The Fresno State Bulldoggers club rodeo team will send six men’s and women’s student-athletes against the nation’s best at the College National Finals Rodeo, Sunday, June 15 to Saturday, June 21, in Casper, Wyoming.
ESPN3 will broadcast the events live each night from the Ford Wyoming Center starting June 17. A follow-up show recapping the event will air on ESPNU at 5 p.m. Aug. 18 and at noon Aug. 22.
After a runner-up team finish in the West Coast Region, the men’s team ranks 23rd nationally and will make its third trip as a team under seventh-year head coach Uhuru Adem.
In the national individual rankings, junior Tyler Jones (of Friant) is the top-ranked Fresno State athlete with a No. 3 ranking in the team roping header season standings and a No. 22 ranking in the all-around category.
Jones will also compete in saddle-bronc riding after he topped the region’s team roping header standings, and also ranked third in the all-around and fourth in saddle bronc.
Sophomore Tanner Kerr (Red Bluff) stood 11th in the all-around rankings and first in the region. He will compete in tie-down roping after leading the region, as well as ranking No. 7 in team roping and No. 8 in steer wrestling.
Fellow Fresno State newcomer and junior Brayden Liberio (Caliente) also ranked ninth in the nation’s bull riding standings.
Senior Wilson Redfeairn (Bakersfield) will compete in team roping after ranking third in the region in the header category.
Jones competed as a freshman and sophomore at the College National Finals Rodeo, while the other three men’s entries will make their event debuts.
Two women will also compete — junior Emma Jensen (Prather) and sophomore Sage Pearce (Santa Maria) — after they ranked second in the region rankings.
Both also rank top 15 nationally — Jensen in barrel racing (10th) and Pearce in breakaway roping (14th).
Pearce competed at the same event last year and helped Fresno State earn a women’s team invite and No. 17 national ranking at the end of the 2024 regular season.
This year, the women’s team was one position shy of a College National Finals Rodeo return with a No. 3 finish in the West Coast regular season rankings behind Cal Poly (No. 1) and Cuesta College (No. 2).
Students who are ranked top three in their events from the combined season results automatically qualify for the collegiate nationals from the 11 regions across the nation.
The Bulldoggers are coached by Uhuru Adem, a two-time, collegiate national finals saddle bronc qualifier for Fresno State. Under his guidance, the men’s team posted a No. 13 finish in 2022, and the women’s team placed 19th that season.
The men’s team also placed 17th nationally at the event in his first season in 2019 and featured Colton Campbell, the all-around category champion and tie-down roping reserve champion.
The program started in 1946 and officially became a club in 1949 — the same year the first collegiate national finals were held in San Francisco.More information on the team is available at its Facebook and Instagram pages.
