Professional Bullfighters Daisy Protection Bullfight world champion Andy Burelle likes what he sees in his co-champ partner, Dusty Tuckness. Both are aggressive. Both are confident. Both love what they do.
“He’s actually a younger version of me,” Burelle said last August after the two swept the Daisy Tour competition during the Miller Lite Bull Blowout in Denton, Texas.
Being a younger version of a great bullfighter is a good thing, especially when you throw in the fact that Burelle and Tuckness are reigning PBF world champions. And because of that, they might be slight favorites to win the Texas Heritage National Bank PBR Challenge presented by Priefert Ranch Equipment, set for 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21-22 at the Hopkins County Regional Civic Center in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Representing Team Texas Heritage National Bank, a lot of people are betting on Burelle and Tuckness, two of the most sought-after bullfighters in the game. They also won the Daisy Protection Bullfight Tour event that was part of the Cord McCoy Invitational the end of May in Ada, Okla.
“Dusty’s the best partner I could ever have,” Burelle said after the team clinched the world championship. “Everything always works when we’re in the arena together. Our styles really fit each other.”
Burelle is also a local favorite, having transplanted from his native Michigan to Ardmore, Okla. When he’s not at his Wyoming home or at one of the biggest events in the sport, Tuckness hangs his hat in Comanche, Okla. But they fight bulls for a living, and that’s the reason they’re heading to Sulphur Springs at the end of August.
The competition is chock full of top-level bullfighters, and every team had at least one member that competed in the PBF World Championships. The Texas Heritage National Bank PBR Challenge will be part of the Daisy Protection Bullfight Tour, and money won in Sulphur Springs will count toward qualification to the PBF’s World Championships, which take place in November in Atlanta, Ga.