Norsworthy to compete at CNFR

For the past five years, the University of Wyoming rodeo teams have dominated the regional competition, but that has not translated to winning it all at the national level.

The UW Cowboys and Cowgirls will get that opportunity at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) June 11-17 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.

The Cowgirls have won five national titles, the last coming in 2009. For the men, it has been even longer. The Cowboys won their only National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association team title in 1961.

The Cowboys are coming off their fifth straight Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) championship this past season and head into the CNFR with the third-most points in the nation. The Cowgirls finished as the region runners-up after winning the four previous CRMR team titles.

This year’s Cowboys team is perhaps the most well balanced, with strong competitors on both ends of the arena. Competing will be the six-man team of Cam Jensen, of Hyannis, Neb.; Bodie Mattson, of Sturgis, S.D.; Rio Nutter, from Rapid City, S.D.; Brice Patterson, of Bozeman, Mont.; Kemmerer’s Donny Proffit; and Jacob Wang, of Baker, Mont.

The women will be led at the CNFR by Sage Kohr, of Gillette; Faith Hoffman, from Kiowa, Colo.; Kenna McNeill, from Hobbs, N.M.; and Thermopolis’ Emme Norsworthy. Norsworthy graduated from Hot Springs County High School in 2021.