• 2018 CFD Champions who will be defending their titles today include bareback rider Will Lowe, bull rider Ruger Piva, saddle bronc rider Brody Cress, team ropers Chad Masters and Joseph Harrison and barrel racer Nellie Miller.
• Today’s field also includes 11 former CFD champions: four more in bareback riding – Richmond Champion (2014), Tanner Aus (2015), Orin Larsen (2016); two in saddle bronc – Wade Sundell (2013) and Jacobs Crawley (2016); team roper Cesar de la Cruz (2010); senior steer roper Dan Fisher ( 2013); three barrel racers – Brittany Pozzi-Tonnozzi (2007), Lisa Lockhart (2015) and Stevi Hillman (2017); and all-around cowboy Trell Etbauer (2014).
• Will Lowe could win CFD for the fourth time in bareback riding, a feat no other cowboy has managed since bareback riding began here in 1936. He won here in 2009, 2012 and 2018.
• Local favorite Brody Cress could also set a CFD record should he win the saddle bronc riding championship for the third consecutive year. Since saddle bronc riding began here in 1897, no one has won the title three times in a row. Cress still would trail Earl Thode, who won the event four times between 1927 and 1934.
• Chad Masters has a chance for his own CFD records. If he and Harrison win first, they would be the first back-to-back champs here in team roping. Masters would become the first team roper to win this rodeo three times since the team roping was first offered in 2000.
• Three sets of Texan siblings will compete against each other today. Rylea and Jordan Jo Fabrizio in breakaway roping; Jacobs and Sterling Crawley in saddle bronc riding and Vin Fisher, Jr., and J. Tom Fisher in steer roping. The Fishers will also be competing against their father, Dan Fisher, meaning that one-fourth of the steer roping field are members of the Fisher family.
• The husband-wife duo of Garrett Tonnozzi (team roping) and Brittany Pozzi-Tonnozzi (barrel racing) will be aiming to take home a pair of CFD titles today.
• While breakaway roper KL Spratt may be listed from Arizona on the daysheet, she grew up in Lysite, Wyoming. That means every event today will have at least one Wyoming connection.
• Two college rodeo coaches will compete today. Linsay Sumpter in breakaway roping is the head coach for both men and women at Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado. Beau Clark, former head coach for Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, now is the head coach at the University of Wyoming.
• Two people named Cheyenne will be trying to win a championship at Frontier Park today – tie-down roper Cheyenne Stanley from Oklahoma and barrel racer Cheyenne Wimberly from Texas. Wimberly last competed here in 1999.
• Two men named Stetson will be aiming for CFD titles today. Stetson Vest competes in tie-down roping. Stetson Wright is the only cowboy we will see twice today as he qualified for Championship Sunday in both saddle bronc riding and bull riding and is a favorite to win the all-around title.

Rough Stock Events – Bareback, Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding:

The second day of semifinals is shaping up to be even more exciting than the first with several world champions and former Cheyenne Frontier Days title holders in the field. While those veterans are hoping to win again, a rookie is taking the rodeo world by storm and hoping to win for the first time.

Stetson Wright will be competing in the saddle bronc riding and bull riding today making him a favorite for Cheyenne’s all-around cowboy championship. Wright is the youngest of the famed rodeo family from Utah. His father, Cody, is a two-time world champion. His uncles Spencer and Jesse have each won gold buckles as well as his older brother Ryder.

While there have been Wrights at the top of the leaderboard at most major rodeos, there has never been one to collect a buckle at the “Daddy of ‘em All.” Cody joined the PRCA in 1998 and there has been at least one member of the family competing here since then. Two decades without a title is unheard of for them and now it is the youngest who could bring it home to Utah.

Stetson will turn 20 on July 30^th. He leads the world standings in the all-around category, is 18^th in the saddle bronc riding and second in the bull riding. He needs to move into the top 15 in the saddle bronc riding and stay there until October 1^st to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in two events. A win here would certainly help him do that.

Cody DeMoss will be among today’s saddle bronc riders and is hoping for his fourth buckle from Cheyenne Frontier Days. If he moves on to the finals and has the high score, he will join the history books as the second man to win four titles in that event. Earl Thode did that from 1927 – 34.

A star-studded field will compete in bareback riding today. Former CFD champs Richmond Champion, Tanner Aus, Orin Larsen and Tim O’Connell will be hoping for a chance to win a second buckle from the “Daddy.” O’Connell is a three-time world champion as well. They will be joined by Kaycee Feild, who has four gold buckles but has yet to win a title at Frontier Park.

Brothers Tim and Tyler Bingham have both qualified for the NFR, but not in the same year. When they have the opportunity to share rodeo memories with future generations, the 2019 Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo could be a big highlight. They will be riding in the semifinals today and hoping for a score and a reason to stay here until Sunday. There is nothing that the brothers would like better than to be riding against each other for Cheyenne’s championship buckle.

