NFR steer wrestler Cody Cabral of Hawaii embraces rodeo life

The polls are almost always identical at the top, an opinion that when asked what song reminds certain groups most of Hawaii, one stands above all others.

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole released a ukulele medley of “Over the Rainbow” in 1993, a new sound to an old friend, but the message never changed.

He still sung about dreams coming true and a wonderful world and wishing upon a star.

Cody Cabral has chosen a journey away from what most view as one of our most precious jewels, from crashing waves and a slight breeze and pineapple farms, instead chasing his rainbow from a trailer as he travels across the nation in search of the next rodeo.

It is said the magic of Hawaii comes from the stillness, the sea and the stars, but Cabral’s sense of glamour is more about the next time he mounts a horse and chases a steer, wrestling it to the ground by grabbing its horns and pulling it off-balance so that it falls.

It might not be as harrowing as dropping into a bomb at Pipeline, but risky just the same.

Cabral rode into the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday night holding aloft the Hawaiian flag, the first cowboy from the 50th state to make the National Finals Rodeo since Myron Duarte’s last of eight appearances as a bull rider in 2004.

A cowboy from Hilo might seem as unconventional as a surfer from Iowa, but ranching on the islands is actually more prominent than many would believe. Cabral inherited the love of life on a horse from his parents, who host the annual Panaewa Stampede Rodeo. Al and Nancy Cabral taught their children that before anything else, the animals were to be cared for and shown ample time and attention.

“I basically want to do this as long as I can make a living,” Cabral said. “Obviously, there has to be an end game at some point, but all my motivation to this point was making the NFR. I don’t really have a Plan B. I love this so much.”

He knew it was for him when visiting his older brother at college in Washington state, when he wasn’t allowed to drive the pickup all night to the next rodeo, so he sat in the passenger seat and ate sunflower seeds while watching the sun set and rise.

Cody wanted it then more than anything else.

He, too, received a rodeo scholarship to Walla Walla Community College (Wash.), and from there began his pursuit of what transpired Thursday, when he became the first Hawaiian in the timed events to qualify for the NFR.

His time of 4.6 seconds gave him a tie for fifth and $5,500, pushing his season winnings to $70,869.80. At 27, he’s young by steer wrestling standards, and yet this NFR includes more cowboys in their 20s competing in the event than most years. When he was a rookie in 2012, Cabral remembers the youngest being 31.

He has nine more go-rounds in which to compete, a reality that came exceedingly close to not happening. Cabral had run in the maximum 70 rodeos this year when he had to sit and wait through the final few weeks of the regular season, hoping his earnings would keep him in the top 15 and qualify for the NFR when final numbers were tabulated.

He held onto the 15th spot by $1,035.

It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the sun and surf back home, that he didn’t wake up at 5 a.m. to go boogie boarding with friends before tending to the horses, or that he didn’t compete in other sports such as basketball, where his 6-foot-5-inch frame played well on high school courts. But the draw of creating a trail where there is no path wouldn’t leave him, so he has mail sent to a house in Oregon and sees the sun rise and set day after day, a land of open roads and rodeo stops defining his existence.

His home is the voyage.

“I have a lot of friends in different states and travel with other competitors all the time,” Cabral said. “When it’s not rodeo, I’ll pretty much do any job I can get paid for. I studied welding in college and have done a lot of that. Hauling horses, electrical work, irrigation. Basically, I’m just not smart enough to quit this life.

“It’s not only incredible to make the NFR for the first time but to carry the Hawaiian flag. There isn’t a greater honor to represent all the people who helped me get started in this life and who made it possible back home. Rodeo is hard, full of ups and downs. You can do two in a day, be great in the first and horrible a few hours later. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

So as the song goes, he sees skies of blue and clouds of white and the brightness of day while traveling those open roads.

It’s his wonderful world, his slice of paradise.

Turns out, crashing waves and a slight breeze and pineapple farms aren’t everything.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.