CHEYENNE, WY – As a youngster, Griffin Koester fell in love with bull riding the way most of us find our passions, by seeing others do it and saying why not me.

“There’s a rodeo at our hometown that I’ve always gone to every year and I’ve always been obsessed with the bull riding,” Koester said. “Ever since watching then, it’s always been something I’ve wanted to do and I finally got the chance to do it.”

The freshman for the Laramie County Community College rodeo team has seen that dream become a reality through the help of his family and friends and now finds himself on the doorstep of the biggest event of the college rodeo season after finishing second in the Central Rocky Mountain Region standings.

But hopping on a bull at the Casper Events Center wasn’t something that he had plans for when it all began with riding steers in Canada.

“Right off the bat I was just doing it,” he said. “I didn’t know where I was going to go with it or anything like that, but now after seeing what I’ve done and all that it’s kind of a main priority right now.”

Bull riding wasn’t something that came easy for Koester either.

As the first member of his family to enter the rodeo field as a competitor, it took a lot of work to learn the sport and the craft from people around him. But he said the support of his family has been there throughout.

“They’ve been along my side the whole time,” he said.

Working around a busy schedule on the family farm where they also raise cattle, Koester always found time at least once a week to hop on a bull from the family bucking shoots or at the very least, found time to work on his form on their buck-n-ride.

“Me and dad like to plan nights and go and get on those bulls and there’s a stock contractor not too far from us and he likes to bring some the odd time or he’s also got a place we can buck at and we go there.”

The learning curve was pretty steep at the start for the pair, but they have found support and teachers all around them and the pair soaked up what lessons they could quickly.

“We have some people around that know quite a bit about it and they’ve taught me a lot over the years,” he explained. “Them teaching me has also kind of been them teaching dad as well. I mean, off the start, me and my dad didn’t know too much, but now I can talk to him and he can talk to me about what I need to do better and all that kind of stuff which is nice.”

Those lessons have only built on the bond they formed by going to the Rocky Ford Rodeo and Bull-a-rama every year when Koester was growing up.

“It’s been pretty nice that way too. When I was little he took me to all the rodeo’s and stuff and helped me out so much along the way.”

That all leads to Sunday’s Bulls, Broncs, and Breakaway at the College National Finals Rodeo where Koester will be stepping onto the biggest stage he has ever attempted to ride a bull in front of.

That isn’t to say he hasn’t been in front of a big crowd though. As a steer rider, Koester went to the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

Now he is just graduating to the main event on the arena floor and he said he really isn’t nervous, but more excited for the opportunity.

“Sometimes it really pumps you up and gets you fired up and ready to go and sometimes I ride really good. I’m pretty excited to go to it and show them what I’m made of.”

He’s already shown some of what he’s made of through the year after battling through more than the typical bumps and bruises, including being stepped on by a bull at a rodeo in Nebraska just before the start of the spring season and he is well aware that his opportunities to ride aren’t going to last forever.

In the meantime, he is looking to carve out his legacy and ride it out for as long as he can.

“I know that you can’t rodeo forever and it’s going to catch up to you pretty quick,” Koester said. “My plan is to just rodeo hard while I’m still young and try to go pro and maybe one day make the NFR. Then start a welding business or keep going with the family farm and when I’m done I can have those things. But right now, my main priority is just rodeoing and trying to make it to the big shows.”

The CNFR is definitely one of those big shows, and with three guaranteed rides, this is just one more chance to show the world why LCCC picked him to ride for the blue and gold.

“I’m looking forward to showing people what I’m made of and what I can do and also going and represent this school that’s done a lot for me.”