FORT WORTH, Texas – Dean Gorsuch, Eastern Wyoming College’s welding instructor, is still in the running for a spot in the World’s Largest One-Day Rodeo after one day of steer wrestling in Fort Worth, Texas.
On Monday, 160 cowboys from across the country competed in two rounds of steer wrestling to snag a top-20 spot to advance to the semi-finals. In the first round of slack, Gorsuch took 15th overall, clocking a 4.84. In the second round, he did not place in the top-20. On his second steer, Gorsuch recorded a time of 5.43.
“You always want to do better, but you just have to keep going,” Gorsuch said of his times from Monday.
The welding instructor’s combined time of 10.27 seconds ranked him 11th after the first day. His finish put him in the semi-final performances, which were run on Wednesday night. The top-10 from the performance Wednesday will advance to another round run on Friday. The five best finishes from Friday will qualify to run in The American on Sunday.
Gorsuch is no stranger to the World’s Largest One-Day Rodeo. In 2014, he took second in the final performance. Before taking the job at EWC, Gorsuch was a professional steer wrestler.
“I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid. I just ate, breathed and lived it,” Gorsuch said. “Now I’m a welding instructor and I love it at EWC and that’s where I want to be.”
Gorsuch, who had his family in tow, was not the only Goshen County resident in Fort Worth to steer wrestle. Danny Manning, an EWC student and Lancer rodeo team member, also competed on Monday to advance into the later rounds. On one of his two runs, he broke the barrier, ending his chances of competing for the rest of the week.
“Danny broke the barrier on his second run, but he had two great runs, he really did,” Gorsuch said. “I was very proud of him.”
