Wayne Herman

Modern era rodeo

Inducted 2014

Born in 1964, Wayne Herman has almost always called Dunn, Mercer or Stark Counties home. After honing his skills in bareback riding, saddle bronc, calf roping and team roping in high school and winning 5 state titles, as well as 3rd place in bareback at the Nationals in 1980 & 1982, he went off to college at Dickinson, where he majored in Agribusiness and proved to be a major asset to their rodeo team. He competed in all four events in college, taking a national third in the Great Plains Regional Bareback event in 1984 and was the NDRA Bareback champion in 1983.

Wayne married Connie in 1981 and they raised their boys on the ranch near Golden Valley. Wayne participated in NDRA events from 1980-1984 and then segued to PRCA from 1984 until 1998, which was a full time job for him. Between 1985 and 1998, he won the bareback riding champion at least once at every major North American rodeo except Cheyenne, San Antonio, Prescott, and Pecos.

Starting in 1985, Wayne qualified for the NFR eleven times. At age 21, he was 3rd in the world in Bareback riding and went on to win 15 go rounds at the National Finals. He was the NFR average winner in 1991 and also the Reserve (2nd) runner up World Champion that year. The following year he was World Champion and was in the top five in world standings and won 4 Badlands Circuit Bareback Championships.

Wayne served as a board member for the NDHS Rodeo Association from 2010-2012. After retiring from the circuit, Wayne worked some agribusiness related jobs and now runs a few cows while running Herman Trucking, an oilfield service company in the patch. He teaches rodeo school to high school and college athletes at Dickinson State.

Wayne cites family and friends as mentors who encouraged and supported him through the years. His favorite rodeo tale is this: he got bucked off while riding double with Mark Garrett during the victory lap at the NFR in 1989.