MSU Rodeo Team Kicks Off Spring Season At Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

Bozeman, Mont. — Montana State University’s rodeo team will open their spring season at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 9th at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse with the team's first home event of the year.  

Both rodeo athletes and coaches spoke about what it takes to put on an event of this scale and what it means to compete on home dirt.  

For rodeo athlete Wyatt Jensen who competes in both individual and team roping events, competing within the home setting of the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse serves as a fresh start for the new half of the season.  

"Yeah, its awesome just to open up the spring season. You know, you might have not had a great fall, but you can come into the spring and be on home turf and be able to take that as as advantage and enjoy the crowd and just have some fun," said Wyatt Jensen.  

The MSU rodeo team competes in 10 rodeos throughout the year, with four taking place during the fall season, and six in the spring. With Thursday's rodeo kicking off the spring season, it serves as the transition for the team between the fall and spring seasons. 

Head Rodeo Coach Kyle Whitaker says that before this week's events, the team had not experienced competition style rodeo in nearly six months. 

MSU rodeo athlete Wyatt Jensen says competing inside the fieldhouse among the Bobcat fans brings a different type of intensity on competition days.  

"Honestly, when I ride through those gates and start riding in the box, I try and just block out all the noise, 'cause it is so loud in here, there's four thousand people watching us. And so, my game plan is just to focus on the calf or steer that's in the chute and that be my only focus for the 8 to 10 seconds that I'm gonna be out in the arena," said Wyatt Jensen.  

As Thursday marks the first home rodeo of the spring season for MSU, Jensen says the support from those on campus and attending the events throughout the weekend means the most.  

"It's awesome, just seeing the support. Like, we did the ride through campus yesterday, getting to see everybody come see the horses and everybody just coming to the rodeo wanting to cheer you on, it's just awesome to represent this University," he said.  

The rodeo starts on Thursday, April 9th at 7:00p.m., featuring performance events. The festivities run through the weekend, with short-go performances and slack events happening on Friday and Saturday. The rodeo concludes on Sunday, April 12th.  

Head coach Kyle Whitaker says the setup for this event has taken several days, as the team turned the fieldhouse – traditionally used for basketball and volleyball games - into a rodeo venue.  

"We spent most of our afternoon on Easter Sunday hauling buck and shoots and fence in here. We spent almost all day Monday setting up, we practiced in here Tuesday and Wednesday, we're still tweaking some things, making sure it's just right before the rodeo tonight," said Kyle Whitaker.  

Tickets for this year's rodeo inside the Brick Breeden fieldhouse are reserved. Single-day tickets start at $17 and are available at https://montanastate.evenue.net/event/SU26/RODSUN or by calling 406-994-CATS.