wyoming-college-wrestling-teammates-speak-out-being-attacked-grizzly-bear

Wyoming College Wrestling Teammates Speak Out After Being Attacked by Grizzly Bear

Two students attending Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming suffered serious injuries after being attacked by a grizzly bear during a shed hunt in the state. The incident occurred on Saturday, October 15. While both young men survived, they currently are receiving medical care in a Billings hospital.

Sophomores and wrestlers Kendell Cummings, of Evanston, Wyoming, and Brady Lowry of Cedar City, Utah, were attacked while out with two other wrestling teammates.

Top Story with Tom Llamas’s official Twitter account posted a video where the wrestlers recount their horrific experience.

“It was a big bear. Looked scary, mean. Teeth, drooling, breath stank. It bit me on the arm, shook me around, threw me,” Brady Lowry recalled when asked about the bear.

The bear then attacked Brady, biting his arm and shaking him around.

Kendell Cummings used his body as bait to distract the bear, and it left Brady behind and attacked Kendell. He received awful injuries and remains in the hospital.

“That’s when it got my head and cheek,” Kendell said from his hospital bed in the news report. Brady’s dad thanks Kendell multiple times during the filming, at one point calling him a “hero.”

The attack occurred near the Bobcat Houlihan trailhead on the Shoshone National Forest. The area lies southwest of Cody, Wyoming.

Good Samaritans Help Injured Wrestlers After Grizzly Bear Attack

According to a press release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Lowry was attacked by the grizzly bear unexpectedly.

Lowry and Cummings walked down the mountain in the afternoon when the bear pounced on Lowry. Then, Cummings reportedly tried to pull the bear off his friend. The bear then began attacking Cummings.

The pair made it back to their vehicle with the help of the two uninjured wrestlers. Two Good Samaritans, a nearby hunter and a local resident, also assisted. Then, Park County Search and Rescue and WGFD personnel arrived at the scene after the group called 911.

Cummings was life-flighted to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings, Montana. Lowry was taken to Cody Regional Hospital in an ambulance. He was then life-flighted to the hospital in Billings from there. Both have undergone multiple surgeries since the event, but are expected to survive the horrific incident.

Northwest College president Lisa Watson wrote in a letter that the four were carrying bear spray at the time. However, the attack occurred so suddenly that none of them could use it.

“I am so grateful for those who assisted these brave young men in the aftermath of this terrifying ordeal and that no lives were lost. It took quick thinking and no small amount of bravery for this to have ended without tragedy,” Watson wrote. “May their recovery be swift, and their spirits remain strong.”