RODEO TEAM WRAPS UP SUCCESSFUL OUTING AT ARKANSAS MONTICELLO
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s rodeo squad took home first place honors at Arkansas-Monticello, racking up 795 points in a dominant showing over an eight-team field this past weekend.
The UT Martin men’s team won by 225 points over second-place Missouri Valley College. The women’s squad placed seventh with 110 total points, as only 210 points separated the first place and last place teams.
“Both teams competed well,” UT Martin head coach John Luthi said. “We had a tremendous amount of people go back to the short round. We made some mistakes but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. We are blessed that the men’s team won and the women finishing seventh is deceiving because all the points were spread out.”
Tyler Waltz led the way for the men’s team in bareback riding, finishing third in the first go (69), splitting for second in the short go (71) and ending in second in average (140).
In tie-down roping, UT Martin was led by Ben Walker, who posted the second-highest score of 10.1 in the first go, followed by the best finish (9.8) in the short go. Overall, Walker’s 19.9 average was the best out of all 10 cowboys in the event. Jacob Dagenhart (10.8 first go, 10.4 second round, 21.2 average) and Lane Mitchell (11.1 first go, 12.8 second round, 23.9 average) finished third and fourth in the average, respectively, for UT Martin.
On the women’s side, Lauren Wagner split in the first go in breakaway roping (2.8) while Natalie Fletcher tallied a 3.2 in the first go.
Allen Foster paced UT Martin in saddle bronc riding, leading the field in average (55). In steer wrestling, Clark Adcock (5.7 first go, 4.6 second round) and Jordan Thrasher (4.5 first go, 5.8 second round) each split third in average (10.3). Robert Joyce placed fifth in average (13.3) after rounds of 5.7 and 7.6. Will Lummus (3.4) and John Alley (3.8) ranked first and second, respectively after the first go.
In team roping, Clay Mitchell and Lane Mitchell finished third in the first go (7.5), fourth in the short go (7.9) and fourth in average (15.4). Alley and Adcock led after the first go (5.8), ranked fifth in the short go (12.6) and fifth in average (18.4).
Wagner’s score of 15.51 ranked fourth in the first go. She followed that with a 15.18 performance in the short go (third-highest), finishing fifth overall with a 30.69 average.
UT Martin now has three rodeos remaining this season, culminating in the 45th annual spring rodeo on campus on April 11-13.
“Our main focus the rest of the way is to take what we got and give it our all,” Luthi said. “If we can do that, the results will take care of themselves.”
The Skyhawks return to action at East Mississippi Community College on March 21-23.