Timed Events – Steer Wrestling, Team, Tie-Down and Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing:

In breakaway roping a pair of sisters had success yesterday and will be looking to add to their winnings today. Jordan Jo Fabrizio of Canyon, Texas, was first yesterday with a 4.15-second run and her sister Rylea Fabrizio, who lives in Stephenville, Texas, placed third. The duo would love to compete in the first breakaway championship round at the Daddy.

Lari Dee Guy has won nine Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) roping and all-around world championships. She finished second yesterday and is in good position to qualify for the finals. Jackie Crawford, who has earned 14 WPRA all-around and roping world titles, finished fourth yesterday and will need to rope well today to move on to Championship Sunday.

Nebraska native Austin Hurlburt is no stranger to Cheyenne. He competed on the Laramie County Community College Rodeo Team and will move to the University of Wyoming this fall. Before becoming a Wyoming Cowboy, he has a chance to become a CFD champion. He won yesterday’s tie-down roping and is in good shape to advance to the Sunday’s Finals.

Last year’s CFD team roping champions Chad Masters and Joseph Harrison roped themselves into a tie for second place yesterday. Should they qualify for Championship Sunday, Masters will have the opportunity to become the first three-time CFD champion in the team roping since the event began here in 2001.  Kellan and Carson Johnson, a pair of brothers from Casper, will have to finish among the top two today to make the finals. They are the sons of 2011 world champion heeler Jhett Johnson.

Two former CFD champions compete in today’s barrel racing semifinals. Brittany Pozzi-Tonnozzi (2007) and Stevi Hillman (2017) are both ranked in the WPRA top 10 and would love to come back Sunday to make their bids for a second CFD title. The highest-ranked barrel racing in the current standings is Shali Lord of Lamar, Colorado, who is fourth. She will compete first today and have the advantage of running on the “top” of the ground. She and her horse, Can Man, are likely headed to Las Vegas next December. Lord qualified for the first time in 2005 aboard a small bay gelding named Slider. She and Slider either got money or hit a barrel. He was one of the most dynamic and exciting horses to watch in any arena. Can Man has a totally different style and now while he is carrying Shali around the barrels at rodeos, Slider is at home in Lamar where Shali and Phy Lord’s son Slade has taken the reins.

Rough Stock Events – Bareback, Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding:

Six of todays contestants in the bareback, saddle bronc and bull riding will get a chance to ride for a championship from the 123rd “Daddy of ‘em All.” Among the bareback riders is Will Lowe who finished fourth yesterday to advance. Lowe has three world titles to his credit and three titles from Frontier Park.

His third title came last year so he will be hoping to be among the six that are here on Sunday to defend his title. Ty Breuer and Steven Dent are also in the field. They travel together and are ranked sixth and ninth respectively. Breuer is having the best regular season of his career and credits part of that to his traveling partners. Tanner Aus is also in their group and while he didn’t advance to the semifinals, Aus will be hoping one of them gets to leave here with the buckle. Aus won this rodeo in 2015 and Dent was the all-around cowboy here in 2010.

Wyoming loves their cowboys and will get to cheer for two of their own in the bareback riding, Cole Reiner from Kaycee and Seth Hardwick from Ranchester. Those Wyoming fans will also be making a lot of noise in the saddle bronc riding when local favorite Brody Cress rides. He has won the “Daddy” the past two years. If he hangs on to win a third buckle here, he will go down in history as the only saddle bronc rider to win three consecutive titles.

Last year’s bull riding champion, Rugar Piva, is ready to defend his title as well. Piva rode yesterday to an 82.5-point score to advance to the semifinals. Four-time world champion J.W. Harris is on today’s roster and while he has won nearly every title available in rodeo, he has yet to get the coveted buckle that is given to Cheyenne Frontier Day’s best.

Foster McCraw had the biggest win of his career last February at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. He had one of the highest-marked rides here in the quarter finals and has momentum and confidence on his side. If he advances to Sunday’s rodeo and has the highest score there, he will win two of the biggest, oldest and most legendary rodeos in the same year.

Timed Events – Steer Wrestling, Team, Tie-Down and Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing:

The final group of steer wrestlers, team, tie-down and breakaway ropers will be working to advance to Sunday’s finals today. The barrel racers are competing in the semifinals and six of them from today’s performance will advance.

In the barrel racing watch for Kelly Kennedy-Joseph. She was tied for 70th to advance from the qualifying rounds into the rodeo performances. She went from being one of the slowest to the one of the fastest. The Colorado native lives just over an hour south of Cheyenne and has a huge fan club.

