– BY CLAY CREASY
Rolling Into Round 2
With Night One under their belts, the contestants either want to keep good results going, or find a way to make up for any mistakes that happened.
Let’s see who has a chance to be the top performers in Go Round 2 on a Thursday Night:
BAREBACK RIDING
Tonight, we see the best horses in Canada matched up with our top contestants, as the TV pen makes its first appearance.
- After Dantan Bertsch started off with a strong ride on round 1, the Maple Creek cowboy who now calls Consort, AB home has a matchup with Calgary’s B-65 Born Fearless, a giant, strong bay horse that will fit his style.
- After prioritizing the Canadian rodeos enroute to his first CFR qualification, Louisiana’s Taylor Broussard gets rewarded with a horse that dreams are made of, one at the top of both the Canadian and US Bareback horse charts in Macza’s 118 OLS Tubs Stevie Knicks.
- Richmond Champion has also made a point of getting back to the CFR, having won a Canadian title in 2018. The transplanted Texan who now resides in Montana will be excited about another Calgary horse, as B-73 Blasting Sand can usually be found in many of the short rounds of the best North American rodeos.
STEER WRESTLING
The first performance saw a third of the field end up without a time, leaving some contestants to reassess their strategy for the week.
- After an uncharacteristic no time on night one, Innisfail’s Ryan Schuckburgh saw the gap between him and season leader Scott Guenthner grow as Scott took the round win. You can bet Schuckburgh will look to put that behind him and go at the go rounds from here on out.
- After clawing into the top 12 with a strong showing at the SMS Finals in Armstrong, veteran Tanner Milan and his award winning horse Eddie look to keep the momentum going after his 4.3 second run earned him a third place cheque in Night One.
- Growing up just a few miles north of Guenthner on the Sounding Lake Steer Wrestling Super Highway, Consort’s Brendan Laye plans to keep showing how comfortable he is competing in Rogers Place, having taken second place last night with a 4.0 second run. He left Edmonton last year with an aggregate win while narrowly finishing as the runner up for a Canadian title.
NOVICE BAREBACK RIDING
After making an outstanding ride in Round 1, young gun Quaide Skjonsberg looks to keep the pressure on reigning champion and season leader Jace Lomheim. Skjonsberg looks to make another clean-cut ride on Big Stone’s 13 Cinch Jeans Dirty Laundry on Night 2.
JUNIOR STEER RIDING
After opening night saw 5 of 6 competitors earn qualified rides, Night 1 winner Dayton Cronkhite draws another brahma from Duane Ashbacher’s Lazy 2 in #147, hoping to keep the good times rolling.
NOVICE SADDLE BRONC RIDING
After leaving Edmonton as last year’s Novice Saddle Bronc Champion, Lonnie Dunn made a solid 75 point ride on night 1 to earn a second place cheque. The Big River, SK cowboy faces Legend Rodeo’s 023 Artificial Colours, an athletic white horse that pro bronc rider Kole Ashbacher rode for 90 points to win Fort McLeod this summer.
BREAKAWAY ROPING
On an opening night where half of the breakaway ropers ended up missing their calves, we can expect a host of fast times in the second performance!
- After facing some struggles at CFR 50, Brooke Pomeranz stepped out to make a statement on Night 1 with a 2.7 second run for third place. She will look to keep climbing up the standings in pursuit of a Canadian championship.
- Coming in one spot ahead of Pomeranz on the season, Halkirk’s Mikenna Schauer made a run of 2.3 seconds to end up one spot ahead as well, and will also push to keep a strong start rolling.
- Seeing both Whiteside sisters come up empty doesn’t happen very often, and while Bradi looks to rebound in her race for the Canadian title, Kylie will jump out with plans to reset her CFR as well.
LADIES BARREL RACING
- One night can make a difference in the barrel racing, as Bluffton’s Jennifer Neudorf completed her pattern in a blistering 13.76 second run to claim the victory lap, while jumping from 8th to 2nd in the Canadian standings. Neudorf might not want to change anything from her day yesterday while she looks to replicate those results.
- Rookie Taylor Cherry of Quesnel, BC nearly broke the 14 second mark last night, finishing in 4th place. The ladies all-around contender has only the barrel racing to help in her pursuit of that title, but has put herself even closer with 4 more runs to go.
