LAS VEGAS – Three days ago, Trey Holston was sitting inside Fort Scott High School in Kansas trying to answer painful, trigonometry questions that are no way as enjoyable as riding a bull for 8 seconds.
The high school senior would certainly be OK with missing five days of class this coming week and tossing his trigonometry and English text books aside so that he can ride at the 2017 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals.
Holston’s childhood dream may indeed become a reality after beginning the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Finals Saturday with an 87.5-point ride on Coal Face to finish Round 1 in a tie for second place alongside PBR world leader Derek Kolbaba.
“It is crazy to think of, but it is realistic,” Holston said. “I can’t just be overwhelmed by it. I go (to my room) and do my regular workouts I would at home. I will put in the work and time to have a possible chance to win that money.
“I don’t think it is something that is out of my reach.”
The 18-year-old is the youngest bull rider competing at the Velocity Finals after earning an invitation to ride courtesy of his 2017 National High School Rodeo Association championship in July.
Holston needs to finish in the top-two of the event average to earn a Wild Card bid to the World Finals, which begins on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.
At rider check-in earlier in the day, Holston was the only rider to show up in a sports coat and he quietly and politely kept to himself.
Holston may have appeared shy at first, but the teenager’s riding ability was far from quiet later in the evening.
“I was pretty nervous, but I knew they wouldn’t have invited me if I didn’t belong here, so I was comfortable,” Holston said. “The guys have been really nice here and made me feel like home.”
Holston had no clue that his high school national title would result in a chance to compete for a spot at the World Finals until a few weeks ago.
It was just another standard day at school when Holston went home and heard about the invite.
“I came home from school and my dad was making dinner. He said I have some good news, and he wouldn’t tell me, wouldn’t tell me. Finally he told me the PBR called and wanted me to come to the Velocity Finals.
“I was tickled to death and started working out a little harder.”
Holston takes on Bush Kat in Round 2 Sunday night at South Point Arena. Bush Kat bucked off 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi in 6.19 seconds back in Oklahoma City this past January.
Fans can watch all of the action exclusively on PBR.com and the PBR mobile app beginning at 10 p.m. ET.
Despite being underage and unable to gamble or drink alcohol in Las Vegas, Holston is already familiar with The Strip and bull riding.
In 2012, Holston was named the World Champion Miniature Bull Rider in Las Vegas. The well-decorated youth bull rider was the 2011 National Junior High Rodeo Association (NJHRA) reserve champion and then won the championship outright two years later.
“I wish I could go back and tape some of his steer rides, calf rides, junior bull rides because he did some amazing things as a younger boy,” said Trey’s father, Todd. “My prayer was he kind of kept that fire if he wanted to do this. When he was 13, he chose to drop baseball and wrestling and concentrate on this and that is when I knew he was going to keep that fire.”
Todd rode bulls for 10 years and competed for Fort Scott Community College. The elder Holston has been a stellar mentor to Trey, and he has instilled in his son with the fundamentals of the sport.
Throughout Saturday night the father-son duo sat on the back of the bucking chutes watching some of the best in the PBR nod their head.
“My dad has been a great inspiration,” Trey, who got on his first sheep at 3 years old, said. “He taught me his ways and here we are.”
While his son was remaining relaxed and confident on the back of the bucking chutes, Todd was the one letting out a big exhale following his son’s first qualified ride at a PBR event.
“If you ever see Trey get worked up, something is wrong,” Todd said. “He is pretty loose and cool. He doesn’t really get shook up about much, but every time you take a step like this, for a split-second it is a gut check. But at this point in his life, once he crawls over the back of the bucking chutes he has no comprehension of where he is at.
“Me on the other hand? That is a whole different ball game.”
Both father and son were excited when they saw Trey’s draw for Round 1. Coincidentally, Trey had seen Coal Face around the high school rodeo circuit before, but he had never gotten on the bull.
“That bull is actually 3 or 4 hours from my hometown,” Trey said. “I never been on him, but I knew it was a really good draw for tonight’s pen. I was happy to have him. I expected coming here to get on three or four bulls I never seen before. It was cool that bull and I traveled all the way to Las Vegas to get on him.”
Holston only turned 18 on July 16, which was three days after winning the high school national title.
Despite how young he is, Holston is drawing inspiration from 2016 Rookie of the Year Jess Lockwood, who stormed onto the scene last year as an 18-year-old and finished eighth in the world standings.
’Hey that is going to be me one day,’ Holston tells himself.
He then added, “I am going to work that hard, and it is something you can do as an 18-year-old if you work that hard. Jess is more motivation than anything.”
Lockwood remembers competing against Holston at the high school level and was impressed by his first-round performance.
“That kid rides really good,” Lockwood said. “I was interested to see how he would do at a level up. He had a good bull to ride, but I mean he bucked dang hard. He did his job too. I am interested to see the rest of the time how he does. Everyone thinks it is easy, but winning is never easy necessarily even if it is on high school bulls. Hell, I never won (the national title).”
If Holston can put together three more rides at the South Point Arena, he may be able to join Lockwood at the World Finals this week.
It would be a pretty wild turn of events for a kid who has yet to go to prom or graduate high school.
“Words probably couldn’t explain that,” Holston said. “It would be a dream come true to do. To be an 18-year-old and to qualify among the ranks with Jess Lockwood and all of them young guys, it would really put a statement out there.
“It would tickle me to death.”
And what does dad think about Trey missing a week of school?
“Well, you might have to twist my arm, but I think we will be OK,” Todd said with a smile. “I think they will understand. I think we are OK with that.”