The Mountain States Circuit Finals produced two new champions Oct. 20-21, 2023, in Loveland, Colorado, with Willow Wilson taking the year-end title and Devon McAdow winning the average on her first trip to the Circuit Finals.
Mountain States Circuit Year-End Champion: Willow Wilson
Hailing from Baggs, Wyoming, Wilson is a full-time team roping header and part-time breakaway roper. The breakaway roping took center stage for Wilson, 41, at the Circuit Finals, though, where she won $2,326 to secure her year-end championship with $11,776 earned on the year.
“Going into the Circuit Finals, I was just focused on roping, doing what I do and not getting nervous,” Wilson said. “If I think too much, I get into trouble. I didn’t draw great calves, so I just wanted to get them caught.”
Wilson garnered checks in the first and second rounds of the Circuit Finals, eventually finishing No. 2. in the average behind McAdow. She did it on 10-year-old mare “Lilly,” who she’s been roping on for the last four years.
“I really like how she is bred—she goes back to Zach T Wood on top and her dam is out of Shorty Lena,” Wilson said. “All the Zach T Wood’s I’ve ridden can really run. She’s about 14.3 hands. That’s pretty much my minimum height, being a team roper.”
Wilson’s top circuit checks throughout the year included a $4,170 payday at Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming, and a $1,287 payoff at the Evanston Cowboy Days in Wyoming.
In 2024, she’ll be competing in the NFR Open for the first time. Until then, she’ll be team roping with husband Todd and working her slate of jobs, which include running her Rolling W Saddle Pad business.
Mountain States Circuit Year-End Standings:
| 1 | Willow Wilson | Baggs, WY | $11,776.49 |
| 2 | Devan McAdow | Littleton, CO | $10,468.05 |
| 3 | Nicole Hadley | Goodland, KS | $8,743.99 |
| 4 | Linsay Rosser Sumpter | Fowler, CO | $7,583.97 |
| 5 | Taya McAdow | Fort Lupton, CO | $7,291.82 |
Mountain States Circuit Average Champion: Devan McAdow
McAdow started circuit rodeoing in 2020, advancing to the Circuit Finals for the first time this year. She made a statement, too, winning the average by 0.5 seconds with a time of 9.7 on three head.
“I wrote my goals on my mirror for the year, and two of
them were to make the Circuit Finals and win the average,” McAdow, 34, said. “Coming into the Circuit Finals I was toward the bottom, so I decided that no matter what my calf was, I was going to ride in there and rope him. I wasn’t going to take risky throws, and it worked in my favor.”
She took Round 1 with a 3.0-second run, winning $2,068. In Round 2, she roped in 3.7 seconds—enough to keep her in average contention. In Round 3, she pulled off another 3.0-second run but was certain Erin Johnson was going to take the average win with a “good” red calf. Johnson missed, and McAdow’s victory was sealed.
“At the Circuit Finals, I was just worried about my game,” McAdow explained. “I just saw what I needed to and went for it. Around here you usually have to see ear-to-neck-rope. But at the Circuit Finals, it was, ‘They go, You go,’ and the calves were pretty even.”
McAdow owes the win to gelding “Louie,” who she had taken a break from earlier in the summer .
“He’d been shorting me throughout the summer, so I actually got off of him in August,” McAdow said. “I wanted to throw my sucker in the dirt, and Jordan Hollabaugh stuck it to me, saying, ‘What are you scared of?’ I got back on him and rode him in the Circuit Finals because he has more rodeo experience under his belt, and it worked out.”
McAdow is looking forward to her NFR Open qualification and plans to continue training to become a roper that can confidently take riskier shots. For her next set of mirror goals, McAdow wants to “rodeo more” and win the Mountain States year-end title.
Mountain States Circuit Finals Results
First round: 1. Devan McAdow, 3.0 seconds, $2,068; 2. Willow Wilson, 3.3, $1,551; 3. Nicole Hadley, 3.4, $1,034; 4. Erin Johnson, 3.8, $517.
Second round: 1. (tie) Erin Johnson and Taya McAdow, 2.4 seconds, $1,809 each; 3. (tie) Peggy Garman and Willow Wilson, 3.0, $775 each.
Third round: 1. (tie) Katie Jolly and Devan McAdow, 3.0 seconds, $1,809 each; 3. (tie) Nicole Hadley and Linsay Rosser Sumpter, 3.2, $775 each.
Average: 1. Devan McAdow, 9.7 seconds on three head, $3,101; 2. Willow Wilson, 10.2, $2,326; 3. Nicole Hadley, 10.8, $1,551; 4. Linsay Rosser Sumpter, 10.9, $775.
