Jul 28, 2019; Cheyenne, WY, USA; During the Cheyenne Frontier Days at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Quarterfinals Reach Midpoint As Cheyenne Frontier Days Continues To Heat Up

Originally posted on Rodeo on SI | Last updated Jul 21, 2025 9:29 PM ET

Cheyenne Frontier Days has reached the halfway point of quarterfinals action. Half of the field is set for the upcoming semi-finals.

Jayco Roper is out for blood right now in the bareback riding. He is coming off of a clean sweep of Rodeo Salinas where he raked in nearly $16,000. The Oklahoma cowboy is chasing his second NFR and he currently sits number 11 in the world and just won his set at the Frontier Days .

There is a Hawaiian cowboy who is making a splash in the steer wrestling. Trisyn Kalawaia might not have won any money in the qualifying rounds, but he beat out multiple NFR qualifiers to take the first performance and advance.

Homegrown cowboy, Brody Cress, has a chance to win CFD another time as he advanced to the semi-finals. He went to high school just down the road from the Daddy of 'Em All and was a multiple time state champion wrestler. Cress has been a professional saddle bronc rider for years now and he won Cheyenne in '17, '18, and '19.

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Bristan McCarley is a former multiple time qualifier to the CNFR, but hasn't necessarily found her footing at the professional level until CFD where she not only won her set, but ran the fastest time of the rodeo (between the qualifying rounds and the performances).

Qualifying round winners in the team roping, steer wrestling, and the barrel racing have all moved onto the semi-finals as of now.

Bubba Buckaloo and Joseph Harrison took home nearly $5,000 with a 6.6 second round in the qualifier and even though they were significantly slower in the performance (10.9) they were still able to advance.

Joe Nelson (steer wrestling) is in pursuit of his first NFR qualification and with his first round win, and now advancing into the semi-finals, he has a chance to propel himself into the top-20 in the world standings.

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Who else besides Hailey Kinsel and Sister would one expect to win the first round and of course advance on? McCarley may have ran the fastest time of the rodeo, so far, but Kinsel was only .01 behind her.

Hard to believe that it has reached the midway point of CFD, but there is still a ton of action left to go and champions to be named come Sunday.

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This article first appeared on Rodeo on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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