SHELBY BOISJOLI-MEGED ALL SMILES AFTER BIG WIN AT THE DADDY OF EM' ALL / PHOTO CREDIT: CLICK THOMPSON
CHEYENNE, Wyo., July 28, 2024 — The Championship Sunday crowd at the 128thCheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo (CFD) saw a mix of world champions facing adversity and unheralded cowboys ride away with 2024 championships at the Daddy of ‘em All.
The top 12 contestants from the previous rounds of competition compete on Championship Sunday where everyone starts with a clean slate. The first competition of the day was steer roping. Tuff Hardman of Atoka, Oklahoma, who came into Championship Sunday in tenth place, but clocked a time of 14.5 seconds as the third man to rope. The closest any of the rest of the field could get was a 14.6 by another Oklahoman, Chet Herren. Hardman has his sights on qualifying for the National Finals Steer Roping and the nearly $11,000 he won on Sunday will help the father of three reach that goal.
TUFF HARDMAN WITH A STEER ROPING TIME OF 14.5 SECONDS VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
Next up was bareback riding where seven of the 12 finalists were veterans of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR). North Dakota cowboy Clay Jorgenson marked the highest score of the 2024 rodeo with 90 points Summit Pro Rodeo’s Game Trail. This is the biggest win to date for the 28-year-old cowboy and is one he’ll remember for a lifetime.
CLAY JORGENSON WITH A 90 POINTS RIDE ON SUMMIT PRO RODEO’S GAME TRAIL / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
“To get my name up there with a bunch of great guys who’ve won this rodeo before, it hasn’t really processed yet,”
CLAY JORGENSON
“To get my name up there with a bunch of great guys who’ve won this rodeo before, it hasn’t really processed yet,” Jorgenson remarked. “It’s an unbelievable feeling and I’m so blessed.”
In tie-down roping, world standings leader Shad Mayfield continued his successful season, clocking a time of 9.8 to win by nearly 3 seconds. Mayfield has been battling hip injuries all season and credited being able to stay in Cheyenne through the week with helping his performance. He will take a few weeks off for rest and rehabilitation to stave off surgery until after the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in December.
SHAD MAYFIELD ROPES HIS CALF IN 9.8 SECONDS / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
Mayfield, who won the world title in 2020, grew up coming to Frontier Days with his father. He has a photo of himself as a young child swinging a rope under the grandstands.
Reigning breakaway roping world champion Shelby Boisjoli-Meged was emotional on the winner’s platform after winning her event with the fastest time of this year’s rodeo – 3.7 seconds. She admitted that she had been having a rough time winning this summer.
SHELBY BOISJOLI-MEGED ROPES HER CALF IN 3.7 SECONDS / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
She had to be one of the top breakaway ropers in the wild card round after she missed the cut in the qualification round.
“I missed my calf in the wild card and had to fish my rope around the neck,” she said. “I credit that “cowgirl try” with getting me to today’s finals. Today I thought I had broken the barrier for a couple of strides until I heard my husband yell.”
To see your name drawn next to Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ THE Black Tie is a bronc rider’s dream. The 2023 Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year is known for giving cowboys a good chance to mark 90 points or more. Logan Cook of Alto, Texas, took advantage of that opportunity with a score of 90 to win the championship.
“I’ve kind of been nervous since yesterday afternoon about 4 o’clock just because you know you’ve got the one to win it on as long as you do your job,”
LOGAN COOK
LOGAN COOK RODE THE BLACK TIE BY SANKEY PRO RODEO & PHENOM GENETICS FOR 90 POINTS / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
“Everybody in the world watches the Daddy of ‘Em All. You grow up as a little kid watching it and it’s just great to come here and come out on top,” he said.
Winning Cheyenne Frontier Days is an accomplishment that has eluded team ropers Hayes Smith and Justin Davis for years, until now.
“This is one of the ones you grow up practicing to win and I’ve never even made the short round here,”
HAYES SMITH
“I’ve made the short round five or six times, but I’ve never won it.”
JUSTIN DAVIS
The field was stacked with past CFD champions along with numerous NFR qualifiers, but Smith and Davis bested them all with an 8.3 second run to win.
