SDSU Rodeo team sending six to nationals

After 10 collegiate competitions, hundreds of hours of practice and more than 5,000 miles traveled, six members of the South Dakota State University Rodeo team have qualified for the 2025 College National Finals Rodeo competition later this month in Casper, Wyoming. 

“I’m so excited about the group that is going this year,” said Arabella Cook, a barrel racer and senior agriculture business student from Arroyo Grande, California. “You see the work they put in when nobody else is looking. Every single one of them worked hard all year long, and they all deserve this.” 

Due to the outdoor nature of rodeo, the season is split with six competitions happening in September and October and four happening in April and May. Each athlete is only guaranteed one run, or attempt, per event. After the first round, the top 10 have a second opportunity to improve their performance and get a second score. Scores from each of the competitions are added together at the end of the year, and the top three athletes from each region will head to nationals. Cook is unique in that by the end of the eighth rodeo, she had already scored enough points to lock up first place in the region. Her teammates had to wait until the final competition of the year to learn their fate, and the entire team, 55 in total, was there to support them. 

“The team aspect really comes into play. Even though we are in different events, the mental game and the work that goes into it is still pretty similar,” Cook said. “You’re there to motivate them, you’re rooting for them, you’re in it together, and you want to see them succeed just as badly.” 

Among the qualifying athletes are the region’s team roping champions, ag business students Lan Fuhrer, a senior from Belle Fourche, and Trey Frank, a junior from Sioux City, Iowa. Animal science seniors Kaden Wooters of Elwood, Nebraska, and Dalton Kunkee of Lexington, Nebraska, qualified in steer wrestling, with Kunkee also acting as the region’s student director. Rayha Richert, a senior in community and public health from Lyndon Station, Wisconsin, qualified in breakaway roping. 

Of the six qualifiers, five have previously been to the College National Finals Rodeo, and three have been there twice, leaving their mark on a longstanding tradition of SDSU Rodeo. The team’s coach, Ron Skovly, thinks that experience will help them in Casper. 

“As far as experience goes, we’ve got a pretty good team going to Casper,” Skovly said. “I’m really proud of the kids and what they’ve done. We have a strong tradition of rodeo here at SDSU.” 

Thanks to the generous support of rodeo alumni and boosters, the athletes’ travel to nationals and lodging while competing will be completely covered. Want to follow the team on its College National Finals Rodeo journey? New this year, all performances will air live on ESPN 3 or on the ESPN app June 15-21. Specific performance times for each athlete can be found on the CNFR website, and updates will also be provided on the SDSU Rodeo Facebook page. The SDSU Rodeo team is connected to the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences’ Department of Animal Science.

–SDSU Rodeo