According to journalist Andy Corbley and The Good News Network (GNN), "It takes bravery to compete in college wrestling, and sophomore NJCAA wrestler Kendall Cummings needed every ounce of it when he decided he was not going to let a mamma grizzly bear maul his friend to death.
In 2022, Corbley noted, "...Cummings was out with his friends Brady Lowry, Gus Harrison, and Orrin Jackson in the Wyoming woods looking for shed antlers from elk, moose, and mule deer, which along with being a fun way to pass time in the woods, can also earn a college kid a few hundred dollars for a big pair of antlers. The four buddies were out on the Bobcat-Houlihan Trail, which sits on the outskirts of Yellowstone when in the late afternoon, they decided to split up to cover more ground and meet back together on a large rock at the top of a hill."
As Corbley continued to report, "Ryan Hockensmith at ESPN, detailing what would become a gruesome encounter, wrote that Brady turned around to warn Kendall not to step in this fresh pile of bear scat when what was likely a female grizzly bear, which can weigh around 500-pounds, slammed into him. The impact from the bear knocked the young man over dozen yards, and she continued to swat at him as he rolled, 'dribbling him' like a basketball, Hockensmith wrote.
"Kendall was not about to let it happen," Corbley observed, "...and after trying to use his voice to scare her away, he jumped on her back to distract her after she had managed to pin Brady up against a tree. Then Kendall ran; as fast as he could. Grizzly bears can sprint over 30 miles per hour, and it wasn’t even a few seconds before she had turned around and lept on top of him instead."
“I can’t even express how grateful I am for him,” Brady told Cowboy State Daily. “I don’t know what I’m going to pay him back [sic], I don’t. I owe him everything.”
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