NCTA Aggies place in rodeo opener

NCTA Aggies place in rodeo opener

NCTA Aggie Rodeo athletes include (from left): Nathan Burnett, Shelton; Alexxandra Malchow, Beatrice; Emma Hollenback, Ewing; Wyatt Colman, O’Neill; Wyatt Ohlman, Gibbon; Savannah Beck, Holdrege; Ryan Smith, Ragan; Emma Bassler, Blair; and Bryce Tobiassen, Hildreth. Aggie rodeo competes next at Fort Dodge, Iowa. (Photo by Mary Crawford/NCTA)
NCTA Aggie Rodeo athletes include (from left): Nathan Burnett, Shelton; Alexxandra Malchow, Beatrice; Emma Hollenback, Ewing; Wyatt Colman, O’Neill; Wyatt Ohlman, Gibbon; Savannah Beck, Holdrege; Ryan Smith, Ragan; Emma Bassler, Blair; and Bryce Tobiassen, Hildreth. Aggie rodeo competes next at Fort Dodge, Iowa. (Photo by Mary Crawford/NCTA)

Sept. 21, 2020

By NCTA News

NORTH PLATTE – Four veteran cowboys from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis placed in rodeo action over the weekend at North Platte in the season openers hosted by Mid-Plains Community College.

NCTA was represented by six athletes in the first of three contests for the 2020 fall season in the Great Plains Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA).   

Nathan Burnett, an NCTA sophomore from Shelton, Nebraska, won saddle broncs in the long rounds of both rodeos 1 and 2, and won the average. He now sits in first place in the region.

Burnett, who graduated in May of 2019 from Wood River High School, is the only NCTA Aggie in rough stock events. He was ranked third in saddle broncs for the Great Plains region when the 2019-2020 year ended. Spring rodeos were slated to start in April when the coronavirus pandemic shut down colleges in late March.

NCTA sophomores Ryan Smith of Ragan and Bryce Tobiassen of Hildreth placed sixth in the team roping at North Platte in the first rodeo.  The pair have roped together for several years with Smith as header and Tobiassen the heeler. Both are 2019 graduates of Wilcox-Hildreth High School.

Wyatt Ohlman of Gibbon, also a sophomore at NCTA and graduate of Shelton High School, was team roper heeling and teamed up with header Cameron Lancaster of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln rodeo team. They placed fourth on Saturday, and are currently ranked seventh in the region.

Other Aggies who made the trip to North Platte were tie-down roper Wyatt Colman of O’Neill and Emma Hollenback of Ewing, who competes in barrel racing.

Aggie Rodeo coach J.R. Dack of Curtis said the Aggies plan to travel to rodeos in Iowa and North Dakota to complete this fall’s season, pending the status of COVID-19 for the hosts and collegiate teams.

The next rodeo is also a double contest this week Sept. 24-26, hosted by Iowa Central Community College at Fort Dodge, Iowa. The fall season finale will be two rodeos Oct. 1-3 at Dickinson, North Dakota.

Information about NCTA academic programs and competition teams can be found at ncta.unl.edu or call 1-800-3-CURTIS.

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