Rising Steer Wrestling Stars Savor Chance To Learn From Will Lummus

Northwest Mississippi Community College had three freshmen qualify for the YETI Junior World Finals, and Lummus was on site providing guidance.

Will Collier sat on the back of his horse at the Las Vegas Convention Center and listened carefully. 

Waiting in the box for his next steer wrestling run, Collier was steadying himself in hopes of recording a time and getting in contention for the YETI Junior World Finals championship. 

Thousands of onlookers stared down at the arena floor, waiting to see what the up-and-coming rodeo competitor would do. 

For Collier, his first time competing under the bright lights of Las Vegas was a little nerve racking. Thankfully, the guy standing with him in the box could share some insight. 

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Will Lummus was there, talking strategy. Lummus serves as Northwest Mississippi Community College’s rodeo coach where Collier is a freshman. 

“It meant a lot. To have him like I have at college rodeos right there in the box, it was just a comfort really,” Collier said. “I could just breathe and relax a little bit and just listen to him give me advice and come up with a game plan to execute. It was pretty awesome. A lot of comfort.”

Of the 45 steer wrestlers who qualified for the Junior World Finals, three are current freshmen at Northwest Mississippi, growing their skills under Lummus’ tutelage. Collier was joined by Wyatt Newman and Kent Jordan at the event. 

While Lummus wasn’t able to make the first two days of competition because of NFR obligations, he was there for the final two runs of preliminary action. Making sure he could support his students was something the five-time NFR qualifier made a priority. 

“The coaching has been rewarding for me just because I’ve been able to give back to the sport,” Lummus said. “It’s tough, once we get done rodeoing for a living, there’s just not a lot of ways to give back. Having the opportunity to do that, it just means a lot to me to help the next generation.”

The three Northwest Mississippi student-athletes have been a big part of the program’s resurgence since Lummus took over in 2022. Last season, the team had zero steer wrestling athletes on the roster. That number has since skyrocketed to seven. 

Along the way, the Rangers have also seen increased success, including a victory at the Racer Roundup College Rodeo at Murray State in mid-November. It was the men’s team’s first regular season win in more than a decade. Following the fall schedule, the Rangers are sitting second in the Ozark Region and 17th in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association poll.

The primary reason for that success – high level young rodeo competitors want to learn from one of the country’s best, making Northwest the place to be. 

“Kent, he gave me a phone call and said Will had texted him and asked about me. I was like a kid in a candy shop. It was like, ‘He knows who I am.’ It was the best thing that could have happened to me and I was very lucky to have that opportunity,” Newman said of his recruitment. “He takes his time to come out there and not just coach us – it’s like he is one of us. He can come out there and rope the dummies with us and goof off and have fun, but we’re still learning and he’s still coaching.”

During their respective stays in Vegas, everyone had varying levels of success. Newman caught all four of his preliminary steers to reach the finals, but missed a score in the fifth round. Collier recorded scores in the second and fourth rounds, while Jordan missed a scoring run. 

For Lummus, it was a slow start followed by a big finish, with money-winning runs in the third and seventh rounds, followed by a win in the 10th round. Overall, he finished the 2023 season in 10th place with a little more than $196,000 in earnings. 

“There was a lot of good and there was definitely some stuff that didn’t go my way that I wish would have. But the blessing of it is that we were there,” Lummus said. “There were a lot of people that would have wanted to be there in our position. It’s just a blessing that we had the opportunity to be there and win what we did.”

The opportunity to compete against the best junior rodeo competitors in the world was certainly special. Getting coaching from an NFR qualifying bulldogger certainly enhanced the experience. 

But the biggest thrill for the three young athletes was getting a glimpse at what they hope is their future in the sport. 

The trio got the opportunity to watch the professionals run during NFR. That included a night where Lummus got them tickets together, creating an opportunity to rub elbows with the other 14 NFR steer wrestling qualifiers and retired bulldogging legends, including Tyler Waguespack, Jesse Brown, Luke Branquinho and more. 

The focus for the young men now – join their coach at the Thomas and Mack Center as quickly as possible. 

“All the guys, we joke about before he retires, we want to make it to the NFR and compete against him at the level. It would be a dream of mine,” Jordan said.