Klemm, Lind qualify for nationals
By Greg Seubert
Two recent high school graduates are spending this week on one of the sport of rodeo’s biggest stages.
Kevin Klemm of Manawa and Drew Lind of Weyauwega are in Lincoln, Nebraska, for the National High School Finals Rodeo, which began July 18 and wraps up July 24.
Klemm, who graduated in May from Little Wolf High School, and Lind, who was home-schooled and moved to the Weyauwega area from Pennsylvania last year, recently qualified for the rodeo, which will feature 1,700 competitors from 43 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
Klemm and Lind are entered in the bull riding competition and Lind also qualified in bareback riding.
The rodeo also includes 10 other events: saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, breakaway roping, steer wrestling, goat tying, pole bending, barrel racing, boys’ cutting, girls’ cutting and reined cow horse.
“I’m pretty excited,” Klemm said. “This is the biggest thing I’ll be a part of in my entire career so far.”
He and his father, Kory, left Manawa July 16 for Lincoln and stopped at the Dodge County Fair and Rodeo in Kasson, Minnesota, where Kevin competed in the bull riding event.
“My dad used to ride bulls and has judged bull-riding competitions my whole life,” he said. “I always traveled with him ever since I was little. It just made me really want to do it. I started and loved it ever since I started.”
Lind isn’t sure his second trip to nationals gives him an edge over other competitors.
“It’s not my first time at nationals,” he said. “Last year, I was in nationals for bull riding in Guthrie, Oklahoma. A lot of kids go multiple times.”
“After last year when I didn’t make it, I was really upset with myself,” Klemm said. “This year, I was real excited to get the go-ahead.”
Bull riding experience
A two-time state qualifying wrestler in Manawa, Klemm tried bull riding about four years ago.
“I rode for a few years and couldn’t really ride much,” he said. “I fell off of everything.”
That all changed at a Wisconsin Little Britches Rodeo Association rodeo in Amherst three years ago.
“I made my first finals,” Klemm said. “That’s when I started to realize I was figuring it out pretty good.”
A major injury at a rodeo kept him off the wrestling mat as a sophomore.
“I got stepped on,” he said. “I ruptured my spleen and missed about half the school year.”
Klemm said the two sports are similar.
“Mental toughness, they’re both about the same,” he said. “If I’m having a real tough match in wrestling, I just have to get it in my mind that I’m going to push through. It’s kind of the same with bull riding. If I’m in a tough spot, I just have to get tough and try to get to where I need to be.”
Lind doesn’t have a wrestling background.
“I started bull riding going into my freshman year and I always gave myself a shot,” he said. “I just loved it and never wanted to quit.”
He competed this summer for the first time at the Mid-Western Rodeo in Manawa.
“I wasn’t raised here, so it wasn’t like the old hometown feel,” Lind said. “It was definitely cool to see a big rodeo in our area.”
Dreams of going professional
Photo Courtesy of Kevin Klemm
Besides living a few miles from each other, Klemm and Lind also share a common goal: turning professional.
“My dream would be to go professional,” Klemm said. “That would be a big dream of mine. My plan is to compete. I’ve already entered some local bull riding (competitions) around here. I’ll probably buy my PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) card next year, try to travel a little more and go to a few more around the country.”
He believes he knows what it takes to turn pro.
“You have to be pretty successful and ride most of your bulls because if you don’t ride, you don’t get paid on the weekends,” he said. “I won a show last weekend and made some money. Next summer, I’m going to try hitting them a little harder and see if I can’t go pro.
“Watching a lot of film, getting on the barrel, getting on a lot of practice bulls, riding horses bareback, all that kind of training,” he added. “You have to do it all the time and live, eat and sleep bull riding.”
“I’m definitely going to pursue the PRCA and get as far as I can,” Lind said. “It’s a lot of work. The more you work for it, the more you want it.”
“My main goal is to come out of it with a national title, but I’ll go there, have some fun on my bulls and hopefully meet some new people,” Klemm said. “I’m looking forward to doing my job and riding my bulls.”
“I’m just going to try my best and see where it lands me,” Lind said. “If I make short go in both events, that would be really awesome.”
Lind is in Lincoln with his parents and two younger brothers.
“It’s definitely my passion,” he said. “I wanted to do it from the time I was 3. I always wanted to be a cowboy and that turned into rodeo. It’s kind of hard to explain, but when you make a good ride, there’s no feeling like that.”