ALVA, Okla. – Home may be where the heart is, but it’s often the most difficult place to play.
The Northwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo teams hosted the Central Plains Region teams this past weekend at the Alva Dome, and while there was some rough-sledding, there were a handful of Rangers who found success.
“That was our hometown rodeo, but it’s also a pretty tough place to compete because of the way it’s set up,” said Dale Lee Forman, a junior from Highmore, South Dakota, who placed in the championship round and the aggregate race “It’s where you want to do well, but everybody has trouble in that pen.”
Forman started off with a 7.0-second run in the opening round to earn a spot among the top 12 goat-tiers in the short-go. Once in the finale, she stopped the clock in 6.5 seconds to finish fourth in the round and fifth in the average with a two-run cumulative time of 13.5 seconds.
“I just had it in my head that this is my hometown event and that I don’t want to freak out,” she said. “I was just more relaxed, and I think that really helped me out.”
So did Dee Dee, a horse she’s had for several years. The bay mare has made for a solid partner, and that helped Forman find her comfort zone.
“She started out as my barrel horse and just as the years went on, she became my goat horse,” Forman said. “She’s been my goat horse since I was a sophomore in high school, so we’ve been together a long time. She’s not your typical college goat horse. She’s really little and not as strong as a lot of other horses, but she’s as solid as she can be. We’ve just come a long way together.”
Forman was one of three Rangers women in the short round, joined by breakaway roper Jaci Traul of Fort Scott, Kansas, and barrel racer Stormi Hopkins of Claremore, Oklahoma, the latter of whom finished third in the first go and fifth overall.
“I think our team has a lot of talented people on it, and I know everyone has worked super hard this semester,” said Forman, who also competes in barrel racing. “I’d say we just need to keep grinding in the practice pen and be confident. When something goes wrong, go on to the next one and try again. Don’t let one bad rodeo wreck the rest of them.”
That’s sound advice, and it’s something steer wrestler Logan Mullin has kept in mind all season. He had his best finish at the Alva rodeo, sharing the first-round victory after posting a 4.2-second run. He was 6.4 seconds to finish fifth in the championship round, and his two-run cumulative time of 10.2 seconds as good enough for second overall.
“I knew we had good steers, but I also knew it was going to be a fast start, so we had to take an aggressive start,” said Mullin, a senior from Clay Center, Kansas. “I had a good horse under me and a good hazer, and that helped a bunch.”
The horse? It’s a 12-year-old bay gelding Mullin owns and calls Easy. Teammate Emmett Edler of State Center, Iowa, leads the Central Plains’ bulldogging standings and has been riding Easy all season; while Mullin hazes for Edler and three to four others at every rodeo, Edler was his hazer while riding Bullfrog, a hazing horse owned by the Swayze family in Freedom, Oklahoma.
“Easy is the horse Emmett and I hauled all summer, so he’s been good for us,” said Mullin, who acquired the horse a few years ago and has been competing on the bay ever since. “He was pretty green when I first got him, but he’s been great. He’s finished now, and like his name says, he’s super easy.”
Mullin led the way for the Northwestern men, which featured eight cowboys in the final go-round, four of whom were bulldoggers. Jacob Haren, a graduate student from Callaway, Nebraska, placed in both rounds and finished third in the average; Edler finished second in the short round and placed fourth overall; and Scout Cutsinger of Claremore finished sixth in the long round.
Tie-down roper Hazen Sparks of Talihina, Oklahoma, earned a third-place finish in the first round with a 10.2-second run, and Rhett Murray of Alma, Kansas, also advanced to the final go-round. The team roping tandem of Kyler Altmiller of Canadian, Texas, and Sage Bader of Kim, Colorado, also roped in the short round.
The Alva rodeo was the final event of the fall portion of the Central Plains season, and the teams will return to competition in four months. The final five rodeos will decide which teams and which individuals will advance to the College National Finals Rodeo, where the champions will be crowned.
“I just want to try to keep the ball rolling,” Mullin said. “I want to make the runs I need to make. I had a very slow fall, so this is a great way to wrap it up and remind myself that, yeah, I can bulldog at these college rodeos.”