Rodeo Teams Finish in Top Ten, Produce National Champion, Three All-Americans
Casper, Wyo., (June 20, 2026)- The Missouri Valley College rodeo teams closed the 2026 College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., with the short go-round Saturday evening. Four Vikings competed in the round in two events. Senior Kooper Heimburg (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) won the bareback riding National title to lead a total of three cowboys earning All-American honors. Both teams finished in the top ten.
Three Viking cowboys competed in the short go-round of bareback riding. Senior Kooper Heimburg (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) finished fourth in the go-round with an 83.00, Sophomore Collin Roland (Childersberg, Ala.) placed sixth in the go-round with an 80.75 and Sophomore Jason Wilson (Bennington, Vt.) was ninth in the go-round with a 79.0.
After the short go-round results, Heimburg captured the bareback riding National championship, finishing with a 326.5 in the average, tying two other cowboys for first place and earning 255 total points. He won the first go-round with an 86.75, followed by a 75.0 in the second go-round and an 83.0 in the third go-round. Heimburg was the reserve National champion in bareback riding at the 2025 CNFR, and became a three-time All-American in the event. Heimburg becomes the fourth Viking to earn a bareback riding National title, joining Tanner Aus in 2012, Tim O'Connell in 2015 and Ty Pope in 2022.
Also in bareback riding, Wilson earned All-American status with a fifth place finish in the average, at 317.25, to earn 120 points. Roland was ninth in the average with a 315.25 to earn 85 points. Sophomore Judd Pope (Garnett, Kan.) finished No. 14 in the average on three rides with a 229.75 to earn 20 points.
Freshman Jace Hensley (Paola, Kan.) competed in the short go-round of bull riding, but did not score in his ride. Hensley won the second go-round with an 84.5 and finished seventh in the average with the 84.5 to earn All-American honors and collect 110 points.
In saddle bronc riding, three Vikings competed through the week. Pope finished at No. 27 in the standings, with a 138.5 on two rides. Sophomore Treg Huver (Nashville, Mich.) was No. 31 with a 129.5 on two rides and Freshman Creek Caldwell (Bainbridge, Ind.) was No. 32 with a 128.5 on two rides.
On the women's side, Freshman Addyson Derr (Paoloa, Kan.) was the third go-round champion in goat tying, finishing with a 6.0 to win the round. Derr finished at No. 20 in the standings with a 21.2 in the average, and earned 80 points. Also, Freshman Victoria Whitehead (Jones, Okla.) was No. 28 with a 22.9 and Freshman Josie Waldenberger (Holmen, Wisc.) was No. 29 with a 23.1.
In breakaway roping, Sophomore Ruby Espey (Lone Jack, Mo.) won the first go-round with a 2.1 as her only qualifying score, and earned 65 points. Sophomore Codie Vaughan (Searcy, Ark.) did not have a score in the three go-rounds.
The Viking men's rodeo team placed fourth in the standings with 590 points and the women's team finished tenth in the standings with 145 points.
With the conclusion of the 2026 CNFR, the tenure of Head Coach Ken Mason comes to an end. Mason announced last month that he was going to take the head coach position for the Tennessee-Martin rodeo programs, where he competed collegiately and won Ozark Region bareback riding championships. Mason has spent more than 20 years leading the Viking rodeo programs and has won a total of 16 Ozark Region men's titles, including a current streak of ten-straight championships, and five women's titles. He also produced two men's reserve National championships (2010, 2025), one women's reserve National Championship (2016) and five individual National champions. John Young takes over as Head Coach for the program going into the 2026-27 competition season.
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