Wyatt Cole, a rodeo student-athlete at the University of Tennessee at Martin, died Feb. 10 after a car accident near Martin. He was 20 years old.

Cole, a junior from Owenton, Kentucky, was majoring in agricultural business and in his second season with the UT Martin rodeo team. He graduated from Owen County High School before attending UT Martin.

“Wyatt was a super good kid with a great attitude,” said John Luthi, head coach of the UT Martin rodeo team. “He had a hard work ethic and came from a great family. Our prayers go out to his family – he will be missed.”

Cole advanced to the finals of three collegiate rodeos during the 2018-19 season, representing UT Martin in team roping at Missouri Valley College (Sept. 20-22) and in steer wrestling at both Three Rivers College (Oct. 11-13) and Murray State (Nov. 15-17). He accumulated team points in each of his steer wrestling performances, including a career-best third-place finish in average (13.6 seconds) at Murray State.

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