by Sean Doherty, Student Reporter
Bridger Anderson knew four years ago he would qualify for the Professional Rodeo Cowboy’s Association’s (PRCA) National Finals Rodeo.
Anderson got his first taste of the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) atmosphere four years ago, when he competed
COVID-19, Anderson will make his first appearance on rodeo’s biggest stage in December. In fact, he’ll be one of the first athletes ever to compete in the new Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“There for awhile, we were spending a fortune going to rodeos not sure if we were going to have an NFR,” Anderson said. “But to able to have it at Globe Life Field—which looks amazing—we’re super pumped.”
Anderson is a senior Agriculture Business major originally from Carrington, North Dakota, whose main event is steer wrestling.
In the steer wrestling, the competitor gives the steer a specified head start, rides down the left side of the steer, while a helper, called a hazer, rides down the right side and keeps the steer running straight. The competitor then dismounts of his horse by sliding off the side, catches the steer by the horns and throws the steer on its side. The fastest time wins, and wining steer wrestling runs are usually below four seconds.
The winning tradition of the NWOSU Rodeo team brought him to Alva, and that decision paid off.
“When I was looking at schools in high school, there was one college that was steer wrestling ‘U’,” Anderson said. “Jacob Edler, JD Struxness, Mike McGinn , all sorts of great bulldoggers were down here, big guys that were achieving well, at college rodeos, the National College Finals, and doing well at pro rodeos. So I thought, ‘Well if I’m gonna go somewhere, I’m probably gonna go somewhere I can learn from a lot of different guys.”
Anderson gives lots of credit to NWOSU Rodeo Coach Stockton Graves, who will be hazing for Anderson at the 2020 NFR.
Jacob Edler, NWOSU alumnus, qualified for his first NFR this year as well.
Anderson’s winning streak started in June of 2019, winning the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s (NIRA) steer wrestling championship at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. Anderson continued to dominate the NIRA Central Plains region during the Fall 2019 semester, running away with the top spot heading into the spring season.
At the start of the new year, Anderson had some luck at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado; the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo in San Antonio, Texas, and the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas— three of the biggest PRCA rodeos of the year. Anderson also qualified for the American, the richest single-day rodeo in the sport. He also continued his success at the college level, but only got to compete at two collegiate events before COVID-19 brought everything to a screeching halt.
“We had a good, fun run of rodeos. Then all of a sudden COVID hit,” Anderson said. ”We went to Fort Scott, drove home for Spring Break and stayed there.”
Although spring break and social distancing in North Dakota doesn’t sound like the nicest vacation, Anderson made the most of it, living in a renovated barn loft in Almont, North Dakota and keeping up with homework.
Anderson and some other rodeo competitors practiced at night.
“I got to do a little fishing and hang out with the family so that was alright,” Anderson said.
Rodeos eventually started back up, but a limited schedule made for an extremely competitive season, with the top ranked competitors in every event going head to head all over the country—from small county fairs to the biggest rodeos around.
“We were pretty much driving twice as many miles for about half the rodeos,” Anderson said.
As the season came to a close, Anderson found himself “on the bubble”.
Only the top 15 competitors in each event qualify for the NFR; competitors in the last five spots or “the bubble” can be shuffled right up until the very last rodeo of the season.
“You’re going to spend a fortune to try and make sure you make the top 15 and make your season worth it, financially,” Anderson said. “Otherwise, if you don’t make the finals, you’re ending the season in debt, in a crazy, mad race to make the finals.”
Sometimes the biggest challenge on the bubble was just getting to the next performance. While on the bubble, Anderson traveled from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Springhill, Louisiana, flew to Salt Lake City, Utah, caught a ride to Gooding, Idaho, caught another ride to St. George, Utah, then rode in the bed of pickup truck, across the desert, to catch a flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Buffalo, Texas.
But it paid off, and Anderson earned enough prize money to finish 10th overall in the PRCA’s steer wrestling standings. He’s been practicing at the NWOSU Rodeo practice facility here in Alva to prepare. As for a game plan, Anderson is looking to his mentors in the sport.
“I’ve just been practicing, running steers and staying sharp,” Anderson said, “I don’t really have a game plan. I have to talk to some veterans and find out what the game plan should be. I’m gonna get all the help I can get. I’m not going to reinvent the wheel.”
Anderson is ready to take in the moment when he finally gets to compete in Arlington.
“I think the biggest thing is to be down there, in that environment, having 15,000 people around you, I think that’ll be cool,” Anderson said. “Seeing my picture on the big screen, about to run a steer, I think it’ll be awesome to take that in, and just realize ‘We finally got here.’”
He admits it’s hard to visualize what to expect at Globe Life Field—but Anderson knows there will only be one thing running through his mind when he gets there.
“I am fixing to win first.”