The History of T-Bird Rodeo
Few college rodeo programs anywhere have the kind of tradition enjoyed by Casper College. With four national team championships and three more finishes in the top three during the past 40 years, Casper College ranks among the most successful programs in the country. Former T-Bird cowboys have gone on to no less than 16 professional titles.
Dale Stiles was the man who started it all. Over 60 years ago, he hosted the first Casper College rodeo. It was the first time a junior college had fielded a rodeo team, let alone hosted its own rodeo. Through the years, Stiles would coach some of the sport’s greatest stars, and become a legend himself.
Perhaps the most famous cowboy ever to wear the red and white hailed from Cora, Wyoming, a post office town just west of Pinedale, Wyoming, Joe Alexander, later dubbed “Alexander the Great” by the late Red Smith, a columnist for the New York Times newspaper, is considered the top bareback rider of all time.
Alexander rode for Casper College in 1965 and 1966, helping CC to national championships both years. He was a national collegiate bareback champion in 1965. But it was his accomplishments after leaving Casper College that landed him a spot in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Champions in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Alexander racked up 13 consecutive appearances in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He collected five world championships and more than $500,000 in career earnings, the first bareback rider to top the half million plateau in earnings.
There are many other famous cowboys who have worn the Casper College red vests. Dave Brock, Jim Davis, Chris LeDoux, and Kelly Timberman all went on to win professional titles. Others include Hank Franzen, Pink Peterson, Ivan Daines, J.C. Bonine, T.J. Walter, Jay Himes, Ned Londo, Skeeter Thurston, Shawn Madden, Guy Shapka, Mike Moore, and Bryce Miller.
Brock, who won the world calf roping title in the 1970s and now lives in Texas, credits Stiles for much of his success. “He set a high level of competition and I responded to it,” said Brock, another member of the half million club. Brock was Rookie of the Year in 1972, won the world in 1978, and 10 times finished among the top eight calf ropers in the world.
LeDoux, who passed away in 2005, is best known today for his music. But others remember his brilliant performance in the 1976 NFR, where he won the world bareback riding championship. In college, he took home the 1968 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association bareback riding title.
Franzen might have been the best all-around athlete ever to rodeo for Casper College. He proved that in 1978, when he won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) All-Around Championship at Bozeman, Montana. Franzen also won the collegiate bull riding title that year. Casper College finished runner-up for the team title, largely due to Franzen, who is now a top stock contractor.
Davis is a two-time world champion in steer roping. Shapka won the NIRA saddle bronc title twice. Moore is a multiple qualifier to the NFR in bull riding.
Timberman is the latest CC world champion, having won the world bareback title in 2004.
The tradition of Casper College rodeo goes far beyond the names in the record book. Casper College prides itself in being the first junior college to sponsor a rodeo, and the first junior college to win a team championship. Casper was also the first to win four consecutive team titIes.
