Houston Wins All-Around Title

April 13, 2008

WEATHERFORD, Okla. –Tanner Houston became the first Southwestern Oklahoma State University cowboy to win the All-Around Competition at a rodeo this season as he captured the coveted title at SWOSU’s own rodeo.

Houston, a senior from Tucson, Arizona, teamed with fellow SWOSU cowboy Luke Jeffries to win the team roping competition and then followed that with a fourth-place finish in the steer wrestling. Houston scored 225 points and narrowly beat Panhandle State superstar Trell Etbauer for the all-around title.

The SWOSU men had their best finish of the season placing second with 410 points. The Bulldogs finished a close second behind Oklahoma Panhandle State University’s 540 points and came close to ending the Aggies extended winning streak. Rogers State University was third with 270 points and Garden City Community College finished fourth with 240 points. A total of 10 teams scored points in the rodeo.

SWOSU also had a strong showing in bareback riding as Jared Parker finished in a third-place tie after two rides left him a total of 146.

SWOSU’s Brad Abbe finished fifth in bull riding with a score of 65 on his first ride. Jeffrey Askey of Northeastern A&M was the only cowboy to ride his bull twice and was the easy winner in the event.

Jeffries added to his team roping title with a seventh-place finish in steer wrestling.

SWOSU’s second-place finish helped them close the gap on the teams just in front of them in the Central Plains Regional Standings. The Bulldogs are currently in fourth place but trail third-place Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Fort Scott Community College by just over 200 points with two rodeos to go. The top two teams in each region qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo later this year.