Emmett Edler makes a 4.2-second run during Saturday’s short round of the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. He won the round and finished fourth in the steer wrestling final standings, and his mount, D1, was named the Steer Wrestling and Men’s Horse of the Year.
(PHOTO BY JACKIE JENSEN)

 

ALVA, Okla. – Emmett Edler wanted to go out on a high note.

After five years as a competitor – the last of which while attending graduate school at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and serving as the program’s assistant coach – Edler’s playing days as a Ranger ended Saturday night at the College National Finals Rodeo.

“I thought it was a really good last time,” said Edler, 23, a steer wrestler from State Center, Iowa. “Obviously, the ultimate goal was to win a national championship, but all things considered, I was really happy with how the week went.

“We placed in the first round and won the short round and ended up fourth overall.”

Actually, Edler finished second in the opening round with a 3.8-second run, his fastest of the rodeo. He was just a tenth of a second behind his teammate, Tydon Tososie of Crownpoint, New Mexico. Edler just missed placing in Round 2 and made sure to knock his steer down in the third round to secure his place in Saturday’s championship, where he was 4.2 to win the round.

Maybe the biggest honor came after the final round was complete, when Edler’s horse, D1, was named not only the national Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year but also the overall Men’s Horse of the Year.

“That’s a pretty big deal,” said Edler, who noted the horse was raised by Tyler Schau, a horse trainer and family friend. “I definitely put a lot of time and effort into these horses and just try to make sure they’re feeling their best and working good. That was extremely rewarding, and that probably meant more to me than where I finished in the year-end.”

D1 was also the driving force for Tsosie, who not only won the opener but placed fourth in the third round to grab points for the Northwestern team, which finished ninth in the final standings with 425 points. In between, though, Tsosie was saddled with a no-time in the second round. Still, he finished 14th overall, just two spots out of qualifying for the short-round.

“His second-round steer was kind of an eliminator,” Edler said. “That’s the event; sometimes you just draw the one you need to avoid, and that’s just what happened.”

Tsosie took the situation in stride and found a lot of positives out of his first qualifications to the college finals.

“I think the big thing was I had a really good horse,” Tsosie said of the sorrel speedster. “Instead of worrying about what the horse is going to do, you just have to go out and do your job.

“For me, that week was about trusting God’s timing. You learn from it. All you can do is move on to the next one and work on what you need to fix.”

It was also a solid week for Northwestern’s third bulldogger in the mix, Nathan Duvall of Henryetta, Oklahoma. Duvall was a little long on his second steer but was solid in Rounds 1 and 3. He placed in the third round and qualified for the championship round.

“I thought I didn’t draw the best steer in the herd there, but I did what I could with what I had,” he said. “I had a good one in the third round. When I got to the short round, I had to run at it, so I broke the barrier.”

In essence, Duvall took a chance to give himself an opportunity to move up several spots in the four-run aggregate. The gamble didn’t pay off. By not allowing the steer enough of a head start, he was saddled with a 10-second penalty.

The Oklahoma cowboy plans to regroup. He will compete in rodeos through the summer, then return to the program in the fall with his sights set fully on building a national-championship resume. The same can be said for team roper Colter Snook, who returned the Casper, Wyoming, as a heeler after qualifying for the college finals a year ago as a header.

Snook and his partner, Dexton Hoelting of Western Oklahoma State College, placed third in the third round, securing 60 points that counted toward their respective team’s status. After failing to secure a first-round time, they were hampered by a five-second penalty in the second round when Snook roped just one leg.

“The steers were not easy,” he said. “I’ve been working on my mare to stop, and I think maybe that she was trying so hard to do that for me that she shortened things up for me. I missed my first one, and then she kind of did it again in the second round.”

So, he and his horse went to work between Rounds 2 and 3. His goal was to free the horse more to help her make the turn he needs in order to take the heel shot.

“When I came out of the box in the third round, I was smooching to her, and she got me around that steer and in position,” he said. “What I learned most is that the college finals is just a rodeo. I feel like I put it on a pedestal and worked really hard to get here. I can’t get so worked up about things. I just need to have fun.”

Which is what he plans to do when he returns to campus in the fall. Goat-tier Payton Dingman of Pryor, Oklahoma, has come to realize 2026 wasn’t her year for success at the CNFR, but that didn’t stop her from taking in every moment of the college finals. As the student director for the Central Plains Region, she had her hands full with prep work and other duties while also getting a chance to compete.

She was solid in her first two rounds, then devastation hit on her final run of the 2026 college finals when her goat broke the tie and got up. The result was a no-time.

“I was mentally strong going into this,” said Dingman, who also qualified a year ago. “I knew what to expect going into this. I was more in control of what I was doing instead of just letting everything just go super fast.”

It was a solid lesson for the young cowgirl, but that’s what the college experience is about.

“The biggest thing I took away from this college finals is when it’s your time to win, you’re going to win,” she said. “When it’s not, it won’t matter how perfect your run is, you can’t change it. When it’s my time to win, it’ll happen. Obviously, it wasn’t my time to win this year, and I’m OK with that.”

Each of the five Rangers has a new schedule over the next few months, whether it’s work or rodeo or training horses. All will be back in the fall, only with Edler on the outside of the arena. His role as player-coach is over, and he’s got some handy contestants in the mix for him and head coach Cali Griffin.

“Coaching fits well with rodeoing and what I’m doing right now,” Edler said. “I can do the coaching gig and still practice a lot and have good steers to run.

“It’s rewarding to know these guys will be back. I’m not going to take credit for what those guys are doing or what they’ve done completely, because they’ve had a lot of people help them. When you’re just trying to push them and keep them moving forward, it’s rewarding to watch them do good. It helps me, too, when they’re making progress or working on stuff together. It’s good for everybody.”