Valley drops back 13 spots at CNFR

CASPER, Wyo. -- If the second day of the College National Finals Rodeo at Casper, Wyo., was memorable for the Missouri Valley College men, Tuesday was one they may want to forget.

Two of the four Vikings who entered the arena on the third day of the meet were unable to post a score, and are for all practical purposes out of contention.

Sophomore Jake Shaw was tied for seventh place in steer wrestling after his 4.1-second takedown in the first "go," but was unable to wrap up his prey the second time out and dropped to 36th place. The NIRA points leader heading into the rodeo, Shaw cannot climb over the five cowboys who put up scores in all three of their attempts.

Shaw has to hope that he can improve upon his first-round score and that few of the 25 opponents who are so far two for two can wrap up their steers in the third go if he is going to advance to Saturday's championship performance.

Senior bull rider Cooper Link has similarly slim prospects, and only because just one of the 10 riders who joined him for their third gos -- Josh Verburg of Cal Poly State-San Luis Obispo -- stayed up for eight seconds.

Link only completed one of his three rides, so can go no higher than his current sixth place.

However, four foes have two rides under their belts and 12 more are one out of two -- seven of whom scored higher than Link's second-round 70.0.

Meanwhile, both of Valley's bareback riders had solid days. Sophomore David Clapp went twice Tuesday, his 71.5 tying for 11th in the second go and a 70.0 fifth out of the 10 entries in the third. He is currently in fourth place with 209.5 points, but there are 12 others due to complete their preliminaries that need only 70 points to pass him.

Sophomore Kyle Brennecke shared 13th place with a 71.0, but with a no-ride in his first try he is out of the running in 30th place.

Only one of the two Vikings in saddle bronc riding performed Tuesday. Junior Kirk Nelson had a 61.0, seventh out of 11 riders who competed in their third go. Nelson is in fifth place, but 33 have yet to mount in the round -- eight of whom with two rides completed, including freshman teammate Will Smith.

Smith led the field after the second go and is due to compete today. At 151.5 points, he is only 66 points behind the leader of those who are done, Trell Etbauer of Panhandle State (Okla.). If Smith stays on his ride today, it would take an incredibly poor score to deny him a spot in the finals.

The Vikings didn't pick up any team points Tuesday, remaining at 155.0, dropping from fourth to 17th place in the standings.