Crimber: ‘The Arizona Ridge Riders Are Family’
By: Darci Miller
PUEBLO, Colo. – On the first night of competition at PBR Freedom Fest in Oklahoma City, the Arizona Ridge Riders’ Colten Fritzlan was bucked off by Moonlight Party and broke his right femur.
The whole team accompanied him to the hospital and returned the following morning when he went in for surgery to support him and help his fiancée, Regan, with their 1-year-old daughter, Lena.
The next day, Fritzlan was up – with the aid of a walker – and back at Paycom Center, cheering on his team as they put a bow on their 3-0 weekend and took home their first event win of the season.
“He just had surgery – femur surgery. Major surgery – yesterday, and he’s out here today pulling for the boys and cheering, just being part of them,” Arizona technical coach Paulo Crimber said. “That’s what the team means, and that’s what we are. The Arizona Ridge Riders is this. Family, camaraderie. People from all over the country with the same thoughts, the same faith, the same purpose together to win.”
It’ll be three months before Fritzlan can work out or sit on a horse again and 4-6 months before he can begin riding bulls.
It’s a tough loss for the Ridge Riders, who gave up the No. 4 pick in the 2023 PBR Team Series Draft to the Missouri Thunder to get Fritzlan.
But if Arizona can keep up the momentum that’s seen them go 7-2 in their last three events, the rest of the league better look out.
After finishing second to the Nashville Stampede at the 2022 PBR Team Series Championship, the Ridge Riders underwhelmed to start the season, going 0-7.
But they began to turn things around in Nashville, Tennessee, going 2-1, and repeating that performance in Austin, Texas.
It was only a matter of time before they put everything together and won an event, and that time came in Oklahoma City. The Ridge Riders became the first team besides the Austin Gamblers and Kansas City Outlaws to win an event this season, upsetting the No. 1 Gamblers for a second time this season in the process.
“That was phenomenal,” a visibly joyful Crimber said. “This team, I tell them all the time, if I have to go to war, I’ll go with them. And I mean it, because those guys, moments like this, when they need to step up and pressure and all this stuff happens, that’s the A-team, and they showed it again today.”
Despite the slow start, Crimber never lost faith in his squad’s ability to win. They’re now 7-9 and No. 6 in the season standings.
“I know we start off slow, but I believe God has a reason for everything,” Crimber said. “We want to plan to do this, to win, but it’s not our will. It’s God’s will, and we have to wait for the time, because he’ll give it to you if you stay persistent and put him in first place and give all the glory to him. It’s going to come. This is what I do for life, for myself, and try to do for the team. I went through a lot of injuries. We lost a great piece of our team the first day. But I told him God don’t give more than he can take. I told him it feels weird, but you’ve got to know you’re chosen for this battle because God knows you can handle it, and you’ve got to come back strong. That’s what I believe in and what I try to live by.”
The Ridge Riders couldn’t be heating up at a better time. Heading into this weekend’s PBR Thunder Days in Ridgedale, Missouri – and the 2023 PBR Teams Championship in Las Vegas on Oct. 20-22 – there’s no team on more of an upward trajectory.
The Ridge Riders will take on the Gamblers (13-3) again on Friday night in Ridgedale (8:45 p.m. ET on RidePass on Pluto TV) and try to upset the No. 1 squad for the third time.
“I try to take it week by week, day by day,” Crimber said. “I tell the guys just one bull at a time and one game at a time. You can’t take what’s not there yet. You try to pretend, you try to plan, but we’re just focused on what’s going to be right now, right here, and that’s how we plan for next week. We’re going to prepare ourselves to go out there the first day and do the job, and then plan out for the next day. I think those guys know what they need to do, and I think this (event win) is going to help them get in with a really, really strong mindset and grit to continue to do this great job.”
Perhaps nobody had a better weekend in Oklahoma City than Crimber himself. He coached the Ridge Riders to an event win while his wife, Maria, received the Sharon Shoulders Award at Heroes and Legends on Saturday, and his son, John Crimber, won the Challenger Series event in Kennewick, Washington.
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“It’s so many blessings in one day,” Crimber said. “We went through many hard times together, and we recovered together, and now we’re under the blessings together. Maria, I mean, she earned that award more than anything. She went through so much with me and the kids, and she stayed strong and helped get out of it, and we’re still here together, 22 years. And then John, on top of that, goes and wins in Washington – that’s his fourth win in a month. He moved to No. 4 in the (Challenger Series) standings right now.
“It’s been awesome. I couldn’t ask for nothing. It’s too much for one person. I think all the down times I went through, God is rewarding me now. I’m really blessed and thankful for that.”
Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media
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