Bulldogging, team roping, poles and barrels wrap up Junior NFR

LAS VEGAS – The YETI Junior National Finals Rodeo crowned the final champions of its 10-day run Saturday, with steer wrestling, open team roping, 17-and-under pole bending and junior and senior barrel racing bringing the rodeo to a close.

Here’s a look back at the final day of action at the Junior NFR.

Steer Wrestling

Cotter Johnston showed early in week he could compete with the big boys at the Ote Berry Junior Steer Wrestling World Championships. It started Tuesday when the 16-year-old from Stapleton, Nebraska, was the average leader after the first two runs.

Saturday, Johnston capped a memorable five-day run by winning the incentive division and finishing second in the open average with a 10-run time of 73.3 seconds.

“I came in toward the bottom of the world standings,” Johnston said, “but I had faith in myself and faith that my horses were going to put me in good situations. I just tried to stay as consistent as I could because I knew whoever caught the most steers would ultimately come out on top.”

Johnston was one of just three bulldoggers in the 22-person field to post a time in all 10 runs. North Dakota’s Trey Bohmbach, a freshman at Gillette College, won the average with a time of 48.3 seconds; Idaho’s Alex Marshall finished third with a 73.7.

The field also included 2023 Junior NFR winner Jake Holmes, who just completed his rookie season on the PRCA circuit; defending champ Tad Williams, who finished second in the Permit standings this year; and 2025 high school champion Riley Currin.

“These guys are great bulldoggers, so it’s an amazing feeling to compete at this level against these guys,” Johnston said. “I just tried to keep my head on straight and focus on each round.”

It was the same formula employed by Bohmbach, who grabbed the lea in the average midway through the week and watched as other contenders stubbed their toes with no-times. He knew with two more clean runs Saturday he could finish atop the standings.

“I was worried about the first one and wasn’t even thinking about the second one,” he said. “I got the second one knocked down and I’m here now.”

“Here” was standing in the winner’s circle in front of the Junior NFR buckle, behind the saddle he won, and receiving an oversized check for $15,750 from four-time world champ and ProRodeo Hall of Famer Ote Berry.

“Ote did a great job and I can’t thank all the sponsors enough for making this happen … $2,500 for winning go-rounds for being 19 and under is incredible” Bohmbach noted.

Holmes, who finished fourth in the average with 43.8 seconds on nine runs, won the season-ending world title with 8,565.5 points, followed by Williams with 7,765 points.

Open Team Roping

Case Kerr of Afton, Wyoming, won his second title of the week, this time teaming with Kash Cook of Idaho Falls, Idaho, to capture the open division.

Cook and Kerr entered the final round in second place, and put pressure on leaders Bryce Ehlinger and Kyler Ohrt, who were the only team with four clean runs to that point, with a 6.17-second run. And when the Texas teammates failed to catch their steer, Cook and Kerr were the champs with a four-run time of 23.26 seconds.

Not bad after the two had a no-time in the first round.

“I was gunning for go-rounds, no matter if we caught the first one or not,” said Cook, the header. “I was just hoping Case would follow me around the corner. We never really discussed it, we kind of just roped.”

Two days earlier, Case had teamed with twin brother Ryder to win the #10.5 division.

Pole Bending

Tulare, California, cowgirl River Zvonar entered the short round trailing average leader Teagan Cline of Roseburg, Oregon, by 1.229 seconds, which seemed insurmountable given the way Cline had performed in the first two runs.

But when Cline surprisingly knocked over two poles, it opened the door for Zvonar. And the 15-year-old kicked it down, even if she didn’t realize it at first.

“I had a little bit of a stumble,” she said, “so coming out of the arena I thought I could have been faster.”

Zvonar was fast enough, running the course in 20.303 seconds for the second-fastest run of the round – Farmington, Utah’s Blake Larsen had a 19.567 – to win the average with a three-run time of 61.394 seconds. Denali Cook of Lewiston, Idaho, was second with a 62.268.

“I knew Teagan had a bigger lead on me, so I wasn’t expecting too much out of it,” Zvonar said of her final run. “I was just hoping for another clean run. “

It turned out to be a championship one.

Barrel Racing

Brynn Hensley of Nevada, Missouri, won the average title in the senior division with a three-run time of 41.261 seconds, with Saige Hartman of Rupert, Idaho, finishing as the reserve champ with a 41.741. Hartman won the short round with a 13.658-second run.

In the junior division, Kaylee Whynot of Molalla, Oregon, entered the short round trailing Teagan Cline, but had a 13.801-second run – her fastest of the week – to win the round and win the average with a three-run time of 41.651 seconds.