Gering Man Looks to Repeat World Rodeo Title
Gering, Nebr. (June 18, 2009) – The next 105 days will be very busy ones for Dean Gorsuch.
The steer wrestler from Gering, Nebraska, is making a run at repeating what he did in 2006: become the World Champion Steer Wrestler in the ProRodeo Cowboys Association.
Right now, he’s ranked number three in the PRCA world standings with about $41,000 won, but Gorsuch isn’t comfortable with that. “I know I’m sitting third, but boy, it doesn’t mean much. It means a lot, don’t get me wrong, but it means more at the end of September when it counts for the Finals.” The rodeo season ends on September 30, and the top 15 cowboys in each event go on to compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, to determine the world champions.
Gorsuch is the third generation of steer wrestlers in his family. He grew up near Alliance, Neb. and competed in junior rodeos, high school rodeos, and college rodeo at Eastern Wyoming State in Torrington, Wyo. He graduated from college with a degree in pipeline welding and worked for Kinder-Morgan, a gas company, for five years before deciding to rodeo full time in 2005.
That decision was a good one. It was the following year, in 2006, that he was crowned PRCA World Champion Steer Wrestler, and he has rodeo-ed full time since then, finishing second in the world last year and having more than $500,000 in pro rodeo career earnings.
Gorsuch loves what he does. “I rodeo for a living. I do what I love, and I love it.” But there’s more to a rodeo career than what the average fan realizes. “It’s not as glorious as everybody thinks it is,” he said. “We travel 75,000 miles a year, away from our family 220 days a year. I love what I do, but it’s not always easy, either.
He flies to many of his rodeos, competing on a horse owned by someone else. Flying makes it easier to get home to see his wife, Bekah, and two sons, Taydon, age 4 and Trell, nearly 1 year old. Flying enables him to be home more, which is more important to him as Taydon gets closer to school-age. “My older boy is getting a little older and before long, he’ll start doing some sports and I want to be home for that,” Gorsuch said.
When he does drive to rodeos, it’s with three other cowboys he counts among his closest friends: Stockton Graves, Spud Duvall, and Ronnie Fields, all steer wrestlers from Oklahoma. “(They are) family, not just friends. They are my brothers,” Gorsuch says.
In the next 3 ½ months, Gorsuch will compete at about 50 rodeos, trying to stay in the top 15 to qualify for the Finals. He realizes that the world championship buckle doesn’t guarantee future success. “Every time it’s a clean slate. It means a lot to me to be world champion in 2006, but this is 2009. (The championship) will always be with me, but it’s a whole new year and I’d like to be world champion of 2009.”
Dedication and perseverance made him into a world champion. “I’d wanted it since I was a little kid. I practiced a lot, (had) a lot of dedication. I practiced every day, hard, and my dad and grandpa gave me an opportunity to do it and it stemmed from there.”
But there’s no looking at the past for Gorsuch. Right now, he might be boarding a plane, spurs and boots packed in his luggage, on the hunt for another gold buckle that reads, “2009 World Champion Steer Wrestler.”
----------------------------------
Upcoming pro rodeos in Nebraska include: the Buffalo Bill Rodeo June 17-20 (North Platte), the Days of ’56 PRCA Rodeo June 26-27 (Ponca), Old West Trail Rodeo July 2-4 (Crawford), Nebraska’s Big Rodeo July 22-25 (Burwell), Wahoo Saddle Club Rodeo July 23-25 (Wahoo), Oregon Trail Rodeo September 4-6 (Hastings), and River City Roundup September 24-26 (Omaha.)
