Griffin Koester Delivers Career Best Result in Lethbridge, Alberta

AIRDRIE, Alta. – It was a career-best outing for 21-year-old Griffin Koester at the most recent Cup Series event in Lethbridge, Alberta, as the home province hopeful registered a second-place finish at the South Country Co-op Showdown. With the second-highest riding percentage among full-time competitors, Koester has quietly worked his way into fourth in the PBR Canada national standings.

His runner-up finish, which included him holding the coveted "lead dog" seat until the very last out, when Nick Tetz snatched the event lead away, is a career-best result on the PBR Canada Cup Series.

Those 92 points he earned toward the standings are a crucial early-season boost, giving the young rider momentum and breathing room as he attacks the 2026 campaign.

Amid his third season of PBR competition, Koester started getting on bucking stock in his early teens. When he turned 18 and earned his pro card, he found success quickly, posting a runner-up finish followed by a win at his first two pro rodeo events. The talent has been there, but this season, the consistency is showing up too.

Sitting in the lead dog chair inside VisitLethbridge.com Arena was a high-pressure moment for Koester, not so much because the first big win was within reach, but because of the spotlight that comes with it.

"At first I think it's a little awkward when you're sitting there and you've just got three cameras just shining on you," Koester laughed.

"I'm excited to be sitting there, though. I'm also cheering on the other riders that still have to go. Just cheering for them as much as myself really. Just hoping they get the job done too. But it's going to play out how it wants to play out."

Koester's weekend in Lethbridge started on Friday night, when he covered Kish Me Again for 83.6 points. As action continued in Round 2, he stayed aboard Woozy for another 81.5 points, putting himself in position to pick fifth in the championship round.

That's when his night really turned.

Picking mid-way through the draft, Koester’s decision came down to two options: 2024 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Grand Funk, or Shockazoola. Despite not knowing him well, Koester selected Shockazoola.

"That was probably the only bull in there that I did not know," Koester explained.

"I was asking Jake Gardner about some picks, and he said if he were a left-handed rider or if he was me, he would probably go with that Shockazoola. He told me that Lonnie West has been on him a couple times and rode him. I went and asked him about him and he told me that he's a good pick, and he's just got a little step ahead. It might be a little hard with that step ahead, but he told me to run my rope back a little bit."

With that bit of guidance from fellow competitors, Koester made the most of his choice. He converted for an 86.8-point ride that put him into the event lead.

For Koester, having competitors and friends willing to offer advice, whether it's technique, preparation, or bull selection, is an important part of any rider's development, especially early in a pro career.

"I'm always asking people I look up to for advice or things that might help out. If there's something that I could do better or maybe even change," Koester said.

"Last year, I was always asking Jared Parsonage about things and questioning him about, say, bull ropes or things like that. They've been through this a lot more than I have, so getting any little piece of advice or anything like that is really awesome. You can go and improve yourself with their advice. They've done this longer than I have, so it's helped out a lot. Nobody is too good to give anyone advice, it seems like, in the bull riding world, which is awesome because you can learn so much from everyone."

That willingness to learn has paired well with the biggest change Koester says he's made over his first three seasons: mindset.

Bull riding is an 8-second sport, but it's built on what happens long before the nod. The mental side can be the difference between confidence and hesitation in a split-second game.

"I would say the start of my career, I guess, the mental game was probably — that was a bit of a battle — but as I get older and go into it, it seems to get better and better every year," Koester said.

"It'd be more like me going up to the event and being like, 'holy man, I'm riding against all these guys I looked up to all these years. This is crazy.' I don't know if I just wasn't fully believing in myself. I don't know if I can beat these guys and just not fully believing, but now it just is starting to feel like I'm just one of them. It's like you believe in yourself a little more and you're ready to go show them what you can do."

That growing belief is showing up in the standings, and Koester is clear about what he wants from 2026.

His goals are to qualify for both major finals in Canada: the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association's Canadian Finals Rodeo, and the PBR Canada National Finals. Beyond simply qualifying, he wants to be high enough in the standings to be "in the conversation" when the season reaches its stretch run.

On the PBR Canada side, Koester has performance goals too. He'd like to win at least three events this year, and he wants to push his career-high score into the 88-to-90-plus range, a benchmark that often separates solid rides from the kind that win rounds.

With a packed calendar — especially for riders chasing both PBR events and pro rodeos — Koester says there's one Cup Series stop he already has circled.

"Brandon, Manitoba in May," Koester said.

"Just because that was the first Cup Series event that I actually did good in. And the first Cup Series event I got a championship bull ridden at. So I'm going to plan to go back there and do the same thing over again."

Koester will carry the confidence from Lethbridge into the rest of the season.

Koester says the Cup Series experience is second to none as a sports entertainment event in Canada, and he has a message for fans who haven't bought a ticket yet: go once — and you'll understand.

"It's one of the coolest events you can go to in Canada. They are run so well," Koester said. "Being a rider, it gives you the chills and the goosebumps when you're standing in the alleyway ready to go up for grand entry. They've got all those videos and all the fire and pyro and music and all that going on. It just pumps you right up. I don't think there's anything better.

"You have to go once in your life to experience it. It's a one-of-a-kind thing."