Ride ’em, cowboy
Eunice teen bull rider competes for Team USA in Australia
PETER STEIN/NEWS-SUN
Tyson Acosta was only three years old when he first tried to ride a beast competitively, and stay on it.
It was the Lea County Fairgrounds’ mutton-busting competition. Acosta was trying to stay on a sheep. And he did, covering it and making it back to the show that Saturday.
Parents tend to worry, especially about three-year-olds, but Tyson’s parents Rodney and Nicole weren’t too freaked out. At first, anyway.
“Not so much when he was little,” Nicole said, “but as he got to be bigger it’s kind of gotten to where I get nervous.”
That’s because Tyson has long since graduated from sheep and moved on to much scarier beasts. Calves first, then bulls. It doesn’t get much scarier than bulls.
“Him and his dad will pray before he rides,” Nicole said. “God’s in complete control.”
Be it providence, or Tyson’s hard work, perhaps both, Tyson has become a more-than-competent bull rider. To the point that he recently competed for Team USA in Australia, riding five bulls and covering three. That’s a .600 batting average in baseball speak, not bad.
“We’re pretty proud,” Nicole said. “He did really good over there.”
“It was alright, it was fun, we won,” 17-year-old Tyson, now a Eunice High senior, said. “That was the first time I ever left the country or had even been on an airplane.”
What a way to take your first flight.
“It was long, it was a long trip,” Tyson said. “Especially for me; I’ve got a lot of stuff wrong with my back and neck, and I was really hurting when I got off the plane.”
Aches and all, Tyson was one of 10 youth bull riders ranging in age from 6 to 17. He had competed at Team USA rodeos in Texas, so he was on their radar. One day he received a call from Team USA asking if he would like to represent them in the land down under.
“It was a done deal when they asked,” Tyson said.
So off he and his teammates jetted to Mt. ISA, Australia and the southern hemisphere’s largest rodeo. There, Tyson captured fourth place in that rodeo’s junior bull riding competition, earning 125 points on two bulls.
Tyson and his teammates next ventured cross-continent to Townsville, taking part in the North Queensland Elite Rodeo, hosted by Quinton and Sandy Kersch. Tyson earned more points, helping Team USA ring up a winning total of 714.5, more than 80 better than host Australia (634). Overall, Tyson contributed 195 points of the American total, more than 27 percent of it.
He was grateful to the Eunice community and Empire Petroleum Corporation, as well as Toby Holland and Staci Popp and family, for their support and donations.
The trip was quite an experience. From a competition standpoint, Tyson said it was somewhat similar to what he was used to. And somewhat not.
“The bulls weren’t as bad as what we have over here,” he noted. “They were pretty much the same but they did a different chute draw; that was the main thing that was different.”
The trip lasted 16 days, and that was a great cultural experience for the lifelong Eunice resident.
“It was great,” he said. “The kangaroos were cool, the koalas were cool, I like their animals, they were pretty cool. Australia was nice. Everyone was pretty nice there, they were good people.”
Quite a working vacation for the kid who started out climbing aboard sheep 14 years ago. Tyson’s memories of those early days are vague, but he knows it all began with a suggestion from Rodney.
“My dad asked me if I wanted to ride sheep,” Tyson recalled, “and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it, sounds like fun.’ And I did it and haven’t quit.”
Tyson is not headed to the other side of the world again anytime soon. But he will be competing in Texas rodeos throughout the fall, starting with Big Spring on Sept. 14.
Tyson isn’t sure yet what he will do after high school, perhaps rodeo in college. He may have a future on the professional circuit.
“If he keeps his mind and heart in it he could be going pro,” Nicole said. “He could end up in the PRCA or PBR. A lot of kids he’s competed with over the years are competing in the PBR series.
Dawson Gleaves is competing already in PBR; he’s a little bit older than Tyson, but Tyson has always looked up to him. It’s like a rodeo family; they all ride and compete against each other but they’re still family.”
And Tyson has some advice for any up-and-coming riders with aspirations of joining that family.
“Just practice hard,” he said, “and don’t let go.”
