PHOTO: AVID VISUAL RODEO PHOTOGRAPHY
It’s been nearly a year since World Champion saddle bronc rider and 8X NFR qualifier Wade Sundell has been on a bucking horse.
In August of last year, Sundell was injured while competing at the Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo in San Juan Capistrano, California, where a horse reared up in the chute and slammed Sundell in the chest, resulting in a lacerated liver. He needed immediate surgery — three, in fact. One to stop the bleeding by packing him with medical sponges, another to remove and replace the sponges, and then a third to close him back up. Following the surgeries, Sundell was kept in a medically induced coma for two weeks while his liver healed, and then came the recovery time.
Last night following our segment on Western Sports Round-up, Sundell finally returned to rodeo — and he did it in his home state at the Iowa Championship Rodeo in Sidney.
Not only did Sundell make it to the buzzer on his first ride back, he took the lead in Sidney, scoring 84.5 points on Fettig Pro Rodeo’s U b Rockin and outriding No. 1 man Wyatt Casper, who currently sits in second with an 82. Behind them, Colt Gordon and Riggin Smith split third and fourth in the round with 81 each and No. 15 in the Standings Tegan Smith took fifth with 80 points.
It looks like Wild Wade is back in full force. This weekend, he’ll be making his second ride in Phillipsburg, Kansas, on Saturday.
To see more highlights from the Sidney, Iowa Rodeo, click here.
WADE SUNDELL | IOWA CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO | 84.5
