Hill College ends the college finals with a sixth place in the men’s all-around standings, sixth in the bareback riding average
Hill College
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 4:52 PM
Athletics
Hillsboro, TX
The 2018 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Casper, Wyo., ended Saturday with the final go-round where the top 12 athletes in each event compete, after three-go-rounds of competition. Bareback rider Zach Hibler of Wheeler scored a 71.5-point ride and placed sixth in the final go-round and sixth in the national average standings.
Bareback rider Colby Fedor of Grandview rode in all three go-rounds, but didn’t score high enough to make the final go-round.
John Douch of Huntsville qualified for the CNFR in steer wrestling and tie down roping events. He started the week off with a bang, tying his calf to place fourth in the first go-round, but missed in the second and third go-rounds. In the steer wrestling, he caught every steer with his best in the second go with a 4.4-second time placing seventh in the round. In the final go-round he missed his steer, but with his consistent catches all week he ended up 11th in the national average standings and sixth in the men’s all-around standings.
Hill College took three team ropers to the finals this year. Cyle Dennison of Iowa, La. and Clay Sieber of Troup also start the week off great, roping their steer in 6.9 seconds and winning the first go-round. Luck was not on their side as they received no-times the rest of the week.
Colton Brittain of Rockwall is a heeler for Wyatt Muggli from North East Texas Community College. They only caught in the second go-round, but the 18.3 second time was too long to place.
Ezkiel Mitchell of Baytown represented Hill College in the bull riding, but unfortunately, did get any of his bulls rode.
The 28th appearance at the CNFR for Hill College men’s rodeo team was not what they hoped. “We ended up number 17 in the nation and we had a lot better team than that,” said Paul Brown, head rodeo coach and athletic director. “The draw didn’t go our way and when we did draw good, we didn’t use it to our advantage. We are disappointed, but we’ll be back. Of the seven guys that we took out there, four are returning. So, we’ll have a strong core to build from.”
During Brown’s tenure leading the rodeo team, he has had nine individual National Champions (eight in bull riding and one in calf roping) and nine reserve national champions. His teams have accumulated 19 regional team championships, 12 reserve regional team championships and finished in the Top 10 national team standings 17 times.
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Photo cutline: John Douch steer wresting and tie down roping at the CNFR to end up 11th in the national average steer wresting standings and sixth in the men’s all-around standings.
Photo cutline: Bareback rider Zach Hibler of Wheeler scored a 71.5-point ride on the horse, Darth, owned by Mobetta Stock Contracting Company. He placed sixth in the final go-round and sixth in the national average bareback riding standings.
