Bull rider Grayson Cole ready to take Worcester Rumble by the horns
WORCESTER — For Grayson Cole, it was "a pretty good couple of weeks."
Cole had just grabbed the competition by the horns for back to back first place finishes on the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour. Riding in front of a sold-out home state crowd in Reading, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 11, Cole, 23, won the tour’s Boot Barn Reading Invitational inside Santander Arena. The win gave him points to boost his standing in the tour and $6,100 in prize money. That was fresh off his first place the previous weekend in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Upcoming, Cole was eyeing a stop on the schedule where he's done well in the past: Worcester. "I do pretty good every year I come up," Cole said during a telephone interview.
PBR’s Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour will buck into the DCU Center at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 for the "Worcester Rumble."
Forty competing riders will attempt one bull each in the opening round. The Top 10 as determined by points from the judges will then advance to the championship round where they will attempt one final bull, all in an effort to be crowned the event champion. The final score is an aggregate of the two rides.
While judges award points for different stylistic considerations, a rider has to stay on a bull for at least eight seconds.
There are three PBR series touring in in the U.S.: Unleash the Beast, Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour and Touring Pro Division. The world championships are in May.
Riders on the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour are competing for points that can get them to the top level Unleash the Beast tour. Cole is high in the standings right now. By the same token, the divisions have a sort of promotion and relegation system, and so riders can get cut from Unleash the Beast and sent back to the Pendleton Velocity tour. That happened to Cole, and he's looking to get promoted again.
His PBR career got off to a great start in 2020 when the then rookie competed in 17 events during the regular season, picking up three Top 5 finishes. He started off the season in Worcester, and turned in back-to-back Top 3 finishes in Worcester and Bangor, Maine. In 2021 he qualified for the first PBR World Finals of his career.
Now he's on a hot streak again.
During the course of trying to ride a 2,000 pound bull, the rider has only a braided rope to hold on to with one hand. The other hand has to stay in the air. "You can't touch yourself or the bull with the other hand," Cole said.
"You try to stay on the bull and try to look in control. The judges look for control — if you're in time with the animal. ... Sometimes it takes all the grit you've got to just stay on."
As for how those eight seconds go by, Cole said, "Some days it seems fast. Some days it seems slow. It all just depends."
Cole is a native of Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania and recalled that "my parents took me to rodeos when I was a kid."
He rode his first calf in competition when he was 7-years-old and "it kind of took off from there," he said.
Cole started to show promise in junior high, qualifying for the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals three times, and then moving on to the high school ranks, qualifying for the National High School Finals Rodeo twice. In 2017, Cole qualified for the Junior National Finals Rodeo, preparing himself for his upcoming professional career.
It takes courage to sit on a 2,000 pound bull. Asked how much of being a professional bull rider is mental, Cole said "I would say 90 percent honestly. We know everything we have to do."
A rider can get in a frame of mind of worrying about not doing well or getting hurt, he noted.
"It's such a risky job," Cole said. By the same token, "We take the risks because we love it."
Injuries he's suffered include two concussions, one ankle broken twice, and the other ankle broken once. "Nothing major."
During the 2023 season, the PBR will celebrate its 30th anniversary since 20 cowboys broke away from the traditional rodeo with the belief that bull riding could be a standalone sport.
PBR’s (Professional Bull Riders) Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour is at the DCU Center for the "Worcester Rumble" for the seventh time.
Cole said he tells his girlfriend he's going to keep riding until he's 50. "But probably early 30s, early 40s," he said.
She's fine with that as long as he's bringing in money, Cole said. "You've got to pay the bills."
Meanwhile, "I like the traveling, going to new places," he said of life on the PBR tour. "I like performing, being in front of a crowd. It's like a different energy," he said.
PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour — Worcester Rumble
When: 7 p.m. Feb. 25 (doors 6 p.m.)
Where: DCU Center, 50 Foster St., Worcester
How much: Tickets start at $15. VIP packages are available. Tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com and PBR.com, at the DCU Center Box Office or by calling PBR customer service at (800) 732-1727.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Bull rider Grayson Cole ready to take Worcester Rumble by the horns
