Rodeo
Continued from Page 1
A wound sliced across his left fore
head.
Jerry Norton has worked as a bull
fighter and clown at college and pro
fessional rodeos for nine years. His
job — protecting the rider — be
comes harder and more dangerous at
college rodeos.
Students are learning the trade, he
said, and many have rode fewer than
five bulls. They dismount on the wrong
side, get hung up or jump off without
warning.
“It keeps me from getting compla
cent,” Norton said.
This weekend, Norton shouted at
the bulls, sometimes slapping it on the
nose to make the bull charge at him.
Sometimes, the bull is faster.
“When you are fighting bulls, you
just accept it,” Norton said of the
danger. “When you’re fighting bulls,
it’s just a question of when and how
bad.”
So far, how bad means a broken
back, neck and leg, several broken
ribs and “a lot of beating” for the 26
year-old.
The graduate of Dakota Wesleyan
University has faced 400 bulls this
year and plans to dodge thousands
more over the next 10 years. After
that, who knows?
“I haven’t figured out what I want
to do when I grow up,” he said.
Norton emerged from this rodic^
unscathed. Others did not.
A bull rider from North Dakota
State University staggered from the
area after a raging bull threw him then
stepped on his leg. He struggled to
climb five steps leading to the stage
area and a place to rest. He spent the
rest of the afternoon competition there.
The bull that Cinch Munson, a se
nior rider with the University of Ne
braska, was about to ride appeared
calm in its chute.
When the gate opened, the bull
flew out, spun to the right and contin
ued sf^rming as Munson struggled to
keep his grasp. After slipping down
the bull’s side, Munson regained his
position — only to be thrown to the
left.
He lasted only seven seconds.
Munson was a right-handed rider,
and his hand stayed hung-up on the
rope as the bull continued to buck.
Before Munson removed his hand, the
bull’s hom grazed the right side of his
face and blistered his chin.
Shaun Stroh’s bronc, Sioux Na
tion, tried to jump from the shoot
earlier in the day. Stroh had just
climbed into the chute when the horse
reared, throwing its front hooves over
the top of the gate and its head back.
It took several minutes to calm the
horse enough for Stroh to remount and
ride to a first-place finish in the first
go-around. He finished third in the
finals.
Stroh, 22, was national champion
last year. Asked why he does it, he
simply smiles.
“It’s a rush,” he says. “It’s eight
seconds that lasts forever.”
“When you are
fighting bulls, you just
accept it. When
you ’re fighting bulls,
it’s just a question of
when and how bad. ”
■
JERRY NORTON
Bull fighter and rodeo clown
Top: Jerry Norton, a bullfighter
from Mitchell, S.D., watches
participants before the bull
riding action got under way
Friday evening. Middle: A South
Dakota State University steer
wrestler takes down a steer
during Friday evening’s rodeo.
Bottom: Chuck Obrecht, a bull
rider from Iowa State University,
smokes a cigarette to relax
before Saturday’s final round.
Photos by Travis Heying
