Trio of EMCC cowboys qualifies for College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming

SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College has qualified three student-athletes for the upcoming College National Finals Rodeo. Based on year-ending Ozark Region standings, steer wrestling champion Carson Powell, reserve champion team roping header Sanders McElroy, and additional team roping header qualifier Ryder Griffith are all scheduled to participate in next month's (June 14-20) prestigious CNFR to be held at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming.

Headlining EMCC's trio of national qualifiers is Carson Powell, who claimed the Ozark Region's steer wrestling championship with 895 total points and three first-place finishes in his specialty event during the 2025-26 season. He also enters this year's CNFR ranked sixth in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association steer wrestling standings and tied for 22^nd nationally in the men's all-around competition. A product of Benton, Arkansas, Powell also tied former EMCC cowboy and current University of West Alabama standout Tanner Brown for reserve all-around cowboy regional honors and will compete at the CNFR as a team roping heeler with Southern Arkansas' Westin Barnett.

Powell became the 14^th student-athlete to earn an Ozark Region individual championship since EMCC's rodeo program began in 2010 under the guidance of 16^th-year head rodeo coach Morgan Goodrich. Powell follows in the footsteps of former two-time regional steer wrestling champion Myles Neighbors (2021-22 & 2019-20) and 2017-18 CNFR national steer wrestling champion Tristan Martin for the Lions.

McElroy, who pairs with his brother Scout McElroy of Southern Arkansas, serves as the duo's team roping header. The brother tandem, from Mountain View, Arkansas, finished as runners-up in this year's Ozark Region team roping standings with 510 total points. Their combined top performances of the season were a first-place effort at the spring-opening rodeo hosted by Murray State University and a second-place showing in the fall's final event hosted by the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Also set to represent the Lions in the upcoming CNFR team roping competition in Wyoming, Griffith rounds out EMCC's rodeo trio set to compete next month in Wyoming. As a team roping header, he will pair with West Alabama heeler Stone Reeves at nationals. Griffith, from Danville, Alabama, posted consecutive third-place finishes at the EMCC and Pearl River rodeos during the spring season.

With this year's trio of participants set for nationals, Goodrich's East Mississippi squads have combined to produce 32 qualifiers (24 men and 8 women) for the College National Finals Rodeo dating back to the program's inaugural 2010-11 rodeo season.