Beau Cooper last made the NFR in 2023, and after a No. 23 and No. 48 finish the last two years in the PRCA World Standings, the plan remains mostly the same for the 24-year-old tie-down roper.

He went hunting and played hockey in the offseason while trying to make sure he was prepared for the new season. The goal remains the same to make the CFR and NFR, and winning Fort Worth goes a long way in the latter goal.

He took the first steps toward doing that in Bracket 3 by winning $4,400 from a second place finish in Round 1 and a first place finish in Round 2.

“That’s the main thing – advance, advance, advance,” he said. “My second run the timing was really good on everything and allowed me to be fast. Everything flowed smoothly and that’s usually what leads to quick times.”

Cooper will compete in the Semifinals in Dickies Arena for the second time in his career and look to avenge the 15.5-second time he turned in 2024.

Wacey Schalla Comes in Hot

After winning Round 2 and Semifinal 3 in Denver, the 20-year-old was sensational in the bareback riding once again in Fort Worth.

He split Round 1 with Richmond Champion with 88 points and then won Round 2 outright with 87 points.

On his eight rides this season, Schalla has already registered six of 86.5 points or more and is averaging 86.68 points per ride. His $4,700 is the most anyone has made in Fort Worth so far.

Champion and Round 2 runner-up RC Landingham also advanced out of Bracket 3.

Stran Smith Becomes First 2-for-2 Bull Rider

The bull riders have struggled mightily through the first two brackets, riding just 4-of-32 bulls total to start the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

Stran Smith was the one to finally add a little juice to the event. He was the lone cowboy to make the whistle in Round 1 of Bracket with 78 points on Joker’s Alibi, which paid him $7,400. He followed that up with 85 points in Round 2 to split first on a night that four bull riders made the whistle. Mind you, there were just five total qualified rides before Bracket 3, Round 2.

Smith, who made $9,725 in the Bracket, will be joined by Lane Vaughn in the Semifinals with Jesse Petri heading to the Wild Card.

Who Else Advanced…

Steer Wrestling: Mason Couch made the fastest run of the rodeo so far with a 3.4 and eeked out a first place finish in the Bracket. He made $2,625 while Dane Haas and Riley Westhaver both made $2,325. Due to a tiebreaker, Haas will be in the Semifinals and Westhaver in the Wild Card.

Team Roping: Dustin Egusquiza/JC Flake earned $4,000 apiece thanks to runs of 4.3 and 5.1 seconds. Riley Kittle/Cole Curry and Nelson Wyatt/Jonathan Torres both made $2,500, the latter doing so with an arena-record setting 3.3-second run.

Saddle Bronc Riding: Whaitley Sharon won Rond 2 with 88 points and that was enough for him to beat out reigning World Champion Statler Wright by $625. Sharon and Wright are both off to the Semifinals while Jacobs Crawley, who was badly injured on his Round 2 ride, earned the Wild Card spot. He will likely be unable to compete due to a back injury.

Barrel Racing: McKenna Coronado won Round 2 with a 16.29-second run on her way to banking $4,000. Summer Kosel is the other Semifinalist at $3,400 while Shelley Morgan is the Wild Card.

Breakaway Roping: Shalee King was $100 better than Emilee Charlesworth as they finished with $4,100 and $4,000 respectively. Tiada Gray is off to the Wild Card.

Full Results

Bareback Riding

First round: 1. (tie) Richmond Champion, on Dakota Rodeo’s Buckle Bunny, and Wacey Schalla, on Dakota Rodeo’s Native Lights, 88 points, $2,200 each; 3. Bradlee Miller, 86.5, $1,500; 4. R.C. Landingham, 85.5, $1,000; 5. Dean Thompson, 85, $125; 6. Andy Gingerich, 82, $125; 7. Ethan Mazurenko, 79, $125; 8. Stetson Bierman, 76, $125.

Second round: 1. Wacey Schalla, 87 points on United Pro Rodeo’s Marie Leveau, $2,500; 2. R.C. Landingham, 85, $1,900; 3. Richmond Champion, 82.5, $1,500; 4. Ethan Mazurenko, 82, $1,000; 5. (tie) Stetson Bierman and Andy Gingerich, 81, $125 each; 7. Bradlee Miller, 80, $125; 8. Dean Thompson, 78.5, $125.

Qualifiers: 1. Wacey Schalla, $4,700; 2. Richmond Champion, $3,700; 3. **R.C. Landingham, $2,900.

Steer Wrestling

First round: 1. Mason Couch, 3.4 seconds, $2,500; 2. Ryan Shuckburgh, 3.7, $1,900; 3. Tyler Waguespack, 4.3, $1,500; 4. Jacob Edler, 5.1, $1,000; 5. Nick Guy, 5.3, $125; 6. Dane Haas, 5.5, $125; 7. Riley Westhaver, 8.2, $125; 8. Eli Lord, 14.1, $125.

Second round: 1. (tie) Dane Haas and Riley Westhaver, 4.1 seconds, $2,200 each; 3. Eli Lord, 4.2, $1,500; 4. (tie) Jacob Edler and Tyler Waguespack, 4.3, $563 each; 6. Nick Guy, 5.7, $125; 7. Mason Couch, 6.1, $125; no other qualified runs.

Qualifiers: 1. Mason Couch, $2,625; 2. **Dane Haas, $2,325; 3. Riley Westhaver, $2,325.

