ProRodeo Sports News - May 31, 2019

NATHAN HATCHEL Event: Bull rider Born : May 4, 1997 School: Southwestern Oklahoma State Univ. Year: Graduated in May 2019 Major: Business Management Number of trips to the CNFR: 3 (2016-17, ’19) Note: Hatchel led the national college standings as of May 29. He ranked eighth in the PRCA | RAMRodeo Permit Standings with $8,614.

BRONC MARRIOTT Event: Bareback riding Born: Feb. 21, 1999 School: College of Southern Idaho Year: Sophomore Major: Welding Technology

Number of trips to the CNFR : 2 (2018-19) Note: Marriott was leading the national college standings as of May 29 and 24th in the PRCA | RAMRodeo Permit Standings with $1,339. What’s it like competing in college rodeo and ProRodeo?

What’s it like competing in college rodeo and PRCA? It can be tricky. At the beginning of the year I was in the top three in the permit standings but had to compete in college rodeos. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I got my degree, but I’d love to have hit the road a bit more in college. I love college rodeoing, but I think everyone should be part of and experience the college life and the next step of growing up. Now, I have the rest of my years to go ProRodeo and have a degree with no debt, so it kind of worked out for the best for me. How has competing in college rodeo impacted your life? The friends I met and the right relationships. At ProRodeos you are with the same guys in your event, but at college rodeos you see the same students and rodeo people every weekend and get close to them and learn how to interact with new people and build relationships. I’ve met my two best friends from college rodeoing. When I started college, the plan was to go for a year and see how it went. College rodeo helped my mentality and technique for bull riding, and after I competed at the college finals, I decided to continue until graduating. Bull riding is a pretty short career – at 35 we are old and beat up – so this is something to fall back on.

It’s pretty hectic and there’s a lot of driving around, but it’s fun at the same time. There are a lot of opportunities to do both at the same time. Competing professionally is a step up and helps my confidence when going into the college rodeos. How does college rodeo impact your ProRodeo career? I think it’s helped a lot. At CSI we have a lot of opportunities to get on practice horses and bucking machines and progress our skills. I think that I have an advantage on the guys who go straight from high school to the pro level because of that. How has competing in college rodeo impacted your life? I’ve met a lot of people and seen new places and experienced new things. Having a rodeo scholarship pay for school is forcing me to grow up, it matured me and helped me progress in the sport as well.

CALGARY SMITH Event: Team roping (heeler) Born: Nov. 9, 1998 School: Walla Walla Community College Number of trips to the CNFR: 2 (2018-19) Note: Smith was ranked second in the college national standings as of May 29, seventh in the PRCA | RAMRodeo Permit Standings with $3,975. Year: Sophomore Major: Undecided

MATTHEWWILLIAMS Event: Team roping (heeler) Born: April 24, 1998 School: Montana State University Year: Junior Major: Ag Business

Number of trips to the CNFR: 3 (2017-19) Note: Williams led the national college standings as of May 29 and ranked 28th in the PRCA | RAMRodeo Permit Standings with $1,148.

What’s it like competing in college rodeo and the PRCA? It makes you step your game up going from college to PRCA. At the college rodeos you hang out with your friends and compete against them. Then in the ProRodeos, you compete against a more diverse group of people, including the Top 15 who make the Finals (Wrangler National Finals Rodeo) every year and guys like me who are just starting out. How does college rodeo impact your ProRodeo career? It has made going from high school rodeo to ProRodeo a lot easier because you have to rope against the same people. But at the college finals there are guys who compete professionally, so you have to step up. You don’t want to dive off in the deep end without having your floaties on. How has competing in college rodeo impacted your life? I met a lot of cool friends through college rodeoing. You meet people that you might not have met through anything else. Some stop rodeoing after college. Plus, I got a full ride going through college. I’m on my permit this year because I’m still in college, but after college this year I’ll get my rookie card. College was a for-sure deal no matter what – my mom is a teacher, so she is big into school. Rodeo is pretty much everything I’ve done my whole life, so no matter what, I would have done my best to make it professionally.

At what point did you realize competing at the College National Finals Rodeo was possible? We were coming into the spring season third in the region, and then we won four rodeos in a row. That put us ahead of everyone else, and then it hit me. I missed the short round at the last rodeo in the end of spring, but I can’t complain about winning four in a row. What’s different about preparing for the college finals versus a major PRCA competition? Not much. At college rodeos, if you get your first steer down below eight seconds you can take a better shot in the short round and win something. But in ProRodeos you get one shot to make it right. In college, earning consistent points is a big deal – nickel and dime them until the end of the year. I’m fine with getting third and making the college finals or the Montana Circuit Finals. How does college rodeo impact your ProRodeo career? Getting the experience helps me feel more prepared. I’ve been to the college finals three times, and I was nervous my first time, but I got fourth, and that let me know I was good enough to compete there, and then made the circuit finals this year.

ProRodeo Sports News 5/31/2019

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