Whatever happened to Jan Wagner?

By JIM CNOCKAERT Chronicle Sports Writer

Jan (Walter) Wagner was in a world of hurt.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAN WAGNER Jan Wagner was second nationally in the barrel racing in 1970, but she won the breakaway roping and was the top all-around cowgirl at the 1971 College National Finals Rodeo. Wagner was on the verge of having a monster performance at the 1971 College National Finals Rodeo at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse after dominating the Big Sky Region her senior season at Montana State, but she'd had what appeared to be a serious setback in the second go-round of the goat tying. As she was dismounting from her horse, she landed awkwardly and broke a bone in her foot right below the ankle.

Doctors wanted to put her foot and lower leg in a cast, which certainly would have ended her last chance at a national title.

“That thought sure did go through my mind,” the 58-year-old Wagner recalled. “I worried I would not be allowed to perform. But I knew it was my last year, so I told them I wanted to wait until (the CNFR) was over. That's what I did.”

The broken foot was just one of Wagner's troubles that week. She wanted to win the barrel racing - it was her favorite event, and she'd finished second the year before - but she'd tipped a barrel on her first run and would not place in the event. That meant she needed to score in the goat tying (her least favorite event) to maintain her lead in the all-around competition.

It was a long shot, but she did it. Wagner turned in three consistent runs in the breakaway roping, including one with her injured foot tied into a stirrup, to win the national title. Fortunately, she'd placed third in the first go-round of the goat tying. That, combined with the points she'd accumulated during the season, enabled her to hang on to the all-around title.

“It was really rewarding to win those titles at home,” she said. “It's an amazing experience to go to the CNFR. You're going against the best college contestants there are. They've all earned their spots. You know the competition will be the best you've ever had, so you have to be on top of your game.

“Rodeo is so hit and miss, and so many things can happen. But that season, things went pretty well. To culminate the whole thing by winning those national titles, that was especially nice.”

Wagner, who grew up in Kalispell, had rodeoed since she was old enough to ride a horse. She excelled in high school rodeo, but after she graduated, she decided to pursue her other passion, journalism. She enrolled at the University of Oregon, but after a year she transferred to MSU because she missed rodeo so much and because one of her best friends was enrolled there.

She competed in barrel racing, breakaway roping and goat tying because a woman had to do all three events to be able to make the team.

“There were no entry fees at the time,” she recalled. “We rodeoed for a belt buckle. We had to do all three because girls didn't do team roping. In fact, there was no team roping at all. The guys did ribbon roping.”

Wagner did some part-time reporting for the Chronicle during her three years at MSU, from which she earned a degree in English.

She and her husband, Terry, then moved to Miles City, where she taught for 13 years and served as advisor to both the school yearbook and newspaper.

She now owns her own business, a car wash, and she does volunteer work in town.

She has been president of the Custer County Art and Heritage Center, was a founding member of the county's Education Foundation and now serves as a member of the Miles Community College Board of Trustees.

The Wagners rodeoed for a time after college, but stopped competing after their sons, Ryan and Jase, got interested in other sports. Ryan played football and baseball at the University of North Dakota.

Jase played baseball at Northern Colorado.

Jan and Terry Wagner have been married 37 years.

He is president of the First Interstate Bank in Miles City.

They satisfy their competitive natures these days by playing golf, she said. She has a 14 handicap and has been club champion several times.

Jan Wagner has two buckles and two saddles to commemorate her 1971 national championships.

She doesn't keep them out on display these days, because the couple moved into a new house several years ago, but she checks on them occasionally to remind herself about that memorable season.

Which title has more meaning? The all-around title, she said.

“To win that is the ultimate thing,” she said. “It means you can rope, ride and tie.”

Jim Cnockaert is at jcnockaert@dailychronicle.com and at 582-2690.

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