Submitted photo Marcus Mast’s injuries since becoming a professional bull rider include a broken back in 2023 and a broken jaw last year.

Marcus Mast said professional bull riders know it’s not a question of if they’ll get injured on the job.

It’s only a matter of how severe the injury will be.

A broken jaw sounds pretty severe to most people. Mast only missed one week when he broke his last year.

He wasn’t so lucky in 2023 when he broke his back

“That one sat me out for eight-and-a-half months,” Mast said during a telephone interview in advance of two nights of rodeo action at the Covelli Centre with the Professional Bull Riding Velocity Tour.

“I was pretty sure my back was broken when everything happened, and I didn’t know how bad it was,” Mast said. “I knew I wasn’t paralyzed, because I could still move my legs but I had to wait on the results from the doctors and see how bad it was. Some of them injuries, you can break your back and you can still have full mobility and everything, but they won’t let you go back to ride, because if you break it again, it could paralyze or possibly kill you. Fortunately for me, mine wasn’t that serious. As soon as I found out that it ain’t that serious, it was back to the grind to get healed up and get back in shape and get going again.”

He felt the nerves the first couple of times back after such a long layoff. But for Mast, the rush is worth the risk.

“We’re obviously adrenaline junkies, big time,” he said.

“It’s the biggest adrenaline rush you’ll ever experience. It’s addictive, and there’s nothing I have done personally that gets you the adrenaline rush that this does. And it’s also, how do I say it, feels like you’re on top of the world when you can get your bull rode.”

Mast, 31, grew up in rural Indiana, not a state that many would associate with bullriding. A friend was involved in the sport and Mast went to a couple of rodeos to watch him compete.

“I knew there was a practice place close, where you can get on easier bulls to learn how to do what you’re supposed to do, and learn the basics of it,” he said. “I told them, ‘Next time you go, I want to go along, and I want to give it a try too. So we’re about 14 years deep, and we’re still trying.”

According to stats on the Professional Bull Riding website (pbr.com), Mast was top ranked last year with two wins, five top 5 finishes and nine top 10 finishes, earning nearly $96,000. So far this season, Mast has four top 10 finishes in seven events.

Mast has competed in Youngstown several times before, but he admitted he doesn’t remember much about his past trips to the Covelli Centre.

“I don’t know that there is really any memories, so obviously, I ain’t never really done much good,” he said. “Hopefully this year we can get that turned around.”

If you go …

WHAT: Professional Bull Riding Velocity Tour

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Covelli Centre, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: $29 to $107 and are available at the Covelli Centre’s Southwoods Health box office and through Ticketmaster.