Bulldoggers men’s team headed to college national rodeo finale seeded third

(June 6, 2019) — After winning its first West Coast region men’s rodeo team title in more than 30 years, seven members of the Fresno State rodeo team are headed to Casper, Wyoming to compete in the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) from Sunday, June 9 through Saturday, June 15.

Fresno State accumulated 7,674 points in the men’s national season standings, and trailed only the College of Southern Idaho (first, 8,920) and Missouri Valley College (second, 7,860). Fresno State easily topped the region standings ahead of Cal Poly, which finished second with 4,698 points and ranked 13th nationally.

Under the guidance of first-year coach Uhuru Adem, Fresno State will send seniors Colton Campbell (Klamath Falls, Oregon), Bodi Dodds (Sanger) and Rial Engelhart (Lakeview, Oregon), junior Mitchell Parham (Clovis) and junior Christopher Rosedale (Kingsburg), sophomore Reed Neely (Sanger) and freshman Cole Dodds (Sanger) to compete in five of the seven men’s events contested.

“This will be a fun group of student-athletes to watch at nationals,” Adem said. “I’ve seen how far they’ve come from when they were younger riders to where they are now, and they’ve been so supportive of each other. They’ve been really consistent all year long, and I’m proud that their commitment and hard work is paying off.”

In this season’s national standings, Campbell ranks top 25 in the all-around (eighth), tie-down roping (11th) and team roping header (24th) categories.

Four other men’s competitors rank top 20 nationally – Engelhart (tie down roping, fifth; all-around, 18th), Parham (bareback, sixth), Neely (saddle bronc, eighth) and Cole Dodds (tie down roping, 13th).

Campbell will make his fourth nationals appearance after competing in four events the past three years. He placed seventh in team roping header in 2018, 19th in team roping header and 27th in tie-down roping in 2017, and fourth in team roping healer in 2016. His horse, Nic-N-Pine, also received the 2016 NIRA/American Quarter Horse Association Horse of the Year award.

Parham also competed at the CNFR event last year and placed 23rd in bareback riding. Bodi Dodds was also a qualifier in 2018 and 2017, and Engelhart competed in 2017.

The men’s team earned its invitation based on a top-two regional team finish that combined scores from 10 competitions from September through early May. The Fresno State women’s team stood fifth regionally.

Two Fresno State men’s competitors led the region individual season standings - Engelhart (tie down roping) and Parham (bareback bronc).

Engelhart stood fourth in the region in the all-around season standings, and four others ranked top four in their events - Campbell (team roping header, second; all-around, second; tie down roping, third; steer wrestling, fourth), Neely (saddle bronc, second), Rosedale (bull riding, third), Bodi Dodds (team roping header, fourth) and Cole Dodds (tie down roping, fourth; team roping heeler, fourth).

Freshman Haley Wilbur was the highest ranked Fresno State women’s individual in the region (goat tying, sixth). Five others ranked top 12 in their events – freshmen Savanna Morgan (barrel racing, ninth) and Andrea Poole (goat tying, 10th), sophomores Romey Stuhaan (breakaway roping, 11th) and Nicole Tomasello (barrel racing, 12th) and junior Kaitlyn DeMott (goat tying, 12th).

In recent years, the women’s team advanced to the national event after second-place regional finishes in 2016 and 2015, and placed 10th and 12th, respectively, nationally.

Adem has led the men’s team to one of its finest seasons in recent memory after an accomplished career himself. A 2015 Fresno State agricultural business graduate, he was a College National Finals Rodeo saddle bronc qualifier in both seasons that he competed for the team in 2013 and 2014.

After graduation, Adem served as an assistant coach at West Hills Community College and helped guide the men’s team to an 11th-place national finish in 2018 and 27th-place finish in 2017. Those same teams won the men’s regional title in 2018 and regional reserve title in 2017.

Fresno State was coached the previous three seasons by another alumnus, Tony Branquinho, who stepped down from his position in the summer of 2018 to focus full-time on his family ranch near Arroyo Grande. Under his guidance in 2018, the men’s and women’s rodeo teams each ranked third in the region and were one place shy of advancing to the national finale.

For more information visit the national college rodeo regular season rankings and College National Finals Rodeo websites.