A couple of years ago, she was involved in a horse accident that had her taking a helicopter ride to the hospital. Doctors didn’t know how she would recover, and she still has headaches from the TBI she incurred. She set a goal to be back competing in 2018 and while it took longer than she would have liked, hse is back. She is riding a mare she calls “Jammer,” that her husband started and she trained. She needs to be among the six fastest times today to advance to Sunday’s Championship Finals. Defending champion Nellie Miller will also compete today.

Two legendary breakaway ropers are on today’s roster. Jackie Crawford is a many time world champion. Lari Dee Guy is also and accomplished roper that has a reputation for roping. Both of these women have had big influences in the roping world by teaching other women how to rope.

Brothers Kellan and Carson Johnson from Casper will be the first team ropers to ride in the arena today. They are hoping to earn enough money to advance to the finals. If they would win the title here, they would add something to their resume that their world champion father, Jhett Johnson has never won. There are several world champions in today’s team roping so expect the competition to be tough. Also watch for defending champions Chad Masters and Joseph Harrison to have a solid performance.

Rough Stock Events – Bareback, Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding:

Our past two bareback riding champions will be competing against each other today. Tim O’Connell won here in 2017 and went on to win his second world championship. He is the reigning world champion, but that title came with a price. In the 10^th and final round last December, he had to make a ride. He did just that, but when he came off, he ended up underneath the horse with his hand still in the rigging. A torn rotator cuff and he was looking at a vacation. He started back mid-June and is now 23^rd in the world standings.

A win here could make the difference in O’Connell’s sixth trip to Las Vegas to compete for another gold buckle. That is the position that Will Lowe found himself in a year ago. Then he won Cheyenne for the third time and went on to qualify for the NFR for the 15^th time. Lowe is 33^rd in the world standings and if he wins Cheyenne again, he will need to make a decision about the remainder of the season.

Brody Cress will be here defending his past two CFD championships in saddle bronc riding. Cress who grew up here used his past two wins at Frontier Park to qualify for his first two NFRs. Just days after winning here last year, he decided to jump off of a horse after the ride and broke his ankle. He was high enough in the standings to qualify for the NFR, so he had surgery and took the rest of the season off. He got on his first bucking horse in Las Vegas. He would have liked to have more time, but that wasn’t an option and getting back to his old riding form has been a challenge. He is          29^th in the world and another win here could make a huge difference in his 2019 season.

Also watch for Wyoming’s own smiling Chet Johnson who has yet to get a title here. Johnson is a native of the Cowboy State and nothing would make him happier than winning at the “Daddy.”

Roscoe Jarboe used a win here in 2016 to qualify for his first of three NFRs. He is 25^th in the standings and all he has between him and a trip to Las Vegas is a few eight-second rides. He is joined by other NFR qualifiers Chase Dougherty, Elliot Jacoby and Boudreaux Campbell. Also, Ruger Piva, last year’s champion will be here to defend his title.

If Dougherty rides, it might be due to his balance. While in college at Montana State University, he could be seen riding a unicycle around campus because he thought it helped improve his balance and bull riding skills.

Timed Events – Steer Wrestling, Team, Tie-Down and Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing:

Yesterday, we watched Wyatt Lindsay stop the clock in 5.4 seconds in the steer wrestling and he will be looking for another fast time today. Lindsay was just three-tenths of a second off of the 5.1-second arena record. Lindsay is a former student at New Mexico State University where he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo twice. He tried all of the events growing up but loves steer wrestling because of the speed involved.

That speed will come into play today as he makes his second run at this year’s rodeo. Cattle typically run faster the second time through and often get farther down the pen before they are caught. Cheyenne’s 30-foot head start makes this event especially challenging.

Marcos Costa has been coming to Cheyenne Frontier Days nearly every year since he made the trip to the U.S. from Brazil. Costa joined the PRCA in 2014 and could barely speak any English. He taught himself the language, took every opportunity to learn about tie-down roping from anyone he could and became the first man from Brazil to earn an individual world championship in 2017. He watched his friend Junior Nogueira win the all-around championship in 2017 for their native country. Nogueira was the reserve world champion in team roping that year and also won enough money in the tie-down roping to win the gold all-around cowboy buckle.

Costa qualified for the finals here in 2014 and finished fifth. He placed fourth yesterday and will need to add to that today to have any chance at being at the Championship Finals on Sunday.

Hannah Lee, a native of Nesbit, Mississippi, who won high school state championships in Tennessee, has likely punched her ticket to the finals in breakaway roping. She won yesterday’s round and earned more than $2,600 for her efforts. Even if she fails place in today’s round, odds are good she’ll be one of the top four in this set. Louisiana’s Chloe Frey is in a similar position after winning second yesterday and earning more than $2,000.

A pair of WNFR team ropers – Kelsey Parchman of Tennessee and Matt Kasner of Nebraska – are in the driver’s seat in today’s set of team roping after winning yesterday’s round. They have a great chance to return on Sunday and finishing in the money today would cement their place in the finals. Reigning CFD champions Chad Masters and Joseph Harrison need a fast run today to win enough to advance, after clocking 20.8 yesterday. They are currently ranked 8^th in the heading and heeling world standings, respectively.