Year |
Team |
Points |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1963 |
Men’s Team |
N/A |
National Champions |
1964 |
Men’s Team |
1,225 |
National Champions |
1965 |
Men’s Team |
775 |
National Champions |
1966 |
Men’s Team |
460 |
National Champions |
1967 |
Men’s Team |
331.5 |
3rd Overall |
1971 |
Women’s Team |
157.5 |
4th Overall |
1978 |
Men’s Team |
N/A |
2nd Overall |
1983 |
Men’s Team |
570 |
3rd Overall |
2011 |
Men’s Team |
470 |
7th Overall |
2019 |
Men's Team |
385 |
10th Overall |
2021 |
Men's Team |
755 |
3rd Overall |
2022 |
Men's Team |
620 |
4th Overall |
Year |
Athlete |
Points |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1964 |
Pink Peterson |
1,356 |
National Champion |
1965 |
Pink Peterson |
1,327 |
National Champion |
1972 |
Jan Christian |
1,004 |
National Champion |
1978 |
Hank Franzen |
1,530 |
National Champion |
2012 |
Zachariah Phillips |
130 |
9th |
2015 |
Neil Williams III |
130 |
5th |
2021 |
Quinten J. Taylor |
125 |
6th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points/Time |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1963 |
Rod Prewitt |
368.5 |
4th |
1986 |
Scott Selland |
26 |
8th |
2005 |
Garrett Henry |
30 |
6th |
2011 |
Riley Krassin |
28.3 |
6th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1963 |
Denny Wall |
406 |
2nd |
1978 |
Hank Franzen |
598 |
1st |
2015 |
Drew Antone |
71.5 |
8th |
2021 |
Quinten J. Taylor |
79.5 |
6th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1964 |
Pink Peterson |
631 |
1st |
1965 |
Claude Wilson |
553.5 |
1st |
1966 |
Joe Alexander |
518 |
1st |
1967 |
Joe Alexander |
565 |
2nd |
1967 |
Ivan Daines |
365.5 |
5th |
1968 |
Chris LeDoux |
433.5 |
4th |
1970 |
John Sloan |
508.5 |
2nd |
1970 |
Scotty Platts |
406 |
5th |
1972 |
Larry Brown |
441.5 |
5th |
2000 |
Kelly Timberman |
289 |
7th |
2011 |
Justin Moldaschel |
308 |
3rd |
2011 |
Chance Madsen |
281.5 |
9th |
2014 |
Zachariah Phillips |
226 |
10th |
2015 |
Dantan Bertsch |
287.5 |
6th |
2015 |
Neil Williams III |
225.5 |
10th |
2016 |
Dylan Wahlert |
212 |
9th |
2019 |
Cole Reiner |
307 |
4th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1964 |
Pink Peterson |
539 |
2nd |
1964 |
Denny Wall |
504 |
4th |
1965 |
Pink Peterson |
609 |
1st |
1965 |
Ned Londo |
502 |
2nd |
1966 |
Ivan Daines |
651 |
1st |
1967 |
J.C. Bonine |
577 |
2nd |
1967 |
Ivan Daines |
509 |
4th |
1974 |
Jack Duce |
604 |
2nd |
1979 |
Hank Franzen |
642 |
4th |
1982 |
Guy Shapka |
687.9 |
2nd |
1982 |
Skeeter Thurston |
572 |
5th |
1983 |
Guy Shapka |
708 |
1st |
1983 |
Larry Pearle |
606.5 |
4th |
1987 |
Tom Meiers |
565 |
6th |
1991 |
Nels Bowen |
529 |
3rd |
1997 |
Judd Schomp |
215 |
10th |
2001 |
Bryce Miller |
284.5 |
3rd |
2011 |
Ray Meiers |
223.5 |
9th |
2019 |
Lane Schuelke |
289 |
6th |
2019 |
Garrett Buckley |
275 |
9th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points/Time |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1987 |
Scott Selland |
305 |
3rd |
2003 |
Chad Braun |
61.2 |
4th |
2009 |
OJ Huxtable |
32.8 |
2nd |
2018 |
Trey Yates |
30 |
1st |
2019 |
Jerren Johnson |
23.6 |
8th |
2021 |
Kellan and Carson Johnson |
26.7 |
National Champions |
2022 |
Kellan and Carson Johnson |
18.5 |
9th |
2022 |
Nevada Berquist/ Braden Brost |
24.9 |
10th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points/Time |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1966 |
Doug Hough |
411 |
4th |
1971 |
Dave Brock |
431.5 |
4th |
2017 |
Bryce Bott |
53 |
8th |
2022 |
Linkyn Petersek |
45.4 |
7th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1971 |
Dave Brock |
486 |
1st |
Year |
Athlete |
Points/Time |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1971 |
Debbie Taylor |
591.5 |
4th |
2019 |
Makayla Seely |
58.12 |
8th |
Year |
Athlete |
Points/Time |
Place |
---|---|---|---|
1969 |
Pam Cuthbertson |
476 |
4th |
1995 |
Shannon Treadway |
7.70 |
10th |
2002 |
Willow Nicholas |
11.2 |
3rd |
2005 |
Willow Nicholas |
22.4 |
6th |