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Carrington's Bridger Anderson wanting a third shot at a NFR title

JAMESTOWN — At age 3, Bridger Anderson wanted to be a paleontologist by day and a professional steer wrestler by night.

He's since given up on the day job but his nighttime gig is still treating him pretty well.

Anderson is a professional steer wrestler native to Carrington, North Dakota. Anderson bought his professional rodeo card his senior year of high school and has been rodeoing professionally ever since.

"You never know when it is going to end," Anderson said. "It's a physically-tasking sport and people get hurt every day. It could be done tomorrow but we're just hoping we can ride this train as long as we can. There's a lot more to life than rodeo but we are glad we get to live rodeo as long as we can."

After graduating from Carrington in 2017, Anderson went on to compete for Northwestern Oklahoma State University. He earned the 2019 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association steer wrestling title. He has qualified for the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) twice. In 2020 he finished his first NFR ninth in the world standings. In 2023 he placed seventh in the world.

He's looking to get back to Vegas for a third time this December.

"We didn't make the NFR in 2024 so was kind of a write-off year but then this year it's going pretty good," Anderson said. "We rodeo from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 every year to try and get within the top-15 of total money won.

"I get to go to 80 rodeos and if I win enough money in 80 rodeos to be in the top-15 in the world then I get to go to the NFR in Las Vegas," he said. "We are within the top-10 right now."

Anderson is currently ranked 10th in the world in total money won with $75,651 earned this rodeo season. The Carrington native won the Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove, Utah, the Desert Rodeo in Thermal, California, the Matagorda County Fair and Rodeo in Bay City, Texas and was a co-champion at the Cody Stampede Rodeo.

Anderson has participated in more than 40 rodeos since October 2024. The North Dakota native and now Texas resident has been on the road since June and likely won't return to his home-base until September.

"It can be a little tiresome being gone and living in a trailer and driving all of the time but once you've been on the road for a few weeks you'll drive six hours and not even notice that you drove anywhere," Anderson said.

"I've rodeoed in every state west of the Mississippi and then I've gone to North Carolina, I went to Tennessee this year, been to Louisiana, been to Alabama, Georgia and Florida, been to Illinois — we went to Alberta (Canada) a couple of times — that's one of the cool things about rodeo is that you get to see a lot of the country," he said.

Anderson will be back in his home state at the end of September for the annual Rough Rider Cup, a rodeo held in Mandan. He also has plans to participate in South Dakota's Sioux Falls Governor's Cup.

"The goal is to be No. 1 coming into the NFR and winning a world title but there is a lot of winning left to do," Anderson said. "We're hoping to win as much as we can. It would be awesome to win Sioux Falls or win a bunch of these individual rodeos. It would be awesome to go win Mandan but the main thing is to capitalize when we get good draws and do our jobs so we can go to the NFR and try to win a world title."

After the rodeo season ends — assuming he's within the top-15 — Anderson will return to Texas to train and participate in some local rodeos to keep in shape for the NFR. After the NFR concludes in early December, Anderson will take two to three weeks off before heading to San Diego and Denver for a series of competitions.

"It's always been a goal to rodeo for a living and professionally steer wrestle," Anderson said. "Everyone in the community back home knew this is what I wanted to do. It's pretty awesome that we get to live our dream. Not everybody gets to live out their dream and we are very grateful that we get to.

"I'm sure grateful for everybody back home," he said. "It's crazy how many people post my schedules. It's pretty awesome how many people who don't come from a rodeo background have followed me. It's real nice that they tune in and show interest. I sure appreciate every one of them who shows their support."

Katie Ringer is a sports reporter for the Jamestown Sun. Katie joined the Sun staff in the summer of 2019 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with a degree in journalism. She can be reached by email at kringer@jamestownsun.com or by phone at 701-952-8460.