ALVA, Okla. – With one rodeo remaining on the Central Plains Region schedule, things are looking pretty good for Northwestern Oklahoma State University steer wrestlers.

The top five men in the regional standings are Rangers, and the odds of all three bulldoggers traveling to the College National Finals Rodeo will be heading out of Alva in June are pretty good. Northwestern proved its dominance again this past weekend at the Fort Hays (Kansas) State University rodeo, where seven of the 12 cowboys in the final round were Rangers.

“I think we’ve improved a whole lot by bulldogging every day, pushing each other and staying sharp and running steers,” said Cam Fox of Tulsa, who has secured his second-place finish in the standings, thereby ensuring his spot at the national championship in Casper, Wyoming. “We all stayed aggressive. We wanted to dominate, and I think we did that.”

Senior Trisyn Kalawaia of Waiakea, Hawaii, won the bulldogging title in Hays to wrap up his Central Plains title. He was 4.6 seconds to finish second in the opening round, then stopped the clock in 4.1 seconds to win the championship round and the overall title. That gave him a healthy enough advantage over the field to claim the year-end crown.

“I drew two really good steers and saw that I had the opportunity to bounce back after the last couple of rodeos,” said the senior, who also qualified for the college finals as a freshman while attending Central Arizona College. “This was a good year for all of us. Coming toward the end of the season and having the top five bulldoggers in the standings, it shows that we were competing with more confidence.

“Now, we’ll be able to go into the college finals with confidence. We’ve been bulldogging good all year. I think it’s going to help us out when we get to the college finals. To be able to have this much success with my buddies is great.”

As it has been much of the spring semester, Northwestern showed up big in western Kansas. Sterling Lee of Goetebo, Oklahoma, won the long round, placed in the short round and finished second. Jacob Haren capitalized on finishing in a tie for second place in the final go-round to place fifth overall. Tanner Meier of Garden City placed sixth in the championship round and tied for sixth overall, while Emmett Edler of State Center, Iowa, and Fox both earned points in the first round.

The final rodeo set for this coming weekend in Guymon, Oklahoma, will help decide who the third bulldogger from the Central Plains will be. Haren is third, but he’s just 90 points ahead of Edler. Quade Potter of Stockville, Nebraska, who made the short round in Hays but didn’t gather any points, sits fifth.

“I just need to keep getting points like I have been all season,” Haren said. “We’ll be running different steers than we have been running when we get to Guymon. I’m sure they’ll be good, and we’ll just see what happens.”

Bull rider Kade Stokes of Landrum, South Carolina, continued his late push in the regional standings. He finished second in the first round in Hays, and when no cowboys lasted the eight seconds in the final round, he finished second overall. That helped move him up one spot to sixth in the circuit – only the top three contestants from the region standings in each event advance to the college finals.

Tie down roper Kade Chace of Cherokee, Oklahoma, header Kyler Altmiller of Canadian, Texas, (roping with Cody Newell of Dodge City Community College) and the Rangers tandem of Lacey Geiger of Emmett, Idaho, and Chase Cooper of Homedale, Idaho, all made the short round. Breakaway roper Jaci Traul of Fort Scott, Kansas, scored points by finishing in a tie for second place in the first round, while Lauren Hopkins of Lipan, Texas, made the final round, where she was joined by barrel racer Chase Kite of Beetown, Wisconsin.

“Some of us have struggled throughout the year, but we put on some pressure here at the end, and Stockton was a big part of that,” Kalawaia said of the Rangers’ coach, Stockton Graves. “He’s good at being a mental coach. He’ll show you how to bulldog, but Stockton’s mental coaching is really good. I’ve learned a lot from him.

“Once we realized we needed to get dialed in, that’s when we started to turn it around. I think a few of us, me included, were struggling mentally, but our confidence grew. Now, we can take that with us to the college finals.”