story by Ruth Nicolaus
Cash Arensdorf’s rodeo career was cut short last semester with a knee injury.
The Sutherland, Neb. cowboy, a member of the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association, started steer wrestling in the fall of his senior year, but after tearing an ACL in the spring, was out for the remainder of the year.
A team roper, he wasn’t involved in high school rodeo till he became friends with Taydon Gorsuch, son of world champion steer wrestler Dean Gorsuch.
He and Taydon wrestled together, and Dean told Cash he’d help him get started.
So Cash bulldogged last semester, under the tutelage of Dean.
“It was fun,” Cash said. “I never thought I’d see myself doing it until Dean talked me into it. It was a great time.”
A graduate of North Platte Public School, he had a block schedule with three classes a day. School went well in North Platte. “I loved it there. The teachers were so nice and relatable. It was a great environment.”
His favorite classes were math and welding, with his least favorites being English and science.
He varsity wrestled all four years of high school and made it to state three out of four years.
Another injury, a torn retina, affected him his junior year. During the wrestling season, he couldn’t see out of his eye, and when he went to the doctor, the ophthalmologist sent him in for immediate surgery to correct it. His junior year of wrestling was over.
The torn ACL happened during wrestling in December 2020, but Cash didn’t have it repaired till April so he could complete the season. In the first round of state, he finished off his ACL and tore it completely. “I lost in the first round and it was downhill from there. My leg gave out and snapped and I couldn’t move it.”
For fun, he enjoys helping his grandpas, one on a ranch near Sutherland and one on a ranch near Tryon. He helps with everything that needs done: fixing fence, checking cows, feeding and doctoring cattle. “Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do it.”
Dean has been instrumental in Cash’s steer wrestling. “I didn’t know what I was doing the first day I showed up. (At the end of ) the first day, I was jumping off horses and throwing steers down. He’s helped me out a lot and been a big inspiration in my life. He’s a person I look up to.”
Cash wishes he had started high school rodeo earlier. “I loved it. I wish I would have started doing it my freshman year. I made some new friendships along the way. There were people I probably wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t (high school) rodeoed.”
Steer wrestling is “an adrenaline rush. Bulldogging is so fast, and it gets my heart pumping. When I team rope, everything slows down and my mind is clear.” He and his dad team rope at area jackpots and regional rodeos.
Cash has a younger brother, Cauy Kohl, who is fifteen, and a younger sister, Casslyn Kohl, who is ten.
He is the son of Crystal and Cody Kohl and Bandy Arensdorf.
