Montana Western cowboy Gavin Knutson relishes PBR opportunity, talks upcoming CNFR (2024)

BUTTE— Things have been moving fast for Gavin Knutson, a Montana Western bull rider and Polson native.

So, when he found out his selection was official by seeing Montana native and PBR legend Flint Rasmussen announce his name, Knutson wasn’t quite sure how to react.

“(Western head coach) JT (Robbins) came up to me and showed me a video, and it was Flint Rasmussen saying my name and I was just wide-eyed and shocked. I didn’t really know what to say, I was like ‘oh, dang,’” he said.

“It was super exciting, but at the same time I knew that it was time to get to work and start being serious about bull riding.”

Prior to his freshman year of high school, rodeo had been “just something fun to do on the weekends” for Knutson. But once he got on a bull for the first time, it became way more than that.

A 2022 graduate of Ignite Christian Academy, Knutson was a three-time Montana High School Rodeo Association state qualifier. He was the 2022 state champion tie-down roper, and qualified for the National High School Rodeo Association finals twice.

In his two seasons competing at the collegiate level, Knutson has won the Big Sky Region bull riding title both years. He’s been an all-around cowboy at Western – a tie-down roper and team roper as well – and placed sixth in the Big Sky’s men’s all-around standings.

The work put in over the last six years has paid off, and before he’s even wrapped up his sophom*ore season, what was once a hobby has turned into what Knutson hopes can be a full-time job.

“Before, (rodeo) was just always kind of something that was fun to do, just as a hobby and everything. In the situation that I’m in now, I can go ahead and try to make a living out of it and it be my career, it’s changed my outlook on it definitely,” Knutson said.

Since getting drafted on May 29, he has spent most of his time with his new teammates and coaches, training in Decatur, Texas.

Admittedly, he was more nervous than usual prior to his first practice. After all, some of Knutson’s role models in bull riding are now on his team.

“I’ve grown up watching these guys on TV, and now that I’m here working with them and hanging out with them all day, it’s very cool,” he said.

The 2024 PBR Camping World Team Series is set to begin its 12-event schedule in Oklahoma City from July 12-14. The season concludes in October with the PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas.

Knutson plans to continue his academic and athletic career at Western while competing with the Stampede and said his college rodeo weekends are already reserved.

And before competing on the big stage with the Stampede, Knutson still has unfinished business this season with Western.

He’s travelling from Decatur to Casper, Wyoming for the College National Finals Rodeo, where he’ll meet the rest of the Bulldogs’ men’s team. Western qualified eight cowboys and one cowgirl for the CNFR, which runs from June 9-15.

It’s the second straight season the men’s team has qualified, and Knutson thinks that experience from last year in Casper could be crucial. He enters the CNFR as the fifth-ranked bull rider in the country.

“After being there the first year and kind of figuring out how everything is run and situated, I feel like it’s a lot more comfortable going into this year. And I feel like it’s like that for all the boys on the men’s team,” Knutson said.

With the CNFR and then the PBR season looming, the whirlwind will likely continue for Knutson.

But luckily for the Montanan bull rider, he loves every second of it. While he started rodeo as a way to keep busy, it’s turned into a lifestyle.

About six years since hopping onto the back of a bucking bull for the first time, there is nothing that Knutson would rather be doing.

“I don’t really consider having any bad days at the office. I get to do what I love all day, every day, and everything I do is about it,” he said.