Kluesner makes shot count in Washington

Posted 11/4/10

That way took him onto the back of 2,000 pounds of the meanest, rankest animal on the rodeo circuit —the bucking bull. Now, it's set to possibly take him a whole lot further.

With the fall semester of competition in the books for Northwest …

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Kluesner makes shot count in Washington

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When it comes to rodeo pedigrees, Northwest College sophomore Cayd Kluesner certain can boast one. The Ririe, Idaho, native has been around the sport pretty much all his life. “My granddad rode saddle broncs and started the Intermountain Professional Rodeo Association,” he notes. “My dad rode broncs. My uncle rode in the pros. I started when I was in the eighth grade, but I just took a different way.”

That way took him onto the back of 2,000 pounds of the meanest, rankest animal on the rodeo circuit —the bucking bull. Now, it's set to possibly take him a whole lot further.

With the fall semester of competition in the books for Northwest College, Kluesner took off last month for Kent, Wash., for a Challenger Tour stop on the PBR

“I was just trying to win $1,100 in order to get my card status for next year,” Kluesner said of the trip. “I was mostly there just to pay my dues.”

Instead, the trip paid off more than Kluesner could have imagined. With an 81.5-point ride in the prelims, Kluesner qualified for the short-go. There, he unleashed an 87.5-point ride on the previously-unridden Dirt Nap to win the whole event.

With the victory came membership into the Built Ford Series — the PBR's elite division where the top 45 riders compete and the world champion is determined. His entry fees to the PBR's Denver tour stop in January are similarly paid.

“This was my one shot and it just all clicked for me in the short go,” Kluesner said. “My dad always taught me that you just go and ride your animal and the rest will come. You just try to keep pushing and keep your spirits up. It all comes together eventually if you put the work and the time in.”

Kluesner certainly knows about putting in the work, hitting the road virtually every weekend in pursuit of an event. As a freshman for the Trappers' rodeo team, Kluesner qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo last spring. Roughly a month before the CNFR, he tore the medial collateral ligament in his knee but refused to allow the injury to end his dream. He rode in college rodeo's championship event with the injury, failing to reach the short go.

“You couldn't really feel it getting on or riding, but getting off was pretty rough,” Kluesner recalled. “It was really painful.”

With that injury now in the past, Kluesner has continued to ride for the Trappers this year. While not one of the Big Sky Region's top three bull riders at the season's midway point, Kluesner is well-poised for another spring charge to reach the CNFR.

“That's something I really want to do, because I made a commitment to this school and this team,” Kluesner said. “I'm having a good year and I want to try for that national championship. I'm sitting pretty good going into the spring, and that's when things really start rocking for us as a team.”

They'll be rocking even more this year with Kluesner attempting to juggle classwork, college rodeo and, perhaps, a shot at a PBR world title.

“It has definitely re-arranged my plans, big time,” said Kluesner. “It makes it a lot easier on a guy when you can just show up and ride. Now I'm in a position where, if I can win a check in the Built Ford's, I get to stay and go after a world championship.”

In the meantime, he'll stay in pursuit of his ranch management degree and a return trip to the CNFR at Northwest. His hopes, one day, are to start a rodeo company with his father and produce bucking bulls as well as a string of mini-bulls to help younger kids get a start on the sport of rodeo.

“I didn't expect to win. I was just going there to ride,” Kluesner said, still trying to come to grips with just how much his life changed over the course of two eight-second October rides. “The PBR is one of the fastest growing televised sports in the world. People love to watch that high impact sport of a 160-pound guy climbing onto a 2,000-pound bull and trying to hold on. It's amazing to think that I'll be a part of that.”

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