2026 Cowboys to Watch – July 25

ROUGH STOCK EVENTS

Bareback Riding

After a scary wreck at the Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, three-time CFD bareback riding champion, Tim O’Connell will be competing here today. O’Connell had tweaked his back in Utah on Wednesday when a horse went down with him. He then utilized his relationship with the Justin Sportsmedicine Team to find local medical experts, do tests and make sure he is okay. He got the all-clear and will be ready to ride here. He also has won the world championship three times and is hoping to compete at his 11th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He is currently inside the top 50 and has set his sights on qualifying for the 2027 winter rodeos. Clayton Biglow won the title here in 2019, the same year he won his world championship. He came back and tied for the win in 2023. Clay Jorgensen won the championship the next year and has yet to qualify for the NFR. Clayton is in 14th place, and Clay is in 28th.

Saddle Bronc Riding

The superstar of Cheyenne Frontier Days, Brody Cress, will headline the field of saddle bronc riders today. Cress is currently 26th in the world standings, so another big win here would certainly be beneficial. He earned three consecutive titles at Frontier Park starting in 2017, then earned it again last year. Two other saddle bronc riders from Wyoming are also hoping to make their mark here, Ira Dickinson from Rock Springs and Tanner Butner from Daniel. Also watch for Chase Brooks and Shorty Garrett, who are both inside the top 15 in the world standings and are hoping to be in Las Vegas in December to compete for a world championship. They just need to hold their positions through the end of September, and anything they win here will help.

Bull Riding

The bull riding today has seven competitors, and it’s going to be tough. Leader of the world standings, Noah Lee, is hoping to add a CFD championship after winning the Calgary Stampede at the beginning of the month. Fans here watched John Crimber have four rides in a row that were over 90 points. That happened at the rodeo and the Xtreme Bulls event, and now he is hoping to make it five. Crimber, who is the reigning Professional Bull Riders World Champion, is seventh in the world standings. No one wants to win here more than Wyoming’s Hayden Welsh. He is currently third in the world standings and is the reigning National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association champion. And T.J. Gray is looking for his third NFR qualification and second CFD title. He won here in 2024, the first year he qualified for the NFR.

TIMED EVENTS

Breakaway Roping

The breakaway roping field is a who’s who of talented women, yet only four will advance to the championship. Two former CFD champions – Joey Williams (2023) and Sawyer Gilbert (2021) – are joined by breakaway roping icons. Lari Dee Guy has nine Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) world titles, three National Finals Breakaway Roping (NFBR) qualifications, and has been inducted into both the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame and the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Jackie Crawford, another Texas Cowboy Hall of Famer, has earned 24 WPRA world titles and competed at the NFBR four times, as has Erin Johnson, who has three world titles on her resume. Martha Angelone has just one breakaway world title, but she has been to the NFBR five times. Cadee Williams, currently ranked fifth in the world standings, won the NFBR championship for the fastest total time on 10 runs in 2022. And don’t overlook Coralee (Spratt) Anderson, a sixth-generation Wyoming rancher from Shoshoni. She finished fourth in the Mountain States circuit last season.

Steer Wrestling

In steer wrestling, Trell Etbauer, the 2022 CFD steer wrestling champion who also won the all-around here in 2014, comes from a saddle bronc riding family. He competed in that event early in his career, which helped propel him to two Linderman Awards as the season’s highest money winner in three events (including both a rough stock and timed event). While Etbauer has a long family history at CFD, that history doesn’t go back as far as Nathan Duvall’s. Nathan’s great-uncle Roy won the steer wrestling championship here in 1967 with another great-uncle, Bill, hazing. Nathan’s father Tom and several other uncles and cousins have competed here as well. His mother Amy (Hettich) Duvall is a native of Cheyenne and was one of the Dandies as a teen. Tory Johnson will be competing in a helmet in Frontier Park, and it is a miracle he can compete at all. The 3rd generation Oklahoma rancher suffered three skull fractures and a spinal fluid leak in an accident at a rodeo in May of 2024 and worked his way back into competition with extensive rehab.

Team Roping

Three former CFD champions are competing in today’s team roping. Trey Yates won the title in 2019, roping with Dustin Bird. This year his partner is Riley Kittle, who is 36th in the world standings. Trey’s father J.D. has been the all-around and the steer roping champion here as well. Billy Bob Brown was the 2023 champ, roping with Kirby Blankenship. He will head for Blaine Vick today. Coleman Proctor was the all-around champion in both 2022 and 2024, but would love to win another title at Frontier Park in his main event. While the nine-time NFR qualifier has slowed his travel schedule a bit this season, he’s still ranked 23rd in the world.

Tie-Down Roping

The tie-down roping is full of talented young ropers. Kincade Henry is ranked second in the world standings and will qualify for his fifth NFR at age 24. Macon Murphy, who is ranked 13th, went to the NFR in 2022 and would love to return to Las Vegas in December. They both have won college championships. Dylan Hancock and Cole Clemons travel together and are ranked 19th and 20th. Hancock qualified for the NFR the past two seasons, while Clemons made the field in 2024 but missed last year, finishing 22nd.

Barrel Racing

Tayla Moykens was reserve champion barrel racer here last year and would love to capture the championship. She qualified for her first NFR last year, but chose to ride borrowed horses in Las Vegas because of the EHV-1 outbreak that impacted equine athletes just before the NFR. This year she is ranked seventh in the world and planning to return to the NFR and ride her own horses. Kristin Hanchey trains horses in Florida with her husband Jason (roper and brother to NFR veteran Shane Hanchey). She is known for training strong barrel futurity horses, and also leads the WPRA’s southeastern circuit standings. When Laura Lambert is not competing in rodeo, she’s telling stories about rodeo as the major force behind Rodeo on SI – the Sports Illustrated affiliated online site.