ANAHEIM, Calif. – It was a few weeks before the 2022 PBR Team Series Draft, presented by ZipRecruiter, when Missouri coach Ross Coleman called Colten Fritzlan to see if the 2020 Wrangler National Finals bull riding event-winner would want to come work 300-head of cattle with him in Henrietta, Oklahoma.
Coleman and co-coach Luke Snyder were very high on Fritzlan ahead of the draft, and they felt it would be important to get another guy on their radar in case eventual World Champion Daylon Swearingen did not fall to them at the No. 4 overall pick.
Therefore, Coleman wanted to spend a day with Fritzlan and see just what kind of cowboy the Rifle, Colorado, native was. Coleman also felt it to be extremely important that whoever the team drafted in the first round had to mesh well personality wise with the kind of culture the Thunder hoped to build.
Fritzlan, at the time, did not know just how important this day of cattle work would be for his draft status, but he was always raised as a young boy to be professional, work hard and be on time.
“I kind of had a sixth sense about it I guess, but I didn’t want to guarantee anything,” Fritzlan said. “I love being a cowboy, I love being horseback. To do it with Ross – I mean he’s as cowboy as cowboy gets. Just for the opportunity when it presented itself. I’ll be honest, the night before, I kind of thought about my choices saying should I do it, but I was happy I did.
“I made it happen and it really showed. The hours you are willing to put in and work out.”
Fritzlan calls Lipan, Texas, home, so he had to wake up around 2:30 in the morning to ensure he made it to Coleman’s house 2 hours away before sunrise.
That commitment stood out to Coleman.
“My favorite part about that deal was he got up in the morning to get to my house early, because we had a long day that day and we had to work a lot of cattle,” Coleman said. “He was still half (injured) up then too because he was coming off of his shoulder surgery and moving around. When he got out there and flanked, we ran the 300-head that morning and there was a pretty small crew, it was so cool because he was right in the middle of it all day long. That little bit of a sore shoulder didn’t matter to him, and he stayed hooked all day and just cowboyed up like he should.
“He actually roped with that shoulder too a little bit, but regardless, that’s just the cowboy he is and the person he is. I could read that then and I wanted him on my team bad. Check the box go get him stuff, but there was still some stuff going on because we were trying to get Daylon. I really think things happen for a reason and I believe good things happen to good people.”
At the draft, the Thunder wound up pivoting to Fritzlan at the fourth overall pick once the Ariat Texas Rattlers originally selected Swearingen at No. 3 overall.
Missouri is ecstatic with how things have turned out so far through the first quarter of the season.
Fritzlan has three game-clinching rides for the 6-1, first-place Thunder and is 4-for-8 this season.
The 22-year-old was lights out in Anaheim, California, this weekend. He rode Orca for 85.25 points to help the Thunder defeat the Arizona Ridge Riders (4-3) 169.5-0 on Friday night and then Ridin’ Dirty for 82.5 points to cement the 247.75-87.25 win Saturday against the Carolina Cowboys (3-4).
“Getting to know him, too, before the draft, getting to know all of these guys is awesome, and, man, I like everything about Fritzlan,” Coleman said.
Fritzlan added, “Before the draft, I really didn’t put too much thought into where I was going. I was still hurt, so I was still more focused on getting right, getting healthy and coming back better than I have before and feeling good and everything. When they announced my name at the draft, I was tickled, I was like, ‘Heck yeah, that’s perfect.’ Then to get (Clayton Sellars) with the second pick, it was great.”
The Thunder went 2-0 in Anaheim and finished second behind the Austin Gamblers for the event win via a tiebreaker in the Bonus Round. Sellars lasted 2.97 seconds for the Thunder on Top Shelf, while Jose Vitor Leme lasted 5.59 seconds on July for the Gamblers.
Regardless, Missouri will take a two-game lead in the PBR Team Series standings into Friday’s game against the Ariat Texas Rattlers (2-5) at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville at Stampede Days.
Fritzlan has been the closer for the Thunder, but it has been an overall team effort, Fritzlan explained.
Six different riders have recorded at least one qualified ride for the Thunder.
“They blow my mind every time I see them,” Fritzlan concluded. “Clayton Sellars riding Legit tonight (against Carolina). That bull is a hard-to-ride, big eliminator. That’s the real deal, then to see Clayton just dominate him. You can’t help but be ready to ride great after that. I haven’t seen Clayton fired up like that in a long time. He was like he got in a fight with a grizzly bear. Then Andrew (Alvidrez) was effort. He took that bull (tonight) laying down and you don’t see that very often nowadays.
“We’re just a bunch of cowboys is what we are.”
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media