Local bull riders compete, one seriously injured

| September 29, 2014
Bull riding: Pictured is Matt Michael, one of two riders that participated in Saturday evening’s rodeo event at the Coshocton County Fair. The other rider is Roy Mast, who suffered a serious injury during the event and is a patient at Grant Hospital in Columbus. Beacon photo by Mark Fortune

Bull riding: Pictured is Matt Michael, one of two riders that participated in Saturday evening’s rodeo event at the Coshocton County Fair. The other rider is Roy Mast, who suffered a serious injury during the event and is a patient at Grant Hospital in Columbus. Beacon photo by Mark Fortune

COSHOCTON – Two rodeo riders from Coshocton County participated in Saturday evening’s event at the Coshocton County Fair. Both young men have been a part of bull riding for several years – one, Roy Mast, suffered a serious and life threatening injury during the event and is a patient at Grant Hospital. Sources told The Beacon that on Sunday he was able to hold his father’s hand. Following transport to Coshocton Hospital, Mast was flown to Grant by Med Flight. The event was paused for a prayer for Roy.

Matt Michael, who just turned 19, is the other rider from Coshocton County and said this about what he does, “I enjoy the rush and athleticism it takes to ride a bull. I had some buddies that started doing it and I got into it.” Michael graduated from Coshocton High School where he participated in wrestling and played football. When asked about how it feels to ride in front of a hometown crowd, he said, “It makes you nervous. It’s a whole different world when you’re in front of everybody you know. It makes it harder to ride, it really does.”

Michael said he thinks, “It’s the toughest sport on dirt.” Michael runs, lifts and rides bulls every week. That’s the best thing you can do.”

“We do this all year long.” I’ve covered several bulls – in bull riding parlance that means an eight second ride. “That eight seconds feels like all day.”

Michael said he was going to keep Roy and his family in his prayers. “I’ve seen injuries – it happens but not very often. We see more bumps and bruises than the big injuries.”

Michael said about being bucked off the bull, “You don’t really feel anything; you just know you gotta get out of there right away especially when they start turning back and coming at you.”

Michael said the folks that set up the event, “Pat, who sets this up, is a great guy. He is a very down to earth man and I really like riding in this series.”

“I plan on doing this as long as I can, until my body won’t let me. Thanks to the people of Coshocton for coming out and supporting me, and I know that Roy (Mast) appreciates it too.”

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I live with my beautiful wife Nancy on a small farm just outside Coshocton. We have been married for thirty two years and have two grown children, Jessica and Jacob. Jessica is married to Aaron Mencer and they are employed with Coshocton City Schools. Jacob is a sophomore at Kent State University. I graduated from River View High School, have a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Wesleyan University and am actively involved with the Roscoe United Methodist Church, serve on several local committees and am a member of the Coshocton Kiwanis Club, having served as Past-President. I love reading, especially military thrillers, the Civil War and history in general. My goal is to write a novel. My wife and I are also AdvoCare distributors and encourage anyone wanting to lose weight, gain energy and better health to explore AdvoCare at our website; www.fortunes4advocare.com. I love the media field, innovative technology and have worked in newspapers for over 30 years – in fact, my first job was delivering newspapers. The Beacon is a dream made possible by the support of this community and a great team. I hope to continue serving Coshocton County for many years.

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