After three-quarters of a century, the Idaho State rodeo team was finally able to lasso it up.

Both its men’s and women’s teams won the Rocky Mountain Regional for the first time in the program’s 75-year history, sending both squads to the College National Finals Rodeo beginning Sunday in Casper, Wyoming.

“It was something I always thought was possible. But for it to really come together, means a ton,” Idaho State head coach Kindee Kananen said. “It says a lot for the alumni who came before them and for the kids who are coming in now. They definitely got me teared up, I’m not going to lie.”

The men didn’t just make history with their first regional championship — they ran roughshod over the competition.

ISU racked up 6,410 points, crushing runner-up Utah Valley by a staggering 2,420-point margin. To put this performance into perspective, the Bengals’ victory margin exceeded the entire point total of last year’s champion College of Southern Idaho by 45 points. It represents a dramatic turnaround for a program that had endured years of struggles and near-misses before breaking through with this statement win.

“This is my fifth year and year five was to win with my men’s team. So it was really exciting to actually see it come to life. These kids deserve the spotlight after overcoming everything they have,” Kananen said. No one could touch us. I told them in the fall that when we come into the last rodeo that I’m not sitting there figuring out points to make sure we got it. And they listened. I didn’t even have to worry about it.”

Jett VanBiezen was the catalyst behind the men’s success.

With 2,355 points, the senior won nearly every all-around title this season, finishing 830 points ahead of teammate Logan Corta − his closest competitor. His dominance was showcased across multiple events, capturing the tie-down roping title while placing in the top-5 in both team roping and steer wrestling. He will compete in all three of those events in what surprisingly will be his debut on college rodeo’s biggest stage.

“If you just keep going it will eventually pay off and that’s what happened this year for me. So I’m very fortunate,” VanBiezen said. “The main thing that helped me out this year was to do the best I can every time. Having the mentality of even if I don’t do well, I just have to keep going.”

His regional all-around crown marks the first for the Idaho State men since Kananen arrived five years ago and is one of only a few in program history.

“It’s kind of surreal, but I really wasn’t focused on the outcome. I was just focused on my job every time and tried to do my best every time,” VanBiezen said. “But then all of a sudden I looked at the results and I was like, ‘Oh geez.”

VanBiezen will be joined by Corta (tie-down roping, steer wrestling), Brandon Williams (bull riding), Degan Patton (team roping), Will Cutler (team roping) and Cole Gunter (team roping), whose presence here is nothing short of a miracle.

On January 2nd, Gunter’s season and career nearly came to an abrupt end in a horrific instant.

He completely severed his right thumb during a World Series team roping event in Mesquite, Nevada. The night had been going well for Gunter, who had already pocketed some winnings. But when he drew a bigger, stronger steer, disaster struck while attempting to secure his rope around the saddle horn. A coil flipped upside down out of his hand, wrapped around his thumb and violently jerked the thumb clean off.

“I didn’t even realize it came off because it happened in a matter of a tenth of a second,” Gunter said. “I didn’t even know it came off until I looked down. I just thought I lost my rope. So honestly, I was in shock.”

But Gunter still managed to step off his horse to calmly inform the judge of what happened. All the while, his friends frantically scrounged through the dirt and rocks for the severed digit. They eventually located the thumb and packed it in ice using a bread bag from a nearby concession stand.

After sucking down some pain pills, he and a buddy made the 40-minute drive to a hospital in St. George, Utah, where he had his wound and thumb wrapped and cleaned. But Gunter still had to travel another 295 miles to Murray, Utah for surgery.

“It was definitely an experience because I didn’t know if they were going to be able to save it,” Gunter said. “I was just thinking, ‘If they don’t save it, there are still ways to rodeo, but it definitely would have taken me a long time to try and figure it out.’”

Seven agonizing hours later, he finally arrived where surgeons were already waiting. Gunter was in surgery for nine hours. Doctors had to take a vein from his foot just to be able to reattach it.

“I didn’t think there was any way they could sew it back on with the way it came off,” Gunter said.

At the time, he and his best friend Cutler were leading the region in team roping. But the injury sidelined him for three months, forcing both of them to find new partners. With a top joint that may never bend again and a thumb guard, Gunter still qualified for nationals anyways. He and VanBiezen finished fifth in the region despite their limited time together.

“It means a lot to me because I didn’t know where this year was going to go,” Gunter said. “I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to go to all those rodeos. But in the grand scheme of things, it was a blessing to be able to just get to go out there and compete for ISU and represent our school at the national finals.”

While the men cruised to their historic title, the women’s fourth championship in five years came down to the wire. The Bengals carried a 500-point lead over Utah Valley going into the season’s final rodeo in Spanish Fork, Utah on April 26. But they nearly gave it away with a dismal showing when it mattered most. However, Raegan Steed’s runner-up performance in breakaway roping saved the day, allowing Idaho State to escape with a narrow 68.3-point victory over the Wolverines for a final total of 2,468.33.

“I definitely had heart palpitations at the last rodeo,” Kananen said with a laugh. “But Raegan, she held on strong. She stepped up as a senior and she definitely pulled it off for us.”

Representing the women are Steed (breakaway roping), Torrey Glaser (breakaway roping), Taylar Smith (goat tying) and senior Lili Bell (breakaway roping), whose journey to nationals also reads like a Hollywood script.

For three years, Bell had pursued her dream of qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo, only to watch it slip away each and every time, failing to crack the top-10, much less the top-3 required.

“It was really tough. I had to do a lot of self-reflecting in the months after the college rodeo season because mentality has been a real struggle for me,” Bell said. “When I’m down and in a slump, it’s hard for me to dig myself out of it.

So another disappointing season last year had her on the verge of walking away from the sport she had done since she was 12 for good. She even put her horse up for sale.

“I was ready to quit,” Bell said.

However, thanks to Kananen’s persuasion, Bell agreed to give one last go. But even that nearly ended in heartbreak at Spanish Fork.

Holding onto the third and final qualifying spot, Bell received a devastating timing penalty in the slack round that kept her out of the short round, seemingly sealing her fate yet again.

“In between the Saturday morning slack and our short round performance that night, I was a wreck. Let’s just put it that way,” Bell said. “Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

Yet, in a twist of fortune, however, her two biggest threats faltered, which finally allowed Bell to claim the nationals berth that had long eluded her.

“I can’t even describe it. I gave Kindee a hug and both of us were crying because we finally did it,” Bell said. “I owe it all to everybody that’s been in my corner and seen my potential and pushed me to be better.”

The Bengals head to Wyoming seeking to end a 12-year championship drought that dates back to the women’s historic title in 2013. The men look like the program’s strongest contender since, posting the nation’s fifth-best point total during the regular season. Idaho State also hopes to crown its first individual champion since Zoie Bedke’s breakaway roping victory in 2021.

“It’s kind of just been a year of firsts to be honest,” Kananen said. “So I’m hoping this is our chance at our first national title (for the men) also because these teams are fully capable of doing it.”