ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo team said sayonara to the Alva Dome, which has hosted the institution's annual rodeo on the south end of town for many years.
It was a grand celebration befitting the proud status of the team, and
Payton Dingman has the title belt to show for it. When Northwestern hosts its rodeo next year, it will take place at the Salt Fork Event Center east of Alva.
"We have this new building they're supposed to finish in the spring, and we're really excited to go over there," said Dingman, a sophomore from Pryor, Oklahoma, who won the goat-tying title this past weekend at the Woods County Fairgrounds. "With it being the last rodeo in the Alva Dome, they didn't give away buckles this year but (title) belts instead. It was super cool that every event champion got these belts."
Dingman earned hers over two rounds in the smallish indoor arena. She stopped the clock in 6.2 seconds to finish as the runner-up in the opening round, then was 6.5 to win the final round and the aggregate race. She snagged 165 points and guided the Northwestern women to a third-place finish. More importantly, she moved into the Central Plains Region lead in goat-tying.
"I'm proud of Dingman for being able to step up to the plate for our program," said Cali Griffin, the Rangers' coach. "She has her hands full considering I asked her to be my student assistant this year and is the region director. It was also our home rodeo, where she competed in two events, but she's a gamer.
"I can trust her when I need her to step up and compete. It's been a blast watching her grow up, and now I have the chance to watch her compete for us as a school."
Maturity is what comes with a college education. Competing at this level has its own stresses, and there is a lot that goes on with the team producing the rodeo. From gathering sponsorships to getting the arena ready, a great deal of time and energy goes into the project.
"I would say it's probably been one of the hardest weeks of the school year," Dingman said. "There's a lot that goes into it, and Cali wants it to be perfection and all of us to be there when we're needed. Trying to do that, go to classes and practice makes it a tough week, but when it all pays off, it's very rewarding."
The payoff came with making a horse change. Dingman has been riding her horse, Dolly, but she opted to borrow a horse owned by Parker McIntyre, a former Central Plains competitor who lives in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
"Festus is a little bit stronger than Dolly; he gives me a little bit more send, runs a little bit faster," Dingman said. "I've been visiting a lot with her and spent time out there tying with her, letting her sharpen me up, change some things in my goat-tying to make me a little faster.
"At this point in my career, I feel like it's the little things to nitpick at that have been costing me tenths of a second to win a rodeo."
Dingman led the way for the Rangers. She was joined in the winner's circle by breakaway roper
Trista Regner of Apple Valley, California, who finished third in the opening round; barrel racer
Addey Lawson of Maysville, Kentucky, who was fifth in the short round and average; and three cowboys from the men's team: Steer wrestler
Sam Daly of Tryon, Nebraska, who finished fourth overall; and heelers
Colter Snook of Dodge City, Kansas, and
Sage Bader of Kim, Colorado. Snook finished second in the first round roping with Dexton Hoelting of Western Oklahoma State College, while Bader was sixth in the opener while roping with Mattox Moyer of Oklahoma State University.
They were joined in the championship round by breakaway ropers Kinlyn Yado of Otterkein, Indiana, and
Katie Ayres of Canby, Oregon; barrel racers
Sadie Rempel of Nelson, Nebraska, and
Savannah Greenfield of Lakeview, Oregon; steer wrestlers
Riley Smith of Poteau, Oklahoma, and
Emmett Edler of State Center, Iowa; and heeler
Y'Leigh Yarbrough of Cheyenne, Oklahoma.
The teams will have a few months off before returning to action in the spring semester. With that, Dingman is planning to capitalize on her borrowed mount for some time.
"I think I'm going to be riding Festus for the rest of the year," she said. "I was a little nervous about it because the only time I've gotten to tie on him was when I went out to the Panhandle a few weeks ago. We tied for several days, and I got to make some runs on him. They weren't perfect, but I got the feeling of him."
They're making the match work so far and will have six events to perfect it next spring.
