Steer wrestler Clay Guthrie chases Calgary Stampede win in his rodeo debut
The 26-year-old Ponoka product is in contention to advance to Championship Sunday after two days of competition at the Stampede.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
Clay Guthrie is living a dream he's carried since childhood — competing as a steer wrestler at the Calgary Stampede, just as his father did.
The 26-year-old from Ponoka is in his debut at the Stampede and already in contention to advance to Championship Sunday. Through two days of Pool B competition, Guthrie sits on $8,500 after splitting second place on Tuesday with a time of 4.1 seconds. On Monday, he earned fourth place with a 4.3-second run.
"Last time I was here was in 2004, watching my dad," Guthrie said Tuesday afternoon. "Man, it's been everything I hoped for. I mean, this is something I grew up watching Dad do with him competing at the Calgary Stampede, so it's always been a dream of mine."
Guthrie's father, Greg, was the 2004 Ponoka champion. His brother Walker is also a steer wrestler. "Dad's my biggest hero, and steer wrestling is what he did," Clay said. "So that's what I was gonna do. And I've loved steer wrestling for as long as I can remember."
He's competing against Louisiana's Gavin Soileau, who leads bulldogging with $9,500, and Hawaii's Trisyn Kalawaia with $9,000. Kalawaia posted the day's top time of 4.0 seconds Tuesday.
Despite the first-time jitters on Monday — when his steer drifted right and his feet fell a little short — Guthrie says he's taking it one steer at a time. "There's always more work to do, and you can't count your chips before the hands dealt," he said.
