Editor’s note: This is the first story in a series in which The Athletic highlights offbeat sports you may not have known are contested at the college level. Follow the full series here.
Tristen Hutchings was bested by a bull he’ll always describe as “short, fat, pudgy and awkward.” He was so achingly close to staying in the saddle for eight seconds on this particular bull that it stuck in his craw for a year.
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He kept thinking about Night Trip, that short, fat, pudgy and awkward bull that prevented him from repeating as the national rodeo champion last summer.
Hutchings won his first college bull riding title in 2021, his sophomore year at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, but once his path crossed with Night Trip in Casper, Wyo., in June 2022, he never forgot about him. You don’t forget a nemesis you respect that kept you from a second title in a row. Among the litany of unaffiliated NCAA sports, college rodeo is among the oldest.
The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) started in 1949, an idea formed by a former Sul Ross State University rodeo extraordinaire named Hank Finger. There are 11 competitive regions in NIRA across the U.S. Over the years, national powers have popped up in rural hotspots like southeast Oregon all the way down to the panhandle in Texas. Alpine is a town of just more than 5,000 people in Far West Texas, 90 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Sul Ross State has an enrollment of 2,300 and sponsors NCAA Division III sports in addition to rodeo.
At his final collegiate rodeo at this year’s College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Hutchings would get a second shot against Night Trip, which does not happen often on such a stage. Hutchings and Sul Ross State rodeo coach CJ Aragon were in the arena as the ESPN production rolled out on live TV which riders would be matched with which bull.
“He felt pretty confident and wanted to basically redeem himself for the year before,” Aragon said.
Hutchings’ last night as a Sul Ross rider, on June 17, featured the date with Night Trip. Hutchings had already had a stellar week as the only rider to finish three eight-second qualification rides. His second national title in three years was within his grasp, but he wanted to end his college career as a national champion who finished all four rides, which is quite rare. In the chute, Hutchings nodded his head to commence the chaos once more. A year before, Night Trip bucked hard, using his short size to fling Hutchings down hard to the arena dirt.
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This year, he was ready for that, but Night Trip had one more trick between those horns — the bull wasn’t bucking so much as he was shifting left to right and left again, keeping Hutchings off center.
“He wasn’t bucking true and honest,” Hutchings said. “I had him rode this year, but I couldn’t hold onto my rope any longer.”
Hutchings came 0.44 seconds away from going 4-for-4 at finals. He was bucked off at 7.56 seconds.
“It’s not that he’s bucking super duper hard, he’s just an odd bull,” he said. “But, still, got to give him credit. He got me twice. I’d like to get on that little bastard again.”
A national champion once again, Hutchings stayed in his head for a while after coming off Night Trip a sliver early. Once the PA announcer anointed him in front of the crowd, signaling it was time to take his victory lap, he began to smile.
Then he was presented with his customized trophy: a personalized saddle awarded to the title winners each year.
“That bull? That’s the only thing that kept him from being a three-time national champion,” said Aragon, pointing out that it’s never been done in college rodeo.
Still, no bull rider had won two championships since Odessa College’s Jim Sharp in 1986 and 1987, according to Sul Ross. Hutchings is the fourth bull rider from the school to win multiple national titles after Harley May (1949, 1950), Johnny Ackel (1951, 1952) and Ira Akers (1953, 1955).
The past calendar year has been a boon for the 23-year-old from Monteview, Idaho, an unincorporated community of just more than 500 people. The NIRA and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association developed a partnership called a PRCA academic permit that allows rodeo athletes to pursue life as professionals while still completing their educations. Hutchings used a breakout performance at the National Finals Rodeo in December to finish third in the world standings. His 2022 earnings came out to $379,786.
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Hutchings has shown that he’s going to be a force as a pro, but he did take a risk in returning to Sul Ross for his senior year. Bull riding is the most dangerous discipline in rodeo. One awkward fall from the back of a bull or a kick from the hoof of an angry bull, and your career can be over.
“Any time you get on a bull, it’s a risk,” Aragon said. “Every time he nods his head at a pro rodeo, it’s a risk, too. Whenever he finishes his career, he’s got something a lot of those guys … never have: He’s got a degree.”
It was worth the risk.
Hutchings told Aragon after falling off Night Trip last year that he was planning on coming back for his senior season. Even as his pro career began to soar to higher heights and great results padded his bank account, he stuck to his word. Hutchings graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.
“I just wanted to get an education, because when this is over, I don’t want to be broke or poor,” he said. “I want to have a good life and provide for whoever I need to provide for. A lot of people go to junior college and get an associate’s degree, which is great, but a lot of kids go to college for one or two years in the bull riding world and then quit and never go back.”
One last season at school was also paramount for fine-tuning his ability on a bull. He developed a workout routine that allowed him to battle the wear and tear of a rodeo season. Hutchings’ days consisted of morning runs, workouts on the rowing machine, bike riding and hitting the punching bag. Life out of the chute has changed for riders in the last decade or so, Hutchings said. The bulls are being bred to be stronger and faster, meaning they’re harder to stay on for eight seconds.
“There’s a lot of scrawny bull riders that get hurt because they won’t do push-ups when they wake up in the morning,” he joked. “I knew that in my spare time, I can’t sit around, play golf, go to the bar and drink beer and relax, because if I did that and didn’t succeed riding, I’d never forget it for the rest of my life.”
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To get into peak shape, he dropped about 15 pounds eating a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet. He ate three or four Lunchables packages a day, and that’s it. That’s not to say he’s made of titanium. Hutchings has been knocked out more than a dozen times, broken both shoulders and torn several ligaments in each knee. Last summer, a bull whipped his horn around, catching Hutchings in the ankle. The power of the bull sent his leg the wrong way.
“There’s risk in everything in life,” he said. “There just seems to be a little more risk in bull riding.”
(Photo courtesy of Jackie Jensen)
