The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association was established in 1948. The first College National Finals Rodeo took place later that year. While originally hosted in various cities across the country, the CNFR made its home in Casper, Wyoming in 1998 where the event has taken place in June every year since. The CNFR College National Finals Rodeo is considered akin to the “Rose Bowl” of Western sporting events. The rodeo allows the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association to determine the champion in nine separate events that include bareback riding, barrel racing, bull riding, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling and team roping.
Prior to the Casper championship, each of the Western athletes participate in competitions located in one of 11 NIRA regions. The CNFR qualifiers are comprised of the top three students from each event from the various regions. The men’s and women’s teams are made up of the top two teams from each region.
More than 400 competitors representing more than 100 colleges and universities across the United States participate in three rounds of events. The list narrows down to 12 contestants in each event who go on to the finals that occur on Championship night. The best cowboy or cowgirl in each College National Finals Rodeo event is awarded titles along with $1,000 scholarships for their educational facility. The All Around Champions win $1,500 for their schools. The winning men’s team earns a $5,000 scholarship and the top women’s team wins $3,000.
- Saddle Bronc Riding Results – Elliot, Clay G. with 335 points
- Bareback Riding – O’Connell, Timothy R. with 390 points
- Bull Riding– Essary, Gray with 260 points
- Tie Down Roping-Williams, Landon H. with 280 points
- Steer Wrestling-Morman, Cameron J. with 240 points
- Team Roping– Barham, Sawyer M. and Schmidt, Kolton B. with 260 points each
- Barrel Racing-Crossley, Callahan S. with 260 points
- Breakaway Roping-Tunink, Tamara F. with 153.3 points
- Men’s All Around-Williams, Landon H. from Tarleton State University with 445 points
- Women’s All Around-Smith, Kirsten E. from McNeese State University with 285 points
- Top Men’s Team-Team Tarlet from Tarleton State University with 915 points
- Top Women’s Team-Team Blue from Blue Mountain Community College with 517 points
College rodeo strives to preserve the traditional Western sport through the more than 100 events held every year. More than 3,500 student athletes compete in the rodeos annually.
Special thanks to Professional Rodeo Cowboy Joe Frost (Professional Rodeo Cowboy Joe Frost, proud Ambassador for Wrangler Shirts & Jeans, Justin Boots, and Boyd Gaming) for taking pictures of #CNFR2015 for Cowboy Lifestyle Network!
Official CNFR 2015 Press Releases:
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/college-national-finals-rodeo-bulls-broncs-and-breakaway/”]Click for College National Finals Rodeo, Bulls Broncs and Breakaway (June 14, 2015)[/button]
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/cnfr-slack-results-from-monday-june-15-2015/”]Click for CNFR Slack results from Monday (June 15, 2015)[/button]
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/cnfr-tuesday-slack-results-june-16-2015/”]Click for CNFR Slack results from Tuesday (June 16, 2015)[/button]
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/cnfr-2015-results-and-release-tuesday-night-june-16-2015/”]Click for CNFR 2015 Results and Release – Tuesday night (June 16, 2015)[/button]
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/timed-events-getting-tough-at-college-national-finals-rodeo-june-17-2015/”]Click for Timed events getting tough at College National Finals Rodeo (June 17, 2015)[/button]
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/oconnell-three-for-three-at-college-national-finals-rodeo-june-17-2015/”]Click for O’Connell three for three at College National Finals Rodeo (June 17, 2015)[/button]
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/champions-crowned-at-67th-annual-college-national-finals-rodeo-june-20-2015/”]Click for Champions crowned at 67th annual College National Finals Rodeo (June 20, 2015)[/button]
[button size=medium style=less_round color=red align=none url=”https://cowboylifestylenetwork.com/feather-river-rodeo-coach-named-nira-coach-of-the-year-june-17-2015/”]Click for Feather River rodeo coach named NIRA Coach of the Year (June 17, 2015)[/button]