At the beginning of the rodeo, the 36 bull riders stood together. Catherine Maxwell | Collegian

BANG!

The metal gate slams open. A black bull bucks in a violent seesaw. A 19-year-old cowboy crashes into the arena dirt, 1,500 pounds of angry hooves above his head. The bull fighters lunge forward to chase off the animal as TobyMac’s “Til the Day I Die” blasts over the loudspeakers. Ten seconds later it’s over, the rider limping out of the arena to cheers.

It’s just another Saturday night rodeo at the Pro Edge Arena in Osseo, Michigan — an arena that hosts an unashamedly Christian rodeo.

The March 29 show started at 7 p.m., but by 6:30, the stadium was packed, with hordes of people still streaming in. The wooden stands were a patchwork quilt of cowboy hats: green glitter, brown felt, black suede, and tan straw. A man with three kids wore a gray T-shirt that read, “Just a dad trying not to raise liberals.” On the far side of the arena, a young man in a cowboy hat leaned in to kiss his significant other before entering the “competitors only” gate — good luck laced with the threat of goodbye.

The arena itself smelled like damp cow, and the air became hot and thick as spectators squished together. The veteran fans brought blankets and cushions. The unlucky latecomers ended up stuck by the entrance in an unofficial “standing room only” section.

Pro Edge proudly advertises its Christian faith. The chutes — where riders load onto bulls before releasing into the arena — are labeled one through four: Joshua 1:9, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:2, and James 4:7. The night began when the stadium went dark and a Christian music video (Jon Reddick’s “No Fear”) played on the monitors above the arena.

After the video, the announcer, dressed in a cowboy hat and a gray blazer and sounding like a cross between a Southern radio host and an auctioneer, stepped into the arena and delivered a short Gospel message.

“How many of y’all used to ride horses as a kid?” he asked.

Riding a horse, he said, was like the Christian life. Children trust horses to follow their lead, but adults overthink riding and confuse the horse with mixed signals. The same idea applies to faith in God: if believers trust him like a child trusts a horse, it’ll be easier to follow his guidance.

Another Christian music video played, this one Zach Williams’ “Jesus Loves.” The cowboys sitting behind the chutes swayed and sang along. Christian music played throughout the night, usually hits from the 2000s.

“I had a blast hearing a bunch of Christian songs I listened to in middle school and had forgotten about,” Hillsdale College senior Noah Schmidt said.

Backlit with fire burning a large V in the dirt, the cowboys walked into the arena to another Christian rock song and were greeted by the roars of the crowd. The 36 competitors were all “champions in their own right,” according to the announcer, but the star was 22-year-old Preston Wentworth, “the number one man in the land” with a 33-point lead entering the rodeo.

Just as crucial as the bull riders were the cowboys trying to keep them as safe as possible.

“Tonight, the lives of these men will be in the hands of the guardian angels around this arena and these two men,” the announcer said.

“These two men” — the two bull fighters, whose job was to jump between a raging bull and the just-thrown rider. They usually pulled the cowboy out of the way in time. If they are too late, the bull can stomp the rider until chased out of the arena.

The fans and the riders sang the national anthem, and the announcer prayed for the men’s safety.

“I really appreciated the prayer for the bull riders,” freshman C. C. Roiseland said. “Other than that, I was covering my eyes most of the time. This was a good strategy because I didn’t have to watch the bull riders get trampled on.”

Cowboy Zach Hartman needed the guardian angels and the prayer that night.

His bull burst from the shoot with Hartman along for the ride and gripping for his life. He only lasted 1.87 seconds, rolling off in a backward somersault that ripped away his helmet. The bull, named Luke 23:43 by its sponsor Lifesong Church, leveled its head at Hartman. The bull fighters tried to shove the rider and the bull apart, but Luke 23:43 slammed his head into Hartman and jumped on him twice.

The fighters chased the bull out of the arena. Hartman staggered a few feet and collapsed to the ground in a tight ball. The crowd watched in shocked silence as a medic jogged in with a briefcase. A moment later, Hartman tossed the spectators a thumbs-up before being helped out of the ring.

After Hartman confirmed he was alive, senior Caitlin Filep looked up the verse corresponding to Luke 23:43’s name.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’”

“Oh,” Filep said.

The roots of rodeo go back to the early 1800s, when Mexican cowboys perfected their roping skills and invented classic cowboy fashion, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The word rodeo comes from the Spanish “rodear,” meaning to round up.

But the first organized rodeo event was Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1883, which featured hundreds of performers and included sharpshooter Annie Oakley. By 1893, Smithsonian says, the show could draw crowds of three million.

Pro Edge Arena can’t fit millions, but it still brings the thrill of the Wild West to midwestern Michigan. Locals mixed with college students, including a group from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a handful of Chi Omegas, and a few couples on dates.

“I enjoy watching people pursue their passions, so it was exciting getting to watch the cowboys do the thing they love,” said sophomore Grace Canlas, a Wisconsin native, after the rodeo. “It was smaller than the other rodeos I’ve attended back home, but I really liked the atmosphere of it — we were closer to the action and there was a greater feeling of community present throughout the night.”

It’s also a family affair. A woman rocked a chubby baby, who surveyed the crowd with wide, blinking eyes, apparently unperturbed by clanging and screaming. During the intermission, kids from ages 3 to 9 crowded into the arena for mutton busting.

Sheep shot out of the chutes, straddled by children. One sheep barreled into a trio of animals relaxing in the middle of the ring. The winner, a boy who looked about 8 or 9, managed to hang on for three laps.

The intermission also included Oreo-eating competitions, one for tweens and one for teenagers and adults.

“Go ahead and pick it up, a little dirt never hurt anyone,” the announcer told the participants when Oreos fell to the arena ground. “But just realize not everything down there is dirt.”

The top bull was called the Diamond Cutter. Only three cowboys have lasted eight seconds on its back, and Kodi Kies, that night’s unlucky rider, couldn’t break the streak.

Sponsors get to name the bulls, the announcer explained, and they win a prize if their bull gets the most points. Cottage Inn Pizza sponsored “Pizzachu,” “You Wanna PIZZA Me?” and “Another One Bites the Crust.” Finn Apple Farms Excavating named its top bulls “Donkey” and “Lord Farquaad.”

Cowboy Jonathon Dommisse won the night, his first victory at Pro Edge, according to the rodeo’s Facebook announcement.

“I just trusted in the Lord,” he said. “I’m thankful for this opportunity to ride bulls. I put my faith in the Lord, and I know I have his hand of protection over me.”

Pro Edge will host its last regular season rodeo April 5, followed by its Finals Weekend April 11 and 12.

“There’s a high level of uncertainty and suspense to keep people on their toes, and that mixed with the energetic crowd made it particularly exciting,” Schmidt said. “The rodeo is a perfect reminder that we have more fun events and activities to go to in the Hillsdale area than we often say we do.”