Kane Gjermundson couldn't have drawn a better round for his second professional rodeo.
The 21-year-old Marshall cowboy will be up against some of the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association's top saddle bronc riders in the opening round of the Roughriders Days Rodeo.
"I've finally worked up enough confidence and talent that I'm ready to move up to the next level where I'm ready to ride against those guys," said Gjermundson, a 2004 graduate of Richardton-Taylor High School. "You have to start somewhere."
Five of the top 50 saddle bronc riders in the PRCA are signed up to compete when the first night of the three-day rodeo begins at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the Dickinson State Outdoor Arena.
Jesse Bail, a 27-year-old cowboy from Camp Crook, S.D., is ranked 20th in the PRCA saddle bronc money standings. Three of tonight's ranked riders are South Dakotans. They include No. 18 J.J. Elsher from Quinn and No. 47 James Willert from Kadoka. Seventh-ranked Jeff Willert of Belvidere, S.D., and No. 27 Chad Ferley of Oelrichs, S.D., are both signed up for Sunday night's performance.
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"That's really good for Dickinson," said Bail, who is also signed up to compete in the bull riding tonight. "It's going to be a tough circuit rodeo because all those guys are there. The horses are good and it should be good watching."
Other local riders tonight include Rick Gross from Shields and Britt Luger from Fort Yates.
"I don't know if this is the best area, but there's a lot of top bronc riders right now," Gjermundson said. "It's pretty tough."
Gjermundson recently completed his third year at Central Wyoming College.
Although he failed to make the College National Finals, he said he met some of the goals he wanted to set when he entered college.
"I had a pretty good spring college season," Gjermundson said. "I wanted to keep building off that."
He plans to attend several PRCA rodeos in the future, beginning with Dickinson's.
"It's just one of my goals to be one of the best," said Gjermundson, whose father Brad Gjermundson is in the Cowboy Hall of Fame. "Just getting my foot in the door will be exciting."
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Bail said likewise, he's been hitting the road hard after what he considered a sub-par winter season.
"It was real good to have a good spring and start the summer out good,"
Bail said. "It was a good time to have some confidence going into the Fourth of July so I can win more money from here on out."
