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Steer wrestler focused on Canada

An Okotoks steer wrestler’s focus on competing north of the 49th parallel has led to him qualify for his first Canadian Finals Rodeo Coleman Kohorst finished eighth in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) standings with $14,897 to quali
Okotokian Coleman Kohorst pulls down a steer at the Ponoka rodeo. Kohorst will compete in his first Canadian Finals Rodeo Nov. 7-11.
Okotokian Coleman Kohorst pulls down a steer at the Ponoka rodeo. Kohorst will compete in his first Canadian Finals Rodeo Nov. 7-11.

An Okotoks steer wrestler’s focus on competing north of the 49th parallel has led to him qualify for his first Canadian Finals Rodeo

Coleman Kohorst finished eighth in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) standings with $14,897 to qualify for the CFR which starts tonight (Nov. 7-11) in Edmonton. He failed to finish in the top 12 to qualify for the CFR in 2011 and as a result he started to study his travel plans.

“In 2011 I spent most of my year rodeoing in the United States and I only went to about 21 rodeos in Canada,” the 28-year-old Kohorst said. “I ended up missing the Canadian finals by about $4,000 or $5,000 last year. I realized that if you are going to rodeo in Canada professionally it makes sense to try and get to the finals. There’s $200,000 per event up there.”

He said the steer wrestling championships is up for grabs as there is only about $8,000 difference between first-place Cody Cassidy, who’s winnings are at $20,915, and 12th-place Baillie Milan, the 2012 Okotoks pro rodeo champion.

“I think I am just $6,000 out of first place,” Kohorst said. “My goal is to win a Canadian title. “If a guy stays focus on throwing all his steers down and stay in the average, it is definitely a possibility to win a championship considering how tight it is.”

The Canadian champion is decided by combining a competitors’ earnings at the CFR and the CPRA season.

When you are competing against the 11 best bulldoggers in the country, you want to be able to pin a steer under four seconds consistently.

Kohorst is going into the CFR a bit banged up, however he hopes to be at a 100 per cent when he jumps on the back of his horse Oakley.

“I hurt my knee in Cheyenne and I hurt it again here practicing,” he said. “I went to physio and I have been starting to feel better, but I have been practicing for the past two-and-a-half weeks in High River, so I hope to be ready for the CFR.”

If Kohorst can crack the top five in the Canadian standings, he will earn another first in his pro career which started in 2009. That is, qualifying for the Calgary Stampede in 2013.

“When I started my year my one goal was to make the CFR and the second one was to qualify for Calgary next year,” Kohorst said. “If I have a good week in Edmonton, I will be in Calgary next summer. That’s not something you can focus on while you are up there, you just have to worry about doing your job in Edmonton.”

Kohorst is confident that not only is he ready for the CFR, so is his horse Oakley, who he purchased from Okotoks area resident and Canadian rodeo hall of famer Tom Eirikson.

‘I bought her about six years ago,” Kohorst said. “She has been in big rodeos before. We were second in Armstrong so she will be okay.”

He estimated he has earned $50,000 on Oakley.

To follow the Canadian Finals Rodeo go to www.cfr.ca

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