Colten Fritzlan The New Kid on the Block By Barbara Pinnella
OK, PBR fans, store the name Colten Fritzlan in your memory, because this is just one of the latest of great young bull riders on the move. He competed in his first ever Unleash The Beast event the end of January, held in Okeechobee, Florida. Fritzlan went three-for-three and grabbed the victory. But being successful is nothing new to this 20-year-old. At the 2020 National Finals Rodeo, Colten rode seven out of 10 bulls and finished fifth in the World Standings. Because of those seven rides, he also became bull riding’s NFR average winner, and was named the 2020 Resistol Rookie Bull Rider of the Year. Not too shabby!
PRCA Prorodeo photo by Alaina Stangle.
Obviously, this year holds a world of possibilities for him. He can choose which tour he wants to ride on, or he can do both. He shared with us what he plans on doing.
“I’m going to do both,” he said. “Right now, I’m gonna go to these PBR’s and some of the bigger pro rodeos, but my main focus right now is on the PBR. Come summertime and once the break is on for the PBR, I will go do pro rodeos. I’ll just let the chips fall where they may. But right now, PBR. “Doing the pro rodeos during the PBR break also keeps you seasoned. I’ve been rodeoing for the last three years, and it’s done good for me. So, I’m looking forward to it.” To say Colten’s family was involved in rodeo just might be an understatement. “My dad rode bulls when he was younger, and rode bareback horses in college and high school. He also bulldogged. That is what he ended up doing was bulldogging for a little while. There were also members of my family who rode broncs. They were all around cowboys, really. “Then on my mom’s side, same thing,” he continued. “They were a ranching family. My uncle rode some bucking horses. So I was really just born into it, and picked it up at a young age. But my dad is pretty much the guy who got me started in it. We started buying bulls when I was about seven, and I started getting on about five or six practice bulls a day. I also got on horses. “I rode bareback horses when I was really little, ponies and stuff. But then in high school I did ride broncs. I also roped and bulldogged. But riding bulls was my main focus when I got out of high school and that’s what I put all my time into.” There was a short time when Colten thought about something other than rodeo. He began wrestling at a young age, and did that through high school. But that thought was very short-lived.
Humps-Horns.com · 16 · March 2021
