By Joshua Koch
Public Communications
Colton Heron remembers exactly when his love for rodeo began.
When Colton was 13 years old, his cousin Cody asked him to come out to one of his bull riding practices to help pull ropes. At practice, the rodeo coach from Sam Houston State saw Colton and thought he was good sized for a 13-year-old and talked him into trying chute dogging.
Chute dogging is a junior high rodeo event. It is steer wrestling without riding a horse. Colton climbed into the chute with the steer, nodded his head and the gate opened to a new life.
“As soon as I heard the name, I knew I wanted to do it,” Colton said. “And my very first time trying it I fell in love with it.”
Three years later, Colton, an incoming junior at Kingwood High School, has continued his cowboy life. Traveling from rodeo to rodeo with his cousin Cody and competing in steer wrestling.
In June, Colton for a second-straight year advanced to the Texas High School Rodeo Association State Finals in Abilene, Texas, after being in the Top 10 in his region following 12 Regional Rodeos.
The first-generation cowboy, who rode a horse for the first time less than two years ago, was set on improving his performance from 2024.
As a freshman, Colton failed to register a time on his two runs at the THSRA State Finals.
“I learned how big pressure plays a role in steer wrestling,” Colton said. “The mindset is the main thing that changed. Going into it this year my mindset was do not think at all. Just back up in the box and nod your head before you can even think about it.”
In his first two runs, Colton and his horse “Roy” broke the barrier, he leaped off and wrestled each steer to the dirt in an impressive 4.0 and 4.9 seconds. The average of the times pushed him into the Top 15 for the rodeo and into the finals.
Colton knew down to the second what he had to do to win it all – a sub-seven-second run.
In his final run, the calf hit the dirt at 5.56 seconds. Colton was the 2025 THSRA Steer Wrestling State Champion.
“As soon as I saw that steer’s back hit the ground, I was already looking up at the clock and I can’t describe that feeling,” Colton said. “It was the best feeling in the whole world. I grabbed my hat, threw it way up, it almost hit the fan, it was just an amazing feeling.
“It still gives me chills thinking about it. Texas I believe is by far the hardest state to win. Not only is it the biggest, but it is the most competitive.”
Because of his win, Colton will be a part of THSRA Team Texas that will travel to Wyoming in July for the 2025 National High School Finals Rodeo.
“This was a big step for me, this was really my first big win,” Colton said. “After winning the State Finals, I want to be a High School National Champion and then go do it in college and then professionally. One day, I hope to be the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Champion.”
Back at Kingwood High School, Colton is entering his third year of playing football for the Mustangs as a defensive lineman. Ironically, Colton admits there is a correlation between the two sports from wrestling steers to wrestling opposing offensive lineman.
“Strength, mindset and aggression, all of those football and steer wrestling have a lot in common,” Colton said. “Just like you go as hard as you can every single play in football, you go as hard as you can in every run you make in steer wrestling. It’s pretty similar, especially with the aggression. That’s something you have to have in both.”
Between his studies and football practices at Kingwood High School, Colton will continue to travel up to Splendora two to three times a week to his grandfather Mike Heron’s land to practice. The man he calls “Pops” takes care of his three horses on a daily basis.
When Colton won the 2025 THSRA Steer Wrestling State Championship, which prized him a shiny new belt buckle, he remembers telling “Pops” the news.
“He got really quiet when I told him, because I think he was tearing up,” Colton said. “He was very excited.”
For the kid who never rode a horse before his first steer wrestling practice in September of 2023 – where he missed the steer his first seven attempts in the arena – the thrill of winning is now fueling his rodeo dreams.
“I can not quit because of how good that feeling of winning is in steer wrestling,” Colton said with a smile.