Bio

Matt Hughes, former West Plains resident and pro rodeo cowboy began his position as the Rodeo Team Head Coach in 2024.  Hughes has more than 20 years of experience in rodeo. He was a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the NIRA and reached the top 20 of the National Junior Bull Riding Association during his career. He has been the head coach of the rodeo team at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, New Mexico, since 2017.

“Matt’s the perfect person to serve as our first rodeo coach,” Lancaster said. “He’s got the experience as a college rodeo coach in New Mexico, he’s a great recruiter and program developer, and he knows our area well. But most of all, for me, Matt has the passion to make our program something special for our student-athletes, whether that’s in terms of their rodeo competition or their pursuit of a college degree and career choice. We’re excited that Matt’s coming home.”

Hughes began competing in rodeo events at the age of seven and started riding bulls professionally at 19. He was named the Southern Roughstock Cowboy Association Iron Man in 2011 and won several college rodeo events when he attended Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri, from 2012 to 2016. He served as assistant coach of the Missouri Valley rodeo team during his junior and senior years and graduated from Missouri Valley with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations degree.

Student-athletes from Hughes’ teams at Mesalands have qualified for the Collegiate National Finals Rodeo every year he has been head coach, and he was named Coach of the Year in 2019. He grew the team from eight student-athletes to 30 and saw the team’s overall grade point average go from 1.8 to 3.0 during his tenure. He also helped to successfully raise more than $300,000 to build a new practice facility for the team.

Hughes said he is excited to come back home to coach the rodeo team for MSU-WP. “It’s a dream I’ve had since I was at Missouri Valley. It’s literally been a 10-year dream of mine and to see it come to fruition is mind-blowing,” he said. “I’ve always thought if we could have a rodeo program here, it would be very successful. I can’t wait to get started.”

The Grizzly Rodeo team will compete in nine events in the Ozark Region of the NIRA, which fields teams from both two-year and four-year schools. Those events include bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, team roping, calf roping, steer wrestling, goat tying, barrel racing and ladies breakaway roping.

Other teams in the Ozark Region include Arkansas Tech University, East Mississippi Community College, Missouri Valley College, Murray State University, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Pearl River Community College, Southern Arkansas University, Three Rivers College, University of Arkansas-Monticello, University of Tennessee-Martin and University of West Alabama.