ProRodeo Sports News - May 1, 2020

Gjermundson’s legacy continues with Xtreme Broncs match

BY MATT NABER B rad Gjermundson doesn’t need to brag about his ProRodeo accomplishments, they speak for themselves. The North Dakota cowboy went into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1995 for a saddle bronc riding career that spanned three decades. Twenty years since hanging up his spurs, Gjermundson’s involvement isn’t just by name. He’s been on the committee for the Home on the Range Champions Ride in Sentinel Butte, N.D., for 20 years and played a pivotal role in last fall’s first Brad Gjermundson Extreme Broncs competition in New Town, N.D.

He still holds the Badlands Circuit record with six year-end circuit titles in saddle bronc riding (1983, 1985-86, 1989, 1994-95). “He had a competitive mindset, and I think guys are born with that,” Thompson said. “Before we had a limit on rodeo counts, he would go to 150 a year. He loved getting on broncs and would get on as many as they would let him.” During one of his Cowboy Christmas runs, Gjermundson competed at four rodeos in one day. Cody, Wyo., Red Lodge, Mont., Dickinson, N.D., and Mobridge, S.D. He almost made it to a fifth in Crawford, Neb. “I tried to get to Crawford, but they didn’t have an airport, so I just ran out of time,” Gjermundson laughed. He competed until 1999, and one thing shines brightest for him. “I’ve got a lot of trophies and buckles, and it’s all great,”

INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION

Gjermundson grew up admiring a group of cowboys known as the North Dakota Rodeo Six Pack – Jim Tescher, Tom Tescher, Duane Howard, Dean Armstrong, Joe Chase and Alvin Nelson. “I looked up to them and would hear about the rodeos they went to, like Boston, Madison Square Garden and the Cow Palace,” Gjermundson said. “I grew up wanting to be a cowboy, so there really wasn’t anything else I wanted.” Doing it was one thing, but even cowboys need to eat. “When I started, it wasn’t about making a living, it was about the competition between the other competitors, but the main one (challenge) was to see if you could make a good ride,” Gjermundson said. Gjermundson joined the PRCA in 1979 and broke out as the 1980 PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding Rookie of the Year. “He was one of those guys who

Gjermundson said, “but it’s the friends and people I met, the lifelong friends I’ve known for the last 40 years or even before that (that stands out).” At 61, Gjermundson is on the other side of the chutes helping develop and run two ProRodeo competitions in North Dakota. Gjermundson, Thompson, Sparky Dreesen and Casey Fredericks spent more than a year planning the October 2019 premier of the Brad Gjermundson Extreme Broncs competition. “I told him, ‘Brad, you need to be out in the arena so people can see you,’” Thompson said. “He was going to work and get things going, and I said he needed to be out there because people enjoy seeing him and talking to him. “It’s terrible that we have a STILL IN THE GAME

bronc rider of his status and no real shrine or anything that’s been named after him.” Gjermundson maintains his old mindset of focusing on the competition, as well as giving back. “I don’t know what to tell you, it’s nice and it’s an honor,” Gjermundson said about the event being named after him. The Home on the Range Champions Ride is a major fundraiser for Home on the Range, a nonprofit for abused, neglected and traumatized teenagers. “He’s always helping kids,” Thompson said. “He’s just one of those guys who really believes in giving back to rodeo. High school, college, PRCA – he is there.” The inaugural Brad Gjermundson Extreme Broncs paid out $61,208 and featured NFR qualifiers and NFR roughstock. The event is hoping to increase the payout to $100,000 by 2025. “It’s something you’ve done for so long it’s hard to walk away from, and it’s one way to give back,” Gjermundson said. “Rodeo has been unbelievably great to me. It’s something I’m probably never going to quit doing.”

James Fain photo Brad Gjermundson won the second of his four world titles at the 1983 National Finals Rodeo. At that time, there were no limits on rodeo counts, so he would compete at more than 150 annually.

was a natural from the start,” said longtime friend RickThompson, executive director at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. Winning came naturally for Gjermundson, who made nine trips to the National Finals Rodeo and won four world titles (1981, 1983-85). “There’s always something to strive for since there are new world champions every year,” Gjermundson said. “You’re always remembered, but easily forgotten, because that’s how it’s meant to be.” He also won the NFR average by covering all 10 broncs on two occasions – 1983 and 1988. “I was fortunate to have the success I did,” Gjermundson said. “Nothing motivates you more than winning, so it’s easy to stay aggressive when you’re winning.” That motivation took him to 155 rodeos in 1982. “I went at it like it’s a job,” Gjermundson said. “If there was a rodeo going on and there was a day I could work it but didn’t, it was like missing a day’s work.”

ProRodeo Sports News 5/1/2020

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