Bulls get the best of cowboys Friday
Abe Dillman and Cody Kleeman sat about 10 feet from each other, nursing bull-riding injuries after the conclusion of Friday night’s Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo. Kleeman, a Killdeer, N.D., native, was resting with his foot in a bucket of ice water, while Dillman — from Grassy Butte, N.D. — was trying to stop the river of blood streaming down his left arm.By: Luke Hagen, The Daily Republic
- Bareback
- Saddle bronc
Abe Dillman and Cody Kleeman sat about 10 feet from each other, nursing bull-riding injuries after the conclusion of Friday night’s Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo.
Kleeman, a Killdeer, N.D., native, was resting with his foot in a bucket of ice water, while Dillman — from Grassy Butte, N.D. — was trying to stop the river of blood streaming down his left arm.
Silver Fox was the bull that claimed Kleeman’s foot.
He finished all eight seconds on the bull in front of a crowd of 3,328 at the Horseman’s Sports Arena.
Kleeman’s go-round was worth a re-ride, as the judges awarded him 52 points because of the less-tempered bull.
When he tried to get off of Silver Fox, that’s when the bull got hot-headed.
“He came down with his back foot and stepped on my foot,” Kleeman said. “He smashed it into the ground, and I think he broke two or three of my toes.”
Kleeman noticeably limped off the infield, but his go-round didn’t look near as bad as Dillman’s.
A bull named After Party ruined Dillman’s night.
Seconds out of the gate, Dillman fell off the bull and was trampled and tossed into the air. “When I was a freshman or sophomore in high school, I was stepped on (in a bull ride) and it tore everything out (in my hand),” Dillman said. “I looked down and could see the tendons and bones. It took about six months to heal.”
Thunder C. Boomer won Friday night’s go-round in the bull riding competition with an 83 and he’s in first place after two days of the rodeo.
He received a re-ride and also had to ride After Party in his second go-round of the night.
Boomer, an Interior native, had a bit more luck than Dillman.
“I wanted a better bull to get a better score than my first ride,” said Boomer, who’s in his first year of professional bull riding.
With a score of 80 in the saddle bronc competition, Troy Crowser took over first place Friday.
Crowser, a Whitewood native, rode Justin’s Pepper and overtook Jeremy Means’ Thursday score of 79 for first place.
“I knew about exactly what that horse would do,” Crowser said. “It’s hard to tell (if my score will hold up). That horse is supposed to be with a guy that’s already been on him later this week, so he’ll know exactly how good he is.”
In other events at Friday’s go-round, Pamela Hannum, of Fort Pierre, tied Alisha Madison’s time of 15.93 for first place in the barrel racing event, Dale Stoller, also of Killdeer, N.D., is in second in the bareback riding event with a 76 behind Scott Montague’s 78 and Garrett Nokes took over first place in steer wrestling with a time of 4.0 seconds.
A Ponca, Ark.., native, Payden Emmett, is in second place in the tie-down roping with an 8.7, and a team of J.B. Lord and Ryan Lurcher took over first place in the team roping event at 6.0. Lord is from Piedmont and Surcher is from Hawk Springs, Wyo.
“I was going good, and then my hand started coming out of the rope,” said Dillman, who’s 20 years old. “I fell down and he found me, I guess.
“He stepped on my arm and put his horns through my chaps and chucked my in the air and proceeded to trample me.”
The rampant bull ruined a flannel birthday T-shirt Dillman received by severing the arm down to the elbow.
Friday night’s injury Dillman sustained wasn’t anywhere near his first big injury, however.
Tags: corn palace stampede, sports, rodeo
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