EMCC’s Carson Powell and Sanders McElroy set for College National Finals Rodeo in Wyoming

SCOOBA — Ozark Region steer wrestling champion Carson Powell and reserve champion team roping header Sanders McElroy of East Mississippi Community College are set to compete in next week's prestigious College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Wyoming.

The week-long event (June 14-20) will take place at the multi-purpose Ford Wyoming Center in Casper. Rodeo action is slated to begin with four events during Sunday's matinee competition in bareback riding, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding and bull riding. Powell and McElroy will get started with the three-round preliminary action beginning with Monday's first-round slack competition and continue into Tuesday's second go-round of slack. Prelim action for EMCC's tandem will conclude during third-round performances on Wednesday and Thursday. The top 12 athletes with the best cumulative times/scores in each of the nine events will then advance to a fourth and final championship round on Saturday (June 20) to determine team and individual event national champions.

Streaming of this year's CNFR will begin Tuesday (June 16) and continue through Saturday's championship round on ESPN+. Live coverage during each of the five days is slated to begin nightly at 8 p.m. CT. Additionally, a pair of one-hour programs will air on ESPNU, Aug. 19, at 7 and 8 p.m. CT, along with being re-aired the following day (Aug. 20) on ESPNU at noon and 1 p.m. CT.

Powell headlines EMCC's pair of national qualifiers after claiming 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. 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 EMCC student-athlete to earn an Ozark Region individual championship since the Lions' 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.

With this year's pair of participants set for nationals, Goodrich's East Mississippi squads have combined to produce 31 qualifiers (23 men and 8 women) for the College National Finals Rodeo dating back to the program's inaugural 2010-11 rodeo season.