Nearly 1,000 spectators filled the J.L. Cartlidge Forrest County Multipurpose Center in Hattiesburg last Friday for the 2025 USM Coca-Cola Classic, a multi-day rodeo event. This year’s Grand Marshal was University of Southern Mississippi Chief Financial Officer Allyson Easterwood.
“It’s an incredible honor and a humbling experience, especially when I look back on past Grand Marshals,” Easterwood said.
Previous Grand Marshals include former Southern Miss baseball coach Scott Berry and former university president Rodney Bennett.
The rodeo featured various events, beginning each night with bareback riding. Riders aimed to stay on bucking horses for eight seconds, with scores based on their endurance and form. Kross Smith from Dallas, Texas, earned a score of 73 on a horse named “Temptation,” winning the event with a prize of $699.
In steer wrestling, World Champion Will Lummus dominated with a time of 3.9 seconds. Lummus, a rodeo veteran with a 17-year career, has earned over $1 million in winnings throughout the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit.
Dusty Myers, a rodeo clown from Jumpertown, Mississippi, provided comic relief between events, sharing jokes with the crowd.
“If we’ve got 1,700 people in here, everyone needs to leave right now. Because if they learn we’ve got 1,700 in one spot, there will be a Dollar General built in this arena tomorrow,” Myers joked.
Other events included calf roping and breakaway roping, both judged on time. Ike Fontenot of Ville Platte, Louisiana, took first place in tie-down roping with a time of 10.2 seconds.
Team roping saw Koby Sanchez of Ethel, Louisiana, and Trace Porter of Leesville, Louisiana, claim victory with a time of 5.7 seconds.
Two fan-favorite events, barrel racing and bull riding, concluded the rodeo. Katelyn Nicholson of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association won the barrel racing competition with a time of 15.64 seconds. In bull riding, Matthew Weaver was the sole competitor to score, earning a 76 on a bull named “Big John.”
Rodeos, which have been popular since the late 1800s, continue to attract large crowds and talented performers. The USM Coca-Cola Classic is part of the PRCA circuit, contributing to qualifications for the PRCA National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, which drew over 170,000 fans in 2024.
The PRCA’s next event is the “SW District and Breakaway Show” in Lake Charles, Louisiana, running from January 30 to February 1.