IHS grad covers one bull in Wyoming
If the 2025 College National Finals Rodeo was to cap his well-traveled career at that level in the sport, Dustin Sanchez made, whether he wanted to or not, his last bull ride an exciting one.
One of more than 400 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association athletes assembled in Casper, Wyo., between June 15th and the 21st, the Ignacio High alumnus – who began the fall half of the ’24-25 season winning in Manhattan, Kan., at the Kansas State University Rodeo – was Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s only entrant, but very nearly made it to the ultimate performance in the roughest rough stock specialty.
Unable to record a score during the first go-round, Sanchez wasn’t alone in that regard; only six competitors managed to do so. Still, a benchmark had been set; hailing from White Cloud, Mich., and representing North Platte, Neb.-based Mid-Plains Community College, Trace Scarlavai received 82.5 points on his first try and trailed only teammate Eli Higa (hometown of Honoka’a, Hawaii) by just half a point after all initial attempts had been made.
In the second go, Scarlavai again scored and ended up sixth with a 76.5. Pearl River (Poplarville, Miss.) CC’s Jay Rodrigue, meanwhile, and New Mexico State University’s Brad Moreno each posted a leading 84, but Sanchez again came up empty.
Closing out his second graduate-student season having qualified for a third straight CNFR, and with a spot in the 12-man championship – or ‘short’ – go still a possibility, Sanchez (who also doubled for SWOSU this season as an assistant coach) cowboy-ed up in the third.
Seated atop ‘Smoke Signals,’ Sanchez ably dealt with his mount’s initial buck out of the chute and immediate left-hand turn, then somehow righted himself after almost falling over and off Smoke Signals’ right shoulder – the bull had fiercely snapped its head down while completing its first full spin – near the two-second mark.
Six ticks and four-and-a-half more left-hand spins later, Sanchez had bested the bull and allowed himself to be bucked off into the Ford Wyoming Center’s dirt, awaiting the judges’ scoring. He’d receive 79.5 points and ended up sharing fourth place – with Western Texas College’s Lane Vaughn – behind Scarlavai (83.5), Northwest Mississippi CC’s Dakota Smith (83.5) and Sam Houston State University’s Jerry Gutierrez (84).
Having helped SWOSU finish fifth in the NIRA Central Plains Region’s regular-season men’s team standings – behind front-running Fort Scott (Kan.) CC and second-place Southeastern Oklahoma State, which ended up only ten points behind (4,665 to 4,655) the Greyhounds – as the circuit’s best bull rider, Sanchez unluckily ended up missing out on the short go in Casper by half a point. Still, he ended up placing 13th in the event’s final average standings, out of 14 scoring riders and 35 total. And his one-man stand was ultimately worth 45 team points, landing SWOSU in 47th place out of 56 represented programs.
Moreno ended up taking the short go with an 83.5 aboard ‘Electric Avenue’ and was the only contender, Scarlavai included, to last the full eight seconds. But in the end, Scarlavai – eventually declared CNFR Men’s Rookie-of-the-Year – totaled 242.5 points on his three successful attempts and won the average, ranking ahead of University of Montana-Western’s Gavin Knutson (221.5/3) and Moreno (167.5/2). Moreno, however, would finish as Men’s All-Around Champion, after also placing 13th (with fellow Aggie Lucas Cruz) in team roping.
In the team standings, reigning CNFR ruler Tarleton State (Stephenville, Tex.) University repeated by piling up 817.5 points. Missouri Valley College earned 567.5 and returned to Marshall, Mo., as runner-up, while Montana-Western motored back to Dillon, Mont., having tallied a third-place 550.
ADDITIONALLY
Needing to place top-three in regular-season Southwest Region work to qualify for the CNFR in team roping, Ignacio products Holland and Teagan Taylor-Roukema were both active in the ’24-25 campaign but unluckily did not advance.
Classified as a sophomore for New Mexico Junior College, Holland ended up as the region’s No. 8 header in the specialty and most often paired with Irvin Varela, who ended up the No. 6 heeler. Also billed as a sophomore, Teagan typically heeled for header Nehemiah Mendoza and each ended up ranked between 37th and 42nd.
NMJC’s homegrown, Hobbs-reared tandem of header Lyvan Gonzalez and heeler Cason Hatley, however, did manage to qualify for Casper; each ended up ranked No. 3 in his respective role after wrapping up regular-season work at the Tarleton State Stampede. Things didn’t go so well at the CNFR, though, and the Thunderbird duo ended up 34th in the average with just one recorded time (10.1 seconds, five because of a penalty, during the first go) in three tries.
As the CNFR began its final day, the NIRA announced that its Southwest Region will split into two new entities for the 2025-26 grind: the Lone Star Region, comprised of seven Texas schools (including Tarleton), and the Caprock Region, which will combine NMJC and Eastern New Mexico (Portales, N.M.) University with eight Texas schools (including Lubbock-based Texas Tech and Snyder-based WTC).