Otero Junior College rodeo program finished up the year within the Central Rocky Mountain Region this past weekend at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Rattler Rodeo ended the season with multiple contestants ranked in the regional standings. The men’s team finished the season in eighth place in the team standings.
Leading the Rattler Rodeo team was Mason Mardesich (Gridley, Calif.) winning the regional title in the Saddle Bronc riding with 780 points, qualifying him for the College National Finals Rodeo. Mardesich is the first Otero Rodeo athlete to win a regional title since it was reinstated in 2009. He will represent OJC June 11-17 in Casper, Wyo. at the CNFR.
Mardesich won first or second at five of the ten regional rodeos this year. He won the All Around Champion Cowboy at the Casper College rodeo in April. Mardesich finished the season in the top 35 in the Tie Down roping and fourth in the All Around standings. He won 2017 Central Rocky Mountain Men’s Horse of the Year with his horse Guitar, on which he team ropes, tie down, steer wrestles and hazes.
Also ranked in the regional standings for the men’s team were: Kody Aldrich (Westcliff), eighth in the bull riding; Robert Reynolds (Iowa), eighth in the bareback riding; Tyler Beebe (Bayfield), 11th in the saddle bronc riding; Justin Hamilton (New Mexico), top 20 in the saddle bronc riding; and Travis Booth (Castle Rock) finished top 25 in the steer wrestling.
Leading the women’s team was Mariah Dermody (Eagle), competing in three events at the regional rodeos finishing in the top 25 in the breakaway for the year end.
The Rattler Rodeo program will be back to action in the fall starting in September. For more information about the OJC Rodeo team, contact Sumpter at Linsay.Sumpter@ojc.edu.
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