HAYES SMITH & JUSTIN DAVIS ROPED A 8.3 SECOND RUN IN TEAM ROPING / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
“This is as good as it gets. It’s a lifelong dream to win this rodeo. I’ve been here probably 16 times, and I’ve never won it, so it’s pretty special,” Davis acknowledged.
Denton Good, a 20-year-old steer wrestler from Long Valley, South Dakota, earned his first championship at Frontier Park. Rodeo is a family affair for Good. His father Allen was his hazer, riding his grandfather’s hazing horse. Denton rode his brother’s horse while his brother was at another rodeo riding Denton’s horse.
DENTON GOOD ALONG WITH IS DAD ALLEN HAZING HAD A FAST TIME OF 6.5 SECONDS / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
Good opened a fencing business after he graduated from high school. His foreman made the 4.5-hour drive to watch the final round while the rest of his crew worked a fencing job.
In barrel racing 2022 World Champion Jordon Briggs and her horse Famous Lil Jet that she calls Rollo took the win in Frontier Park, a place where her mother Kristie Peterson won four championships in the 1990s. Champions here get a prize package that includes a trophy buckle and trophy saddle. Peterson also took home a trophy bit from the 100th anniversary of this rodeo. Briggs received a special three-foot tall replica of Frontier Park’s new How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls statue as did Boisjoli-Meged.
JORDON BRIGGS ON HER HORSE ROLLO RAN A 17.06 IN BARREL RACING / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
Briggs took most of the rodeo season off as Rollo recovered from an injury to a suspensory ligament and had won no money in Women’s Professional Rodeo Association competition as of June 1. Since then, she and Rollo have been taking home paychecks and the $17,000 they earned here is an important boost in her quest to return to the NFR or at least end the season in the top 30 to qualify for the big winter rodeos.
T.J. Gray, a 23-year-old bull rider from Dairy, Oregon, matched up with Dakota Rodeo’s bull No Dose for a score of 90 points.
T.J. GRAY MATCHED UP WITH DAKOTA RODEO’S BULL NO DOSE AND SCORED 90 POINTS / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
“I’ve never been 90 before so when they said that I was, I was pretty stoked,”
T.J. GRAY
“I’ve never been 90 before so when they said that I was, I was pretty stoked,” Gray, who is ranked seventh in the world, admitted.
“Cheyenne’s the biggest rodeo I’ve ever won,” Gray said. “There were a lot of good bull riders out today and a lot of good bulls, but I knew 90 was going to be a high mark to beat.”
The all-around race was a veteran versus rookie; timed event versus rough stock battle between two Oklahomans – roper Coleman Proctor and bareback and bull rider Wacey Schalla.
Proctor, the 2022 CFD All-Around Champion, posted a time of 24.0 seconds in steer roping which put him eighth and earned him $2,200. Schalla was the final cowboy to ride in the bareback riding. He knew he needed a big score since North Dakota’s Jorgenson had set the bar at 90 points. Schalla scored 89 points to split second and third and add $5,500 to his earnings.
COLEMAN PROCTOR WON THE 2024 ALL AROUND CHAMPION TITLE / VIDEO COURTESY OF CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO FOR TENN TEXAS MEDIA
In team roping Proctor and his partner Logan Medlin of New Mexico won $8,000 each for second place with a time of 10 seconds. For the second time in three years, Proctor found himself avidly watching the bull riding with an all-around title on the line.
Schalla was matched with Dakota Rodeo’s unridden bull Big Time. The rookie cowboy brought a roar from the crowd as he scored 83 points to place third for another $4,500, but that wasn’t enough to overtake Proctor who joked his 2022 buckle was getting worn and needed an update.
The 2025 Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo will be held in Frontier Park July 19-27, 2025.
2024 Cheyenne Frontier Days Champions
Bareback Riding – Clay Jorgenson, Watford City, N.D., $11,729
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (July 28, 2024)- The following are unofficial results from Championship Sunday at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo on Sunday, July 28.
Bareback Riding: 1, Clay Jorgenson, Watford City, N.D., 90 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Game Trail, $8,455. 2, (tie) Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, Canada, and Wacey Schalla, Arapaho, Okla., 89, $5,508 each. 4, Waylon Bourgeois, Church Point, La., 88, $3,074. 5, (tie) R.C. Landingham, Hat Creek, Calif.; Lane McGehee, Victoria, Texas, and Jacob Lees, Caldwell, Idaho, 84, $769 each.
