Bobcat rodeo charges into spring with double victory

An electric atmosphere and roaring crowd fueled the MSU rodeo team through a weekend sweep that kicked off the spring season. Led into the arena Thursday night by members of the football team as part of a tradition to reciprocate the rodeo team’s runout at football games, the thrilling first performance built momentum for the ‘Cats, who are now looking ahead to a competitive spring season. 

The annual MSU Spring Rodeo took place April 10 to 13 in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. The event consisted of a pair of rodeos that lasted two days each and featured nine competitive events split into two rounds. The men’s categories were bareback riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, tie down roping and bull riding. The women’s competitions included goat tying, breakaway roping and barrel racing. Additionally, teams competed in co-ed team roping. 

Scoring was based on point totals compiled in two rounds, the long go-round consisting of everyone entered and the short go-round featuring the top 10 qualifiers. For the first rodeo, the long go-round included Thursday night’s performance of 10 or so competitors in each event and slack on Friday morning, featuring the remaining competitors. The top 10 in each event advanced to Friday’s short — or championship — go-round. That process was repeated for the second rodeo, which took place on Saturday and Sunday.

The Bobcat men and women won both rodeos, competing against six other teams: MSU Northern, the University of Montana, the University of Montana Western, Miles Community College, Northwest College and Dawson Community College. 

MSU demonstrated its versatility by taking first in six out of the nine events — barrel racing, bareback, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc and tie-down roping — during the first rodeo and winning all-around in both. MSU sophomore Cole Gerhardt was the first to take an all-around with his win Friday night based on his performances in bareback, tie down roping and steer wrestling. 

Senior Wes Shaw followed suit on Sunday afternoon, winning all-around for the second rodeo based on his performances in the same three events. “It’s my last time rodeoing in here and I just let it all hang out,” Shaw said. “I was just out there having fun and it all worked out for the best. I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out.”

The MSU rodeo season starts in the fall, pauses during the winter and picks up again in the spring with the competition in the Fieldhouse.According to Head Coach Kyle Whitaker, the atmosphere at the Bozeman rodeo energized the Bobcats and carried them through the long weekend.

“The support here is just amazing; it feels like you’re at a rock concert,” Whitaker said. “I’ve been going to rodeos with my dad since I was a little kid, and then I competed for almost 30 years and this is as good of a crowd, as enthusiastic of a crowd as you’ll find anywhere. The guys on our team, they feel that and they understand that this is a pretty special course.”

Gerhardt echoed this sentiment. “There’s so much energy and the fans get into so much,” he said. “It reminds me of a bunch of pro rodeos.”

However, according to Whitaker, the team trains to perform regardless of fan presence. “It’s easy to get pumped up here where there’s over 4,000 people that are wanting us to win and cheering loud,” he said. “You have to be ready without that noise.”

Sophomore Michaela McCormick — who tied for first in goat tying with sophomore teammate Faith Marshall — said she is focused on the season ahead. “Stay consistent and just stay level-headed and steady throughout the rest of the rodeos,” she said. 

The rodeo team, which currently leads the Big Sky Region, will head to MSU Northern and Miles Community College in April for three more rodeos, then finish its regular season in Missoula on May 2 and 3. Competitors use the regular season to qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming from June 15 to 21. There, individual champions are crowned in each event and national team champions are also declared for both men and women.

According to Whitaker, the Bobcats are looking to finish their season strong. “We can’t be relaxing because this one is done. We’ve got to keep going,” he said.

To learn more about the rodeo team, visit https://msubobcats.com.

To follow the College National Finals Rodeo, visit https://cnfr.com/.

To see standings and results for the 2025 season, visit https://collegerodeo.com/.