- Normally the picture of consistency, Brooks’ Lynette Brodoway uncharacteristically knocked over the only barrel of the first performance. The 2023 Ladies Barrel Racing champion will lean on her wealth of horsemanship knowledge to make the necessary adjustments for her second run.
SADDLE BRONC RIDING
With the saddle bronc horses that current and past bronc riders dream about, the theme of round 2‘s TV pen will be some rematches!
- Logan Hay draws up with Macza’s 6 Squash Blossom Steely Dan, the flashy graythat he just rode for 88 points and a big payday in Mandan, North Dakota several weeks ago. Look for big things from Hay as he finished just out of the money on Night 1.
- Kole Ashbacher gets another chance with Wayne Vold’s flashy dapple gray 910 Renegade, with the two partnering in Strathmore for a 3rd/4th split. After an opening result below the NFR qualifier’s expectations, this draw will brighten his spirits.
- Nobody will be as excited about their draw as Nicholas Patterson, getting his wish in seeing his name beside C5 Rodeo’s F13 Virgil, who was crowned the PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year this week while also earning the same award from the CPRA. A big statement for Virgil’s 2025 resume, and Patterson’s, came from their long round winning performance at the Ponoka Stampede.
TEAM ROPING
- After Ponoka’s Levi Simpson showed off the skills that have earned him four Canadian heading titles along with a World title with a second place finish on opening night. Simpson and partner Kasper Roy moved behind season leaders Kavis Drake and Denim Ross, who widened their lead on the field by stopping the clock in 4.2 seconds for the victory lap. Expect big things from both teams again tonight.
- For Alliance’s Logan Spady, growing up roping in a narrow indoor arena surely helped with the heel shot he pulled off last night, and in order to successfully earn his third consecutive All-Around title, Spady and partner Trey Gallais will want to keep things rolling.
- Despite placing outside the money last night, Kash Bonnett and Logan Cullen are a good bet to speed things up and take home some CFR earnings tonight.
TIE DOWN ROPING
- For Souris, MB roper Stran Dunham, he entered the CFR within striking distance of the leaders, and strike he did, throwing his hands up for a second-best 8.0 second run. That effort propelled him to the top of the CPRA standings as both Logan Bird and Kyle Lucas finished outside of the money on opening night. Even though he had a great rookie appearance at CFR 50, Dunham looks to be showing even more confidence this time around.
- The only tie-down roper faster than Dunham last night was Stettler’s Beau Cooper, who wrapped up his run in 7.7 seconds. After taking home the 2024 CFR aggregate title, the former NFR qualifier looks to be a threat every night, which will make those ahead of him in the standings nervous.
- When Logan Spady looks to defend his All-Around title, he sees Nebraska’s Riley Wakefield’s name at the top of the current standings. Despite only qualifying in one of his three events, Wakefield placed last night and has widened the gap on his nearest challenger.
BULL RIDING
While tonight’s pen may not come with the accolades and reputation of last night’s bulls, there will be plenty to cheer about by the time the last bull rider leaves the arena on Thursday night.
- Lonnie West’s return to the CFR didn’t get off to the start he wanted, but the Cadogan cowboy looks to regroup and does so with Legend’s 055 Santana, which helped Edgar Durazo take the victory in Strathmore.
- Coy Robbins had a real tough start, drawing a reride after his first bull fouled him on the way out of the chute, only to end up short of the 8 seconds on his second chance. He hopes to leave a memorable mark aboard Vold’s 14 Carved in Stone tonight, a bull that took Jacob Gardner to a big time score in Stavely this spring.
- After suffering an injury that left him unable to compete at last year’s CFR, Jared Parsonage reminded everyone how tough he can be to get on the ground in Round 1, and has a great chance on Big Stone’s 104 Cinch Jeans Broken Glass.
For the full list of Round 2 Matchups as well as last night’s results, head to the CFR Live Results Feed at https://rodeocanada.com/canadian-finals-rodeo-results-2/
For a full schedule of events taking place during rodeo weekend, check out the Canadian Finals Rodeo webpage at cfr.ca