ALVA, Okla. – The College National Finals Rodeo is a time to shine, but it’s also a week of redemption for some.

Take Northwestern Oklahoma State University cowboy Emmett Edler, who returns to the intercollegiate championship after a less-than-stellar finale a year ago. He knows this is an opportunity, and he’s focused on the best outcome possible as he looks ahead to the June 15-21 event at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming.

“I think it’s going to be a good year,” said Edler, a senior from State Center, Iowa. “Now that I’ve been there, seen it and got to experience what it’s like, I think it’ll be a whole different perspective going into it. I’m going to be a lot more prepared.”

He’ll also be a bit busier and have a boatload of confidence with him as he arrives in Casper. Edler dominated the Central Plains Region’s steer wrestling race, running away with the title. He also earned points in tie-down roping and team roping through the season and finished second in the all-around race. That means he’ll add another event to his repertoire at the college finals, tie-down roping.

He will be joined in Casper by header Colter Snook, a sophomore from Dodge City, Kansas, and goat-tier Payton Dingman of Pryor, Oklahoma. The trio will try to take their momentum from the 10-event season into the four-round championship.

“I would really like to win a national championship in steer wrestling, and it would be awesome to go out there and do well in calf roping, too,” Edler said. “I know it’s not my main event and there are a lot of really wolfy guys that are going to be there in calf roping, but I want to do as well as I can. The main thing in calf roping is catching. If I can make three consistent runs and do what I can on the calves I’ve drawn, I would be happy with that.”

His experience of having performed in that arena will be valuable, but the Rangers’ first-timers are excited to be in the mix at college rodeo’s marquee event.

“I wanted to catch all the cows during the season and not break a barrier, but I missed my wrap in Garden City (Kansas) and broke the barrier in Durant (Oklahoma) and Hays (Kansas),” said Snook, who will rope with Cale Morris of Western Oklahoma State College. “My goal is to catch all four cows and have a good time.”

That’s easier said than done. Contestants know that in order to place high in go-rounds, they must be fast. The faster cowboys and cowgirls try to be, the more chances they’re making, which opens the door for failure.

“Only one team caught all four last year,” Snook said of the 2024 finale. “I might as well go catch all four and see what happens.”

Consistency is the name of the game, and the most steady team will likely come away with the college championship. He’ll lean on his partner in crime, Cajun, a 15-year-old bay gelding to help put him and Morris into position.

“He’s the hardest-running horse I’ve ever been on,” said Snook, the second-place finisher in the region’s heading standings. “If I’m scoring solid, then I can get out and be at the (steer’s) hip when other people are two coils out.”

That means he trusts the speedy stead to put him in position faster than others, which helps him turn the steer in a better position for his heeler.

“I just drop it on his head and roll him out of there and be able to handle cattle really good,” he said, noting that the better the header handles the cow, the more opportunities the heeler has to make a solid catch.

Teamwork is vital. While Snook will entrust Morris and Cajun, Edler has four other partners to help him. He will continue to ride Easy, a horse he’s used all year that’s owned by Logan Mullin, who will help guide the steers into place for Edler while riding Bullfrog, a hazing horse owned by the Swayze family in Freedom, Oklahoma.

In tie-down roping, Edler will ride a horse owned by Tanner Scheevel, a Northeastern Oklahoma A&M cowboy who won the region’s all-around race and finished second in calf roping. Dingman will be riding Dolly, an all-around horse that she’s also used in breakaway roping. After taking a couple years off the event while in high school, she added goat-tying to kick off her college career.

“I hadn’t tied in two years before this year, so everybody was joking, ‘You’re definitely going to make the college finals.’ ” said Dingman, who finished third in the region to punch her ticket to Casper. “Then I did, but I don’t think it really stuck for a couple weeks after that.

“I really don’t think it’s going to hit me until we get there, because you see the girls that are at the college finals, and you think about what it’s going to be like in that arena and in that environment. Now, I actually get to do that. It’s something you dream about. I’m living that dream that I had always wanted. I’m super excited.”

She should be. She’s done something many freshman never do. Her success in the inaugural season of her intercollegiate career has also opened other doors. She has signed on to be a student assistant to coach Cali Griffin, and she will also serve as the region’s student director next year. She credited her success to the setting Griffin placed in the practices.

“I think tying with the girls and the practices with Cali were helping to keep the environment fun, which was really helpful,” Dingman said. “I think the region really helped me. It was intimidating at first, but it pushed me a little bit. When you’re tying with girls that have been doing it and are a little bit better than you, I feel like it makes you level up.”

She’ll need it when she arrives in Wyoming. She can lean on Griffin as a mentor, but she can also look up to Edler, who has played the game at intercollegiate rodeo’s highest level.

“Through most of my college career, I was just so focused on winning as much as I could every time rather than just staying consistent, placing where I’m supposed to place and winning where I’m supposed to win,” Edler said. “I think adjusting to that was a huge factor in helping me win the region. Going into the college finals, I think consistency is a big factor.

“I want to go out there and make the most of every run. You only get one chance, so you’ve got to make the most of it.”