Team Roping

First round: 1. Nelson Wyatt/Jonathan Torres, 3.3 seconds, $2,500 each; 2. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 4.0, $1,900; 3. Dustin Egusquiza/JC Flake, 4.3, $1,500; 4. Riley Kittle/Cole Curry, 4.5, $1,000; 5. Jr. Dees/Landen Glenn, 4.6, $125; 6. Cole Eiguren/Wesley Thorp, 4.9, $125; 7. Coy Rahlmann/Logan Medlin, 14.9, $125; no other qualified runs.

Second round: 1. Dustin Egusquiza/JC Flake, 5.1 seconds, $2,500 each; 2. Jr. Dees/Landen Glenn, 5.5, $1,900; 3. Riley Kittle/Cole Curry, 8.9, $1,500; no other qualified runs.

Qualifiers: 1. Dustin Egusquiza/JC Flake, $4,000 each; 2. Riley Kittle/Cole Curry, $2,500; 3. **Jr. Dees/Landen Glenn, $2,025.

Saddle Bronc Riding

First round: 1. Jacobs Crawley, 86 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Smarty Pants, $2,500; 2. Ben Andersen, 84.5, $1,900; 3. (tie) Waitley Sharon and Statler Wright, 83.5, $1,250 each; 5. (tie) James Perrin and Jake Watson, 83, $125 each; 7. Blake Starrett, 81.5, $125; 8. Shorty Garrett, 75, $125.

Second round: 1. Waitley Sharon, 88 points on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Jazzbo Depew, $2,500; 2. Statler Wright, 87, $1,900; 3. Shorty Garrett, 83.5, $1,500; 4. James Perrin, 83, $1,000; 5. Ben Andersen, 80, $125; 6. Blake Starrett, 66, $125; no other qualified rides.

Qualifiers: 1. Waitley Sharon, $3,750; 2. Statler Wright, $3,150; 3. **Jacobs Crawley, $2,500.

Tie-Down Roping

First round: 1. Tom Crouse, 9.9 seconds, $2,500; 2. Beau Cooper, 10.6, $1,900; 3. Cole Clemons, 10.8, $1,500; 4. Treg Schaack, 13.2, $1,000; 5. Brushton Minton, 14.0, $125; 6. Ryan Jarrett, 14.5, $125; 7. Dylan Hancock, 16.1, $125; no other qualified runs.

Second round: 1. Beau Cooper, 8.6 seconds, $2,500; 2. Brushton Minton, 9.1, $1,900; 3. Treg Schaack, 12.2, $1,500; 4. Cole Clemons, 12.3, $1,000; 5. Ryan Jarrett, 14.6, $125; 6. Tom Crouse, 19.4, $125; 7. Dylan Hancock, 21.0, $125; no other qualified runs.

Qualifiers: 1. Beau Cooper, $4,400; 2. Tom Crouse, $2,625; 3. **Cole Clemons, $2,500.

Barrel Racing

First round: 1. Shelley Morgan, 16.41 seconds, $2,500; 2. Summer Kosel, 16.69, $1,900; 3. McKenna Coronado, 16.78, $1,500; 4. Sue Smith, 17.33, $1,000; 5. LaTricia Duke, 17.75, $125; 6. Alyssa Urbanek-Wade, 21.31, $125; 7. Katelyn Scott, 21.72, $125; 8. Sharin Hall, 22.62, $125.

Second round: 1. McKenna Coronado, 16.29 seconds, $2,500; 2. Katelyn Scott, 16.53, $1,900; 3. Summer Kosel, 16.56, $1,500; 4. Sue Smith, 16.75, $1,000; 5. Alyssa Urbanek-Wade, 16.87, $125; 6. Sharin Hall, 17.01, $125; 7. LaTricia Duke, 17.24, $125; 8. Shelley Morgan, 21.26, $125.

Qualifiers: 1. McKenna Coronado, $4,000; 2. Summer Kosel, $3,400; 3. **Shelley Morgan, $2,625.

Bull Riding

First round: 1. Stran Smith, 78 points on Andrews Rodeo’s Jokers Alibi, $7,400; no other qualified rides.

Second round: 1. (tie) Stran Smith, on United Pro Rodeo’s Debo, and Lane Vaughan, on United Pro Rodeo’s Ray Ban, 85 points, $2,325 each; 3. Jesse Petri, 83, $1,625; 4. Riley Shippy, 82, $1,125; no other qualified rides.

Qualifiers: 1. Stran Smith, $9,725; 2. Lane Vaughan, $2,325; 3. **Jesse Petri, $1,625.

Breakaway Roping

First round: 1. Emilee Charlesworth, 2.6 seconds, $2,500; 2. Shalee King, 3.1, $1,900; 3. Madalyn Richards, 3.6, $1,500; 4. Brighton Bauman, 4.1, $1,000; 5. TiAda Gray, 12.0, $125; 6. Taylor Raupe, 14.1, $125; no other qualified runs.

Second round: 1. (tie) TiAda Gray and Shalee King, 2.5 seconds, $2,200 each; 3. Emilee Charlesworth, 2.8, $1,500; 4. Beau Peterson, 3.4, $1,000; 5. Taylor Raupe, 12.0, $125; no other qualified runs.

Qualifiers: 1. Shalee King, $4,100; 2. Emilee Charlesworth, $4,000; 3. TiAda Gray, $2,325;