BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Bakersfield College student Sebastian Bautista is making history as the school’s first bull rider to reach the national stage. The 19 year old heads to the College National Finals Rodeo this June in Wyoming.
- Sebastian Bautista, a 19 year old student at Bakersfield College, is heading to the College National Finals Rodeo after placing top three in the region.
- He is the first bull rider from Bakersfield College to qualify for nationals under new coaches Laramie and Vail Collins.
- The national competition begins June 14 in Casper, Wyoming, where Bautista will ride three bulls against some of the top riders in the country.
Bakersfield College is riding into the history books, thanks to 19-year-old Sebastian Bautista.
The freshman bull rider secured a top-three finish in the region and is now heading to the College National Finals Rodeo.
“The bulls here that they gotta be big they gotta be American you know they're big and scary,” said Bautista.
Bull riding isn’t for the faint of heart, something Bakersfield College head coach Laramie Collins knows well.
“It is dangerous. It’s kind of scary like there’s a fear of it,” Collins said.
Collins and his wife, Vail, are in their first year coaching at BC. And already, they’ve helped lead their first bull rider to the national stage. For Bautista, that support has made all the difference.
“I needed to see if he really truly wanted to do it and because Laura is not something you guys are gonna go and do,” Collins said.
“He made me take that first step into going into that college bulls level,” said Bautista.
An animal science major, Bautista got his start in charreada, the traditional Mexican rodeo, before making the leap to collegiate-level American bull riding.
“In the Mexican rodeo you can touch the bull you can like to get on its back but you see where in American rodeo it’s more like one and all you are constantly working,” Bautista said.
With the national finals just weeks away, Bautista said it still feels unreal, but he’s staying focused.
“There’s not really much to say but you know, do the job that I need to do,” he said.
Bautista will compete June 14 in Casper, Wyoming, where he’ll face three bulls and some of the toughest riders in the nation all for one shot at collegiate rodeo glory.
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