by Leigh Ann Matthews
After years on the road competing in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, steer wrestler Tyler Pearson is hanging his hat at his home just outside Atoka, Oklahoma. He told the Cowboy Channel network that he will miss his rodeo friends and the camaraderie among steer wrestlers the most, but he plans to focus his love of the sport on helping his kids achieve their dreams.
“We did a lot of team roping when I was a kid, and that’s what my son does now. Stetson is 11, and we’re making a lot of junior rodeos and team-roping jackpots with him. He’s pretty good at it, so we’re trying to support him as much as we can.”
Pearson explained that his nine-year-old daughter, Steelie, is pretty content to just play and have fun, but she’s also starting to do team roping, and she shows some interest in breakaway roping too.
A sport dating to the 1890s but with ancient Greek origins, steer wrestling, also known as bulldogging, is a rodeo timed event, involving a mounted steer wrestler, who starts behind the left side of the steer, and a mounted hazer, who starts behind the right side. When the steer wrestler nods the “OK” signal, a horned steer is released from a chute. The team chases the animal, positioning it so that the wrestler can dismount his horse and throw the steer to the ground in a matter of seconds.
Successful Years in Rodeo
Pearson started rodeoing at age seven in his hometown of Louisville, Mississippi. He said he didn’t like steer wrestling much at first but started practicing more, got better at it, and began to enjoy it more. Now 40 years old, Pearson has spent more than 17 years competing in the PRCA and qualified for the National Finals Rodeo six times. He finished in the top 10 four times, including winning the 2017 World Champion Steer Wrestler gold buckle.
With more than $1.2 million in career earnings, Pearson leaves a successful and well-respected career. Even in this final season, he advanced to the finals, finished eighth overall, and took home more than $7,800 in March at one of the biggest PRCA rodeos in Houston, Texas. The last rodeo he entered was in April at San Angelo, Texas.
Raised in Mississippi, Pearson moved to his wife’s home state of Louisiana, where they stayed until their property flooded a second time. Pearson said, “We really were a Mississippi man and a Louisiana woman. We didn’t really want to rebuild again after the second flood, so with the help of friends, we found our current place on a hill near Atoka and moved. We have a lot of friends here, and Oklahoma’s central location is great for rodeos. We really like it here.”
Future Plans
Pearson will continue to train in steer wrestling, hazing, and roping horses at his place. “I’ve been training horses for a long time,” he added. “I plan to stay in the business, just out of the game.”
He looks forward to more time at home with his family, although they have traveled with him most of the time. He explained, “My wife, Carissa, is definitely a rodeo mom and wife and home-schools the kids so they can travel with us. She competed in rodeos in college when we were first married, but her first pregnancy put her in the bleachers, and she never wanted to compete again.”
Quality horses are a huge part of success in steer wrestling, and Pearson is co-owner of one of the best in the business. He explained, “Kyle Irwin and I bought Scooter out of North Dakota as a circuit horse and he was pretty good that first year, but he just got better and better. Scooter’s career earnings of over $3 million rank him among the top horses, winning just shy of $500,000 at the 2017 National Finals Rodeo alone. Four other steer wrestlers rode him that year and had a lot of success.”
Scooter is now retired and will live out his life at the Pearson ranch.
“Steer wrestlers are a tight bunch, and staying in touch will mean a lot,” Pearson explained. “I’ve made some great lifetime friends through rodeo. It’s been a blast, but it’s time to focus on my family and my kids. I’m ready to cheer for them now just like they’ve done for me.”
