O.J., this is Riley. Riley, meet O.J.

Although introductions weren't necessarily needed when Casper College's O.J. Huxtable and Central Wyoming College's Riley Warren roped together Monday at the College National Finals Rodeo, it wouldn't have been that much of a stretch.

"That was the first run we ever made together," Warren said. "I knew who [Huxtable] was, but we're not real close friends or anything."

The two looked like life-long buddies on Monday. They finished third in the first go-round of team roping at the Casper Events Center with a time of 6.4 seconds.

The reason for the odd pairing comes down to rodeo regulations. A National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association rule states a region's reserve all-around champion who doesn't qualify for the CNFR in team roping -- if that's one of the events he earned points in during the season -- has to take the fourth-place header or heeler.

Warren earned that distinction in the Central Rocky Mountain Region, finishing second in tie-down roping but just fifth as a heeler. That meant Warren had to rope with Huxtable, who was the region's fourth-place header.

Their unlikely pairing was made more difficult when Warren headed home to Alberta, Canada, after the CRMR season ended in early May and Huxtable returned to his family's ranch in Douglas.

"We could have got together and practiced, I guess," Huxtable said. "But, heck, he's been on a rodeo run, and I've had a bunch of ranch work to do.

"But it worked out ... so far so good."

Huxtable broke out of the box cleanly, catching the steer about halfway down the arena and turning it to his left with Warren poised to strike. Warren's loop got both of the steer's hind legs, and when Huxtable pulled the steer taught, a smile broke out across both of their faces.

Fifteen minutes later, they were still laughing, even if they were still getting to know each other.

"We talked here at the rodeo a little bit [Monday] morning," Huxtable said. "But I didn't really need to talk to him [because] he knows what he's doing."

"He made it pretty easy for me," Warren added. "We didn't talk about it, we just went out and roped one."

And introduced themselves to the CNFR at the same time.

Contact sports reporter Jack Nowlin at (307) 266-0528 or jack.nowlin@trib.com.