The Fresno State Bulldoggers rodeo team is saddled up for success.

Senior Colton Campbell (Klamath Falls) and sophomore Meagan Kautz (Santa Clarita) led the Bulldoggers rodeo team with top-12 finishes at the College National Finals Rodeo, June 10 to 16, in Casper, Wyoming.

In his third trip to the CNFR event, Campbell finished seventh in the in the team roping header standings with a combined time of 25.5 seconds in four rounds of action. He paired with teammate Brushton Minton from West Hills College who competed in the healer category, and their best times of 6.0 and 7.4 seconds, came in the second and third rounds, respectively.

Campbell’s horse, Desperada, received the American Quarter Horse Men’s Horse of the Year honor after his heeler horse, Nic-n-Pine, won the same honor in 2016.

In previous years, Campbell placed fourth in 2016 in the team roping healer standings, and 19th in the team roping header and 27th in tie-down roping standings in 2017.

Sophomore Meagan Kautz (Santa Clarita) placed 11th overall in barrel racing with a combined overall time of 63.91 seconds. In her first trip to the national event, her top three times were less than a half-second apart from the first (15.06), second (14.74) and third rounds (14.57).

Under the guidance of third-year coach Tony Branquinho, Fresno State ranked 35th overall in the final men’s team standings with 90 points.

"I see nothing but great things ahead," Branquinho said.

Two other Fresno State entrants also made their national event debuts.

Sophomore Mitchell Parham (Clovis) placed 23rd in bareback riding after recording 62 and 60.5 points in his second and third runs, respectively.

Sophomore Jacob Bairos (Modesto) placed 32nd in steer wrestling, and had a best time of 4.7 seconds in the second round and overall combined time of 15.5 seconds in three rounds.

Junior Bodi Dodds (Sanger) placed 40th in tie-down roping and his best individual round time of 12.9 seconds came in the opening round. He made his second straight national trip after competing in team roping in 2017.

All five Fresno State individual entries qualified based on their West Coast region standings over 10 competitions from September through May. In the regional team rankings, the Bulldoggers men and women each stood third in the West Coast region — both one position shy of a national invitation.

“With the growth of our program the past three years from 14 athletes to over 45 now, I think our team is in a great place since we were the only program in the West Region to have both teams ranked top five," Branquinho said. " I can’t say enough about what this program means to me.”
The Fresno State rodeo team dates back to 1946 and officially became a club in 1949 — the same year the first College National Finals Rodeo was held in San Francisco. Today, the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association sponsors more than 100 college rodeos that include 3,500 student members and 137 universities.

Event results are available at http://cnfr.com, and more college rodeo standings and information is available at https://www.collegerodeo.com.