Powell’s Bryce Bott finished eighth in the nation at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper (CNFR) on Saturday in tie-down roping — an improvement from a year ago, when he finished 16th.

“I did a lot better this year than I did last year,” said Bott, who now has two CNFR competitions under his belt. “I got two more years of school left — hopefully I can qualify and come back, take what I’ve learned and try to win a national championship.”

Bott, who rode for Casper College, finished second in the Central Rocky Mountain Region this season and went into the weeklong CNFR ranked 18th in the national standings.

“The national standings, they matter, but they don’t actually mean anything as winning it, cause it’s just a clean slate,” said Bott, who graduated from Powell High School in 2014.

In the first go-round at the CNFR, Bott had a time of 19.8 seconds, in the second go-round he posted a time of 8.4 seconds and 9.2 seconds in the third go-round.

The combined total of those three times earned him the 10th place slot. As one of the top 12 finishers, he got a chance to rope and ride for a fourth time come Saturday’s championship round.

Bott said the CNFR is “a big stage” and the Casper Events Center is “packed and loud and it’s a lot of energy.”

As part of his preparations for the tournament, Bott competed in the Cody Nite Rodeo and practiced on calves at home; he said the Cody competitions help prepare by keeping “the feel of going to the rodeo” — unlike practicing at home, where there’s no barrier, no noise and no competition.

“There’s a handful of guys all wanting to win,” Bott said of the Cody Nite Rodeo; he noted you must pay an entry fee to compete, which puts some pressure on wanting to win.

“Just keeps you used to the competitive atmosphere,” he said of the Cody rodeos.

This was Bott’s second trip to the CNFR and “any time you can get some experience it will help you for next time,” he said.

As a freshman at Casper College last year, Bott — who also competes in team roping — made the 2016 CNFR and placed 16th in tie-down roping.

Bott graduated from Casper this year with an associate’s degree in ag business and plans to transfer to Montana State University in Bozeman this fall.

Bott said he has been roping “since I could pick up a rope,” and has had horses and roping calves his whole life.

In high school, Bott participated in 4-H and FFA.

In 4-H, Bott showed horses, sheep and goats; in FFA, his project was horse training — where he obtained his State Degree. Bott was FFA treasurer his junior year and president his senior year. He also competed in horse judging, parliamentary procedure and farm business management.

“Of the farm business management, that’s how I picked my major for college,” said Bott.

Bott said FFA gave him career skills such as public speaking and CDE’s — career development events.

After college, Bott is thinking about being an agricultural loan officer.

“I’ve always done pretty good with numbers and [it] just seems like a good career,” said Bott.

As a child, he lived in Ogden, Utah, and competed in a youth rodeo association once a month, starting at the age of 8.

Bott moved to Powell in the seventh grade.

Rodeo is not like other sports and Bott said it can be busy, “but my family was real supportive and helped me practice after school, helped me get to the rodeos and just made it possible.”

In college, rodeo differs from other sports in that the cowboys must pay their entry fees. Those competing in timed events also must have their own horses and feed them and take care of them. Cowboys also have to drive themselves to the rodeos as there is no team bus — which also means paying for their own fuel for travel.

College rodeo teams do organize practices and offer scholarships.

“It’s a school sport, but it’s a lot on our own,” said Bott, adding, “I’ve liked it a lot.”

The high school rodeo competition features a bunch of local rodeos followed by a state finals to determine who goes to nationals. In college, the nation is broken down into 11 regions with 10 rodeos in each region for the season. At the end of the 10 rodeos, the top three individuals in each event go to the CNFR.

“I like it [in college] better, cause it’s just 10 rodeos and whoever’s the best goes on,” said Bott, adding, “so if you stubbed your toe at state, you couldn’t go to nationals, but in college it’s your work for the year and that’s how you go to nationals.”

For his success in rodeo, Bott thanked his family and friends for being supportive and helping along the way.

Bott especially thanked Logan Brown, a teammate at Casper College, for letting him ride Brown’s horse Rooster. (Brown also qualified in tie-down roping, placing third in the Central Rocky Mountain Region.)

Bott is currently training a horse, but the animal was not ready to take to the college finals.

“I took this young horse up to Cody and he’s had a few moments where just like the crowd noise got to him and he didn’t perform like I know he can,” said Bott. At the CNFR, you want a horse that is used to the distractions, because you only get three chances to make the championship round.

“The experience thing at rodeos is for the horse as much as it is for the cowboy,” he said.

In the case of Rooster, “I know him — I know he’ll be able to do his job so I can do my job,” Bott explained before the event.

He said tie-down roping is a partnership between horse and rider.

“You can’t win without a good horse because they have to be able to work without you on their back, cause once you rope the calf you leave them and they got to do their job on their own,” said Bott. “Their ability to start from a standstill and catch a calf and be able to stop that hard and keep the rope tight — and know when to stop pulling and when to pull more — it takes a lot of training and takes a special horse to be really good at it.”

By this fall, Bott is hoping his horse in training will be ready to compete at the college level; he’ll continue practicing this summer at various rodeos and at home for not only himself, but for his horse, too.