\/revisions\/53454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}