BOZEMAN — A sold out crowd filled Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Friday for the second night of the Montana State Spring Rodeo.
It was the championship go Friday night, so the top athletes in each event went home with some hardware.
The night started with bareback riding, goat tying and team roping. For those highlights, click the video reel above.
The rodeo continues through the weekend on the MTN channel. Following is a press release from Montana State Athletics detailed Friday's performances:
Montana State rodeo coach Kyle Whitaker has a pretty strong indicator that his sophomore roper Wyatt Jensen likes to compete in Bozeman’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
“He takes a lot of victory laps here,” Whitaker said after his Bobcat men’s and women’s teams won team titles at the first of two MSU Spring Rodeos. The second event features Saturday night’s public performance at 7 p.m. and Sunday’s Championship Go at 1.
Bobcat men won five of six events, with Jensen capturing the tie-down roping title and joining MSU teammate Hayden Taylor to take top honors in the team roping.
“He loves the Brick,” Whitaker said of Jensen’s relationship with his home arena. “It was great to win team roping because we’ve struggled in that. Wyatt and Hayden were strong tonight, and I think they can win rounds at the (College National Finals Rodeo). They’re an outstanding team.”
Jensen wasn’t willing to pick favorites among his two event wins.
“They’re both really fun for me,” he said — but he was quick to give his team roping partner credit. “I just have all the faith that I can in (Taylor). He’s just awesome. Hayden’s so chill.”
Another Bobcat sophomore almost pulled off a double-win on the average. Cole Gerhardt won the bareback and finished third in tie-down roping, and in doing so capture men’s all-around honors.
“Cole was really on point tonight,” Whitaker said. Also on point were MSU freshman Holden Atkinson, who won the saddle bronc riding, and junior steer wrestling title-winner Cole Detton.
The Bobcat men topped second-place UM Western 1,180 points to 445, while MSU’s women scored 395 points to UMW’s 330. Montana State’s Anneliese McCurry led a 1-2-3-5 Bobcat finish in the barrel racing.
MSU Northern’s Georgia Orahood won breakaway roping and UM Western’s Tavy Jo Leno too the goat tying, but MSU’s women posted strong finishes in both events. Cassidy Bolich finished third, Breyer Newman fourth and Ella Moedl fifth in the breakaway, while Michaela McCormick finished second, Fairh Marshall third and Jenae Whitaker sixth in goats.
Whitaker said he was proud of his team’s depth of good performances. “I thought everyone performed really well,” he said. “It was a fun night.”
