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Bear brutally mauls two Wyoming college wrestlers leaving them 'drenched in blood', hospitalized

Brady Lowry and Kendell Cummings came across bear's feces just before the attack when they moved to a higher spot

EVANSTON, WYOMING: A bear attacked two college wrestlers in Wyoming on Saturday, October 15. Kendell Cummings of Evanston, Wyoming, and Brady Lowry of Cedar City, Utah, both sophomores at Northwest College in Powell were hunting at the Shoshone National Forest with their teammates, August Harrison and Orin Jackson. 

According to Fox News, Lowry and Cummings came across bear's feces just before the attack when they moved to a higher spot. "Before you could even think or blink, there's a bear that came running out of the trees right in front of me," Lowry said. "It was beating me up pretty good." He added, “I saw bear crap all over, and I looked at Kenny and said, ‘There is a grizzly bear here,” and right after I said that, the bear came out of the willows. It was thick. It came at me and charged me and tackled me off this cliff into this gulley and was going at me for a little bit.” While Lowry curled up in a ball, Cummings tried to save him from the bear attack by grabbing the creature and yelling at it. Soon, it started chasing Cummings. Lowry did not waste a single moment before calling  911 while shouting for help and tried to get attention from his two other wrestling teammates who were in the nearby area. 

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“It tackled me, chewed me up a bit, and then when it was done, it wandered off, and I started calling out for Brady to make sure he was alright,” Cummings told KSLTV from his hospital bed. He added, "The bear circled back around, and it got me again, chewed on me, and that’s when it got my head and cheek. And then it went away again for whatever reason." 

"He was just drenched in blood coming down the hill everywhere," Harrison told Fox News. "Me and Orin took turns carrying him down to the bottom where the field was." Cummings was air-lifted via helicopter to St Vincent Healthcare in Billings, Montana, upon the arrival of first responders. Lowry was transported to Cody Regional in Wyoming before being flown to St Vincent as well. A representative from Northwest College said that both students "are expected to recover fully," adding that college president Lisa Watson shared the news of the incident with her students and staffers via an email on Sunday, October 16. 

The bear bit Lowry's right thigh and he also suffered a broken arm that required six screws. “For those guys, there’s a lot of emotional trauma. I don’t think we can even begin to describe what went on there with them having to go and rescue a kid, bring him out and carry him out,” Coach Jim Zeigler said about Harrison and Jackson, as per Fox. Lowry was discharged from the hospital on Monday, October 17, and Cummings is expected to be released later in the week but with drainage tubes. Zeigler said, “There’s real serious puncture holes and wounds. He took a lot of staples to his head and also (there’s) some cosmetic surgery for his cheek. Neither one of them are going to be wrestling for a while.”

"For those of you who have not heard, four members of the Trapper Wrestling team were on a hike on Saturday afternoon when two of them encountered a grizzly bear," read the statement in the email, which was later posted to Northwest College Trapper Athletics' Facebook page on Monday, October 17. "Due to the suddenness of the encounter, they were not able to deploy their bear spray. After the attack, they were able to return to their vehicle with the help of their teammates and sought medical attention." Watson also expressed her gratitude to Ziegler and the Trapper Wrestling team for helping out  "their injured brothers." 

Wyoming Game & Fish Department issued a statement claiming they were "gathering further details" following the incident and launching an investigation. "In the vicinity where the attack occurred, reports from landowners and hunters indicate there may be six to 10 different bears moving between agricultural fields and low elevation slopes," Cody Region wildlife supervisor Dan Smith said. "Game and Fish will continue to monitor bear activity in the area and work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to make management decisions in the best interest of public safety. This is a sad and unfortunate situation, we wish both victims a full and speedy recovery," he added.