Bo Casper named FSCC’s 2015 Outstanding Young Alumnus
Fort Scott, KS- Fort Scott Community College is pleased to name Bo Casper as the 2015 Young Alumnus of the Year. The FSCC Alumni and Friends Board selected Casper for this honor.
Head Rodeo Coach Chad Cross and former Young Alumnus honoree said, “My greatest hope as a coach is that my students will grow into good citizens that give back to our communities.”
“Bo is a great example.”
Casper and the 2015 Outstanding Alumni winner will be recognized at a 10:30 a.m. ceremony between morning graduation services on Friday, May 15 in the Ellis Family Fine Arts Center. Casper will also speak to graduates at the 12 p.m. ceremony.
Bailey Lyons, FSCC’s Director of Development, adds, “We are proud to have Bo as our Outstanding Young Alum this year. He is great representation of our mission and values at FSCC.”
Casper is the son of Patricia Sexton of Mountain Home, Arkansas and Frank Casper of Oakland, Arkansas.
Casper began attending classes at FSCC in 1999, took one semester off and returned to FSCC in the fall of 2000. Casper graduated with an Associate of Science in May of 2002.
While at FSCC, Casper competed in bareback riding as a member of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. He was the champion bareback rider at the Southwestern Oklahoma State Rodeo in Weatherford, OK in both 2001 and 2002 and at the NIRA Playoffs in Lawton, OK in 2002.
Casper was a member of the 2002 Central Plains Region Championship Team and competed at the 2002 College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, WY, finishing 8th in the final bareback riding standings. He was awarded the 2001 FSCC Rodeo Team Leadership Award and in 2002 was named the FSCC Rodeo Team Outstanding Athlete of the Year.
After graduation, Casper joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and competed in rodeos extensively throughout the United States and Canada for the next eleven years, averaging 150 days on the road a year.
Casper finished in the top 25 in the World Bareback Riding Standings five of those years. He was the Great Lakes Circuit Champion Bareback Rider in 2005, 2010 and 2011 and the Great Lakes Circuit Champion All-Around Cowboy in 2005. He competed in the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, ID in 2006 and the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City in 2011 and 2012.
Casper has also won the Bareback Riding at such prestigious rodeos as the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO; the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, MS; the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo in Guymon, OK; was the three time average winner at the Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo; and many others over his eleven year career. Bo retired from the PRCA in November 2013 after his twelfth straight appearance at the Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo in Louisville, KY.
Casper joined Patrick Wood in 2012 as a partner in Patrick J. Wood Construction, LLC in Fort Scott. Patrick J. Wood Construction provides commercial and residential general contracting services in Bourbon County and throughout the Southeast Kanas area.
He is a member of the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church and the local Knights of Columbus. Casper continues to work with the FSCC Rodeo Team, assisting when he can in Bareback Fundamentals and Rodeo Team practices. He has also coached numerous bareback riding clinics throughout the years.
Casper married another 2002 FSCC graduate, Katie née Evans. The couple have four children: Mesa, Kodi, Bryn, and Samuel Cole.
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