story by Kyle Eustice
Thirty-three-year-old Cole Camac was on his way to college with a football scholarship, when he unexpectedly injured his neck. Consequently, his athletic career came to a screeching halt, but he picked himself up by the boot straps and took a detour, which eventually led him to steer wrestling.
Growing up in Augusta, Kans., Cole attended Augusta High School. He then went to Pratt Community College (PCC) for two years before transferring to Fort Hays State University, where he earned a degree in clinical exercise physiology.
After the injury, his father, Joe Camac, who managed a feed dealership in Wichita, Kans., suggested he take an opportunity to attend PCC on a rodeo scholarship. The coach there had known his uncle Doug Hazelbaker, who was a PRCA steer wrestler and calf roper. Steer wrestling was something he always wanted to try, so he decided to pursue it full force.
Over the course of the next several years, Cole worked tirelessly to perfect his craft. It took a lot of patience and diligence to get him to a place where he could compete professionally.
“I had to practice as often as I could so I was mentally and physically prepared,” explained Cole. “The better physical shape I’m in, the more successful I tend to be. Ultimately, you’re only going to be as good as your horse a lot of times. The better mounted you can be, the better luck you have, as well.”
Cole got his PRCA card in 2003 and in 2005, he qualified for the PRCA’s Great Lakes Circuit Finals. Since then, he has qualified for the CPRA Finals six or seven times (although he’s lost count).
Injuries haven’t stopped him either. In July 2005, a steer abruptly came to a stop and caught his arm, bending it backwards, which resulted in a ruptured pectoralis tendon. It was a six to eight month recovery process that kept him sidelined until January 2006. His undying work ethic, however, helped him push through.
“A strong work ethic can make a lot of different things possible in life no matter what your endeavors might be,” said Cole.
These days, that includes doing rodeo more for fun while simultaneously working a full time job as a Commercial Beef Specialist for ADM Animal Nutrition, and juggling his parental duties. As the father of 8-year-old Cade, he shares the responsibilities with his wife of six years, Cara, who works as a telemetry nurse on the cardiac floor of Kansas Medical Center.
“My son plays a lot of baseball right now,” said Cole. “His activities comes first, but I’ll go to as many CPRA rodeos as I can this year. I’ve really had a ‘family first’ approach to rodeo, and have only gone as much as family scheduling has allowed. The great thing about the CPRA is the fact they are amateur rodeos close to home and run by a PRCA caliber stock contractor, so they are great, quality rodeos.”
Despite his football dreams not working out, he’s at peace with how his life has turned out. “It was kind of tough at first,” explained Cole. “At that point in time, that is what I had tried to work really hard to achieve, but you never know what you have in store. You always want the opportunity to hit your goals. Looking back, I am glad I went the route I did. Everything definitely worked out.”
On the side, Cole and Cara own a 50hd cow/calf operation they hope to grow in the future. Cole also works as a fairier on the weekends. During his 40-hour work weeks, he spends ample time driving from feed dealerships and large ranches to feed yards, so he listens to a lot of sports talk radio. When he can, he indulges in a Bomb burrito from the gas station, but if it was up to him, he’d eat a steak dinner every night. The Camacs are expecting a daughter in September 2016 and in the meantime, Cole is committed to working hard no matter what he does, something his father instilled in him at a young age.
“My dad gave me a little statue of a football in high school,” said Cole. “It said, ‘The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender,’ something Vince Lombardi said. I think that is the approach I have consistently tried to apply to every facet of life—in the arena and out.”
