Five former Cowboys to compete in NFR

Five of the top 15 professional steer wrestlers competing at this week's National Finals Rodeo (NFR) are former University of Wyoming rodeo club team members.

They are K.C. Jones, Decatur, Texas; Casey McMillen, Craig, Colo.; Jason Miller, Lance Creek; Les Shepperson, Midwest; and Todd Suhn, North Platte, Neb. The bulldoggers will compete in the NFR year-end competition Dec. 4-13, in Las Vegas at the Thomas and Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Cowboys from across the United States and Canada work all year to qualify for the NFR, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's (PRCA) premier championship, referred to as the "Super Bowl of Rodeos."

The NFR is held each December in Las Vegas, attracting the top regular season finishers in each event who qualify for the NFR and compete for prize money totaling more than $5.5 million.
The NFR features the top 15 competitors in each of professional rodeo's seven events: saddle bronc riding, bull riding, bareback riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling and the only women's event, barrel racing.

Shepperson has the highest ranking (seventh) among the former UW Cowboys team members entering this week's NFR. Miller, last year's national champion, is currently eighth; McMillen 10th; Suhn 14th; and Jones qualified as the final contestant in 15th place.

Shepperson, who last competed for UW in 2000, comes from a long line of rodeo competitors. His father, Frank, won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association steer wrestling title for UW in 1964 and captured the PRCA world title in 1975. Les' sister, Amy, won the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) breakaway roping championship for the UW Cowgirls in 1999.

Suhn won the CNFR bulldogging title for UW in 1996; Miller last competed for UW in 1997; McMillen in 2000; and Jones in 1992.

Also qualifying for this week's NFR is former UW Cowboy Mike Moore of Kankakee, Ill. Moore, who last competed for UW in 1996, is ranked 12th in the latest bull riding world standings.