Tarleton Rodeo defends Men’s Title, Women’s Reserve at 2025 CNFR

BY MACKENZIE JOHNSON

Editor-in-Chief

For many student athletes, summer serves as the bookend of a busy school year, marking the chance for them to prepare for the approaching season ahead without the full-time constraints of a packed class and competition schedule. These scorching hot months may still come with intensive training, but they typically don’t include the athletes’ biggest competition of the year.

Tarleton Rodeo is the one school-affiliated team that not only competes year-round, even when school is not in session, but also performs on its biggest stage.

The College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) takes place in Casper, Wyoming, June 15-21, and it’s the very event Tarleton Rodeo athletes work toward all year. Eleven students qualified for the 2025 CNFR, battling it out between 10 rodeos from September to April to conclude the season as Women’s and Men’s Team Southwest Regional Champions.

Winning at the regional level is nearly a yearly occurrence for Tarleton Rodeo – and winning on the national level often follows the same route, considering the team has now won 41 combined team and individual championships.

At the 2024 CNFR, they clinched a Men’s Team Championship, a Women’s Team Reserve Championship and an individual championship in the saddle bronc riding. This year, Tarleton made back-to-back history by winning yet another Men’s Team Championship, Women’s Team Reserve Championship and individual championship in the goat tying.

The 11 student athletes who qualified to make the trip to Casper were Jordan Driver (barrel racing and all-around); Hadley Tidwell (barrel racing); Tori Brower (goat tying); Kaylie Garza (breakaway roping); Jacelyn Frost (breakaway roping); Brayden Roe (tiedown roping); Bailey Small (saddle bronc riding); Coleman Shalbetter (saddle bronc riding); Montgomery Parsons (saddle bronc riding); Waitley Sharon (saddle bronc riding) and Landris White (steer wrestling).

While they all put up a good fight against the 10 other college rodeo regions across the nation, the five Texans that qualified for the CNFR Finals at the end of the week, after three rounds of competition, were Brower, Frost, Shalbetter, Parsons and Small, with Brower being crowned the title of 2025 Champion Goat Tier.

“It’s definitely something that I’ve worked my entire career for, so it’s pretty relieving that I get to go home with the title,” Brower said. “And I think it’s even more special that it gets hung up in the foyer of the Tarleton arena. But now I want to use it and set an example to the younger generation.”

Brower was one of the shining senior stars at this year’s CNFR, and knowing it would be her last chance to run down the alleyway as a college athlete was a looming thought over the course of the week.

“Consistency was definitely my goal for the week, and I was definitely trying to take it step by step, run by run,” Brower said. “After the second round, I had to wait from Tuesday until Friday to make my third run, and I think I knew that a lot of it would bank on that one run. Out of all the runs that week, that was the run I was most nervous for. I think it was because it could’ve been my last run ever. By the time the Finals came, I really was quite relaxed and excited. I knew that it was my last run ever, and I just wanted to go and make the best run I could and just truly enjoy it.”

Since goat tying is not recognized as a part of professional rodeo, the national level at the CNFR is as far as the event can take Brower on a championship basis. However, Brower can chase breakaway roping on the professional circuit and will also be taking her goat tying talents to the arena to coach rather than compete.

Alongside women’s rodeo coach for Tarleton, Brittany Stewart, Brower now strives to get Tarleton’s next ascending CNFR goat tying qualifiers to the winner’s circle and is grateful for Stewart’s longstanding and continued mentorship.

“Brittany has had many conversations with me about goat tying and even just about being a good person,” Brower said. “She’s taught me so much in the arena, but even more out of the arena that I’ll forever be thankful for. She’s been the glue that’s held me together and has been there for many moments that I’ve struggled.”

Brower also thanked head rodeo coach Mark Eakin, Tarleton Rodeo strength and conditioning coach Tyler Frank, her uncle David and fellow teammates for the unwavering support throughout her college career.

Although Brower might have been the only team member to acquire a world championship at the 2025 CNFR, Parsons was right there behind her, winning second in the saddle bronc riding when all was said and done.

“The part I’m most proud of walking away from the CNFR is just the fact I got to be a part of something as awesome as the CNFR,” Parsons said. “It was such a cool experience to be able to be there with all my friends. We have such a great group of guys. No matter what happens or what’s going on, they always have your back and are always there to support and help.”

The fact that Parsons shared the saddle bronc riding top three with a Tarleton Rodeo member made it even more special.

“It was really awesome to be so close in the standings with Coleman (Shalbetter),” Parsons said. “He’s my traveling partner and one of my best friends. I’m just glad we both had the opportunity to make the CNFR, and I’m glad we get to rodeo together.”

Shalbetter ended up third in the saddle bronc riding at his debut CNFR, and now that he knows what to expect, plans to come back with a quiet vengeance at next year’s intended trip to Casper.

“Now that I have been on the CNFR stage, it definitely helps take some of the nerves out of it and put some fun back into it for the next season,” Shalbetter said. “One of my biggest takeaways from my first CNFR was to not worry about one bad draw because they give you plenty of opportunities to still capitalize on, and I’m very blessed to be a part of a team with such a good coach and program that gives us the opportunities to win as a team and alone.”

Small, the third saddle bronc rider to advance to Saturday’s Short Go and end the CNFR with a ninth-place finish, also feels blessed to be a part of  Tarleton Rodeo.

“The past two years, the rodeo team has been more than just a team,” Small said. “All the saddle bronc riders and timed event guys, we have had a family mentality, and that didn’t just start at the CNFR – it is all the time from each college rodeo to every pro rodeo. We all stood by one another the whole year, all the way through the CNFR and kept the mental game strong and healthy. It seemed that every day we would all have a meal and dang sure went to every performance to support both the men and women’s teams.”

While the eight-second winning rides of the saddle bronc riders unfold in mere moments, breakaway roping starts and ends in less than half that time, often adding pressure to the already intense stage of the CNFR. But that wasn’t new to Frost, who had been planning for it for months—even years—before stepping onto that Wyoming dirt in June.

“It does all happen so fast, so I think it all comes down to preparation in the practice pen and visualization,” Frost said. “In these times, I am able to break it down step by step and form habits that I can count on to work in pressure situations. Going into the College Finals, I was intentional about focusing on one calf at a time and thinking of it as just another rodeo to take the pressure off of what there was to be won.”

Frost ended up seventh in the 2025 CNFR breakaway standings, even despite not getting to start the week off how she would have preferred.

“Going into the first round, my goal for the week was to make four solid, consistent runs, and that plan quickly changed when I broke out on my first calf,” Frost said. “After that run, I changed my plan a little bit to try and win some more in the remaining rounds to hopefully make up time. My horse worked great all week and was able to make three more good runs. Consistency still ended up being the key in the end.”

Consistency certainly seems to be the name of the game for Tarleton Rodeo, and it paid off in the form of a string of repeat titles to make Texan history.

And now that school is back in session, Tarleton can’t wait to begin the process of chasing that prestige again at the 2026 CNFR.