AUSTIN MANNING:

2008 ICA CHAMPION STEER WRESTLER

By Sarah Skaar - reprinted courtesy of Horse Sports. 

PARADISE VALLEY, Nevada - “I had a pretty good year overall, and an exceptional finals,” says Austin Manning, who repeated his 2007 ICA Steer Wrestling Championship in 2008. What he describes as “a great year” culminated at the ICA Finals Rodeo at the Idaho Center in Nampa last fall. Austin was second in the standings after the regular rodeo series, trailing Matt Cupp by around $800. Right behind them was Carl Seiders. “The horse I get to ride worked perfect. My hazer was perfect. And I drew the two best steers,” he says, recapping a pair of runs that moved him into first place ahead of his high school friend, and secured the Championship. Austin didn’t just do well at the finals - he dominated the steer wrestling. He was the only ICA athlete to win both goes and the average in his event at the 2008 Finals - gathering $1,699 at the finals alone to boost his total to $6,222 in ICA earnings for the year. A 3.6 in the first go and 4.2 in the second gave him a two-steer total of 7.8. “I think the horse makes 90 percent of the run,” he adds. “I rode Jeff Bowden’s horse most of the year, and Matt Cupp’s a couple times. The horse and the hazing are such a huge part of your run.” Austin, 31, moved to Nevada from the Boise valley mid-season of last year. He and his wife Rosie are working on her family’s ranch, and expecting twin daughters to join Isabella and Ava. He doesn’t have a steer wrestling horse, but gets to Boise a couple times a month to practice, and a quick tune-up has him rodeo-ready. This cowboy didn’t grow up steer wrestling. As a high school athlete his events were cutting and roping. But he added it a few times to bolster his All-Around points his senior year. College rodeo took him to UNLV in Nevada. He remained in Las Vegas for five years after college, helping coach the rodeo team and starting a business. In 2006, he and Rosie moved back to Idaho. Two years later, they’ve settled in Paradise Valley, about 250 miles from Boise. He’s putting his roping skills to use on the ranch but says his favorite event is steer wrestling.