WALLA WALLA, Wash. – UT Martin Sports Information shared the following:
The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association released the draws for the 2025 College National Finals Rodeo this afternoon for first-time University of Tennessee at Martin representatives Caden Ussery and Anna Wilder.
The 77th annual edition of the CNFR will take place on Sunday, June 15 through Saturday, June 21 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyo. Over 400 cowboys and cowgirls from more than 100 universities and colleges qualified for the weeklong event, which will crown a men’s and women’s team champion and individual national champions in bareback riding, tie down roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, goat tying, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding.
Ussery will compete in the tie down roping event as the junior out of Huntersville, NC ranked third in the Ozark Region (and just outside the top-25 nationally) with 580 points in that event during the 2024-25 campaign. Wilder will represent the Skyhawks in both barrel racing and breakaway roping as the sophomore from Millington, Tenn. punched her ticket to the CNFR with a second-place finish in the Ozark Region all-around standings (679.66 points).
Wilder will officially kick off UT Martin’s participation in the 2025 CNFR as she will take part in the matinee portion of breakaway roping on Sunday. She will be the ninth of 10 competitors in the breakaway roping section of the day, which begins at 5 p.m. CT.
Both Skyhawks will be in action during Monday’s 8 a.m. CT slack portion. Wilder will be the 30th of 46 scheduled barrel racers in the first event of the day while Ussery will make his debut as the 40th of 47 cowboys in tie down roping (third event of the day). Wilder will also return to compete in breakaway roping, which is the fifth scheduled event of the slack round.
Tuesday’s 8 a.m. CT slack will once again feature both UT Martin representatives as Wilder is the 17th of 46 barrel racers set to take part in the opening event of the day. Ussery is due up eighth of out of 47 cowboys in tie down roping (third event of the day).
Following an off day for both Skyhawk contestants, Wilder will be showcased twice in the Thursday 8 p.m. CT performance round. She will be the fourth of 15 breakaway ropers in the third event of the night and will turn right back around as the 13th of 15 barrel racers in the eighth event of the evening.
Ussery’s third round of tie down roping is set for Friday’s 8 p.m. CT performance round as he is the fourth of 11 cowboys in the second event of the night.
The top 12 performers from each of the nine events will advance to Saturday’s championship finals, which will begin at 8 p.m. CT.
The performance rounds from Tuesday through Saturday will be streamed live on ESPN3 at this link: https://www.espn.com/search/_/q/rodeo/o/watch/appearance/dark. For more information on the 77th Annual CNFR, including position draws, order of events and daily results, click here: https://cnfr.com/.