Another former CFD champion, heeler Cesar de la Cruz and his partner Lane Ivy will be looking for a quick time today after failing to connect for a qualified run yesterday. He won the championship here in 2010.

Rough Stock Events – Bareback, Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding

Four of this year’s top bareback riders will be hoping to advance to the semifinals today. The one highest in the world standings is Ty Breuer, who is 6th. The four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) cowboy is having the best season of his career and is the proud father of a new baby boy born less than two months ago. This is he and his wife Kelly’s second child.

Last year’s reserve champion and perennial all-around hand Steven Dent is matched up with Dakota Rodeo’s Chirrikawa, a horse that is equally strong whether bucking in the bareback or the saddle bronc riding. Dent is traveling with former CFD champion Tanner Aus. The fourth of the group is Jake Brown (13th).

Craig Wisehart has an usual upcoming itinerary. After he competes tomorrow, he will head a few miles south to Colorado’s Weld County Fair for the goat show later that afternoon. When he was younger, not only did he show goats in 4-H and FFA, he started a hoof trimming business that brought the enterprising youth some spending money to rodeo with.

Taygen Schuelke is a former college all-around champion who is trying to make his mark here in the saddle bronc riding. He is joined this year by his younger brother Lane Schuelke who competes today in the rookie saddle bronc riding.

Californian Tim Ditrich spent his whole life around horses, but never considered saddle bronc riding until he was in college. He saw photos of his rodeo coach and mentor, Ben Londo, riding broncs and decided to try the event. Londo loaned him a saddle and equipment and helped him learn the event.

A pair of former world champions – Jesse Wright and Jesse Kruse – are in today’s field along with former CFD champion Bradley Harter.

Two of the winningest bull riders in PRCA history will be making a bid for their first CFD championship starting today. Neither J.W. Harris, who has four world championships, nor Sage Kimzey, who has won five, have won a CFD buckle in their careers. Sage, who’s currently leading the world standings, is here along with his younger brother Trey Kimzey who is ranked 11th.

Tyler Bingham (ranked 6th) and Joe Frost are hoping to join their brothers Tim and Josh, who have already qualified for CFD’s semifinals. Another NFR bull rider in today’s field is Garrett Smith, who is ranked 10th this season.

Timed Events – Steer Wrestling, Team, Tie-Down and Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing

Kyle Whitaker will highlight today’s steer wrestlers. Whitaker is a nine-time winner of professional rodeo’s ironman award – the Bill Linderman Award which is awarded to the cowboy who earns the most money in at least three rodeo events in a season. To be eligible a cowboy must win at least $1,000 in a timed event and a rough stock event, plus another $1,000 in a third event.  Dean Finnerty of Wheatland, Wyoming, will be competing his either his 31st or 32nd consecutive CFD in steer wrestling.

Syerra “CY” Christensen of Kennebec, S.D., is the new CFD arena record holder in breakaway roping after winning the first qualifying round last week with 4.01 seconds. She is a four-time survivor of childhood cancer with a great perspective on life and rodeo. Linsay Sumpter, the college rodeo coach at Otero Junior College in Colorado, is a member of the famous Rosser rodeo family of California and her husband Wade is a former NFR steer wrestler. To put in perspective what it means for the breakaway ropers to compete here, her parents who are part of the Flying U Rodeo legacy caught a plane to Cheyenne to watch her compete in the preliminary rounds.

Sterling Smith of Stephenville, Texas, holds the arena record of 9.4 seconds in tie-down roping that he set last year and is looking for more success at Frontier Park. Marcos Costa, the former world champion, is back in action after sitting out for several months following knee surgery. This rodeo has been good for Costa in the past and he’s hoping that trend continues.

Team ropers Kaleb Driggers (seven NFRs) and Junior Nogueira (five) finished as runners-up for the world championships the past two years. Both are looking for their first individual event world championship. (Junior won the All-Around title in 2016.) Also, in today’s field is former world champion header Levi Simpson from Canada who is as famous for his beard as he is for his roping.

Nellie Miller, who won the CFD championship last year with a great barrel racing run in a hailstorm, is back to defend her championship. She won the preliminary round and already has won more than $8,000 in Cheyenne this year. Miller, the 2017 world champion, has been locked in a battle for the world standings lead all season with 2018 champion Hailey Kinsel.

Tennessee cowgirl Jessi Fish tied for second in the preliminary round and is primed for more success in Frontier Park. Cheyenne Wimberley retired from fulltime rodeo after back-to-back trips to the NFR in 1997-98, but could return to Las Vegas with a strong finish to the season. She’s currently ranked 19 and success at this rodeo could give a big boost to her season.