ALVA, Okla. – Emmett Edler, of State Center, wanted to go out on a high note. After five years as a competitor – the last of which while attending graduate school at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and serving as the program’s assistant coach – Edler’s playing days as a Ranger ended Saturday night at the College National Finals Rodeo.

“I thought it was a really good last time,” said Edler, 23, a steer wrestler from State Center. “Obviously, the ultimate goal was to win a national championship, but all things considered, I was really happy with how the week went. We placed in the first round and won the short round and ended up fourth overall.”

Actually, Edler finished second in the opening round with a 3.8-second run, his fastest of the rodeo. He was just a tenth of a second behind his teammate, Tydon Tsosie, of Crownpoint, NM. Edler just missed placing in Round 2 and made sure to knock his steer down in the third round to secure his place in Saturday’s championship, where he was 4.2 to win the round.

Maybe the biggest honor came after the final round was complete, when Edler’s horse, D1, was named not only the national Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year but also the overall Men’s Horse of the Year.

“That’s a pretty big deal,” said Edler, who noted the horse was raised by Tyler Schau, a horse trainer and family friend. “I definitely put a lot of time and effort into these horses and just try to make sure they’re feeling their best and working good. That was extremely rewarding, and that probably meant more to me than where I finished in the year-end.”

D1 was also the driving force for Tsosie, who not only won the opener but placed fourth in the third round to grab points for the Northwestern team, which finished ninth in the final standings with 425 points. In between, though, Tsosie was saddled with a no-time in the second round. Still, he finished 14th overall, just two spots out of qualifying for the short-round.

“His second-round steer was kind of an eliminator,” Edler said. “That’s the event; sometimes you just draw the one you need to avoid, and that’s just what happened.”

“Coaching fits well with rodeoing and what I’m doing right now,” Edler said. “I can do the coaching gig and still practice a lot and have good steers to run. It’s rewarding to know these guys will be back. I’m not going to take credit for what those guys are doing or what they’ve done completely, because they’ve had a lot of people help them. When you’re just trying to push them and keep them moving forward, it’s rewarding to watch them do good. It helps me, too, when they’re making progress or working on stuff together. It’s good for everybody.”