ALVA, Okla. – Emmett Edler has started the Central Plains Region season on fire, and he doesn’t seem to be cooling off anytime soon.

Edler, who won the all-around championship in Manhattan, Kansas, to kickstart the campaign, won three titles this past weekend to lead Northwestern Oklahoma State University to the men’s team title at the Southeastern Oklahoma State University rodeo in Durant. He won his second all-around title and tacked on championships in tie-down roping and steer wrestling to dominate the competition.

Edler, a senior from State Center, Iowa, placed in both rounds of tie-down roping and finished with a two-run cumulative time of 25.4 seconds to claim the title. He also won the opening round of bulldogging and finished fourth in the championship round to win the steer wrestling crown. He owns the all-around lead in the regional standings, is first in bulldogging and third in tie-down roping through three events.

In Durant, he accounted for 290 team points for the Rangers – 150 came in steer wrestling. The rest of the team made up the other 200 points for Northwestern to outlast Northeastern Oklahoma State University by just five points for the men’s title.

The Rangers women were just 20 points behind Southeastern for the team title, but the runner-up finish was the best so far for Northwestern, which was paced by freshman Payton Dingman of Pryor, Oklahoma; she placed in both rounds and finished third overall in goat tying. She is the Central Plains leader, as is breakaway roper Jaci Traul of Fort Scott, Kansas. Traul won the long round and placed in the short-go to finish fifth overall.

While Traul led the way among the breakaway ropers, Hannah Hughes, also of Fort Scott, snagged a third-place finish in the opening round before surrendering to a no-time in the final round. Savannah Greenfield of Lakeview, Oregon, earned her spot in the short round in both breakaway and goat tying. In the latter, she and Dingman were joined by Dale Lee Forman of Highmore, South Dakota, and Morgan Poust of Hughesville, Pennsylvania.

In addition to Edler scoring big for the Rangers men, graduate student Jacob Haren of Callaway, Nebraska, also scored in two events. His 5.1-second run was good enough for third in the championship round, and he finished fourth overall. Haren finished fifth in the final round and aggregate in team roping while competing with teammate Rhett Murray of Alma, Kansas.

Colter Snook of Dodge City, Kansas, remained strong, winning the opening round and finishing sixth overall in team roping while competing with Cale Morris of Western Oklahoma State College; Snook is the No. 2 header in the regional standings.

Five other Northwestern cowboys advanced to the short round, including Kaden Harland of Buffalo, Oklahoma, who placed in both rounds of tie-down roping and finished fourth overall. Brock Beltz of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, finished fifth in the long round. The steer-wrestling field included Hazen Sparks of Talihina, Oklahoma, who placed second in the short round; Logan Mullin of Clay Center, Kansas, placed in both rounds and finished sixth overall; and Scout Cutsinger of Claremore, Oklahoma.