With the completion of Bracket 4 in Fort Worth, more than half of the spots in the Semifinals have been filled.

Jess Pope led the way in the bareback riding with a second place finish in Round 1 and a win in Round 2 to bring his total to $4,400. Tristan Hansen, who has finished in the Top 40 each of the last five seasons and is looking for a career-defining win was the other Semifinal qualifier. Meanwhile, reigning Fort Worth champion Nick Pelke will have to work his way through the Wild Card.

In steer wrestling, 2025 NFR qualifiers Bridger Anderson and Justin Shaffer were the round-winners with runs of 3.6 and 3.9 seconds respectively, and it was enough for both of them to advance. Anderson finished with $4,4000 after finishing second to Shaffer in Round 2 while Shaffer was third in Round 1 with a 4.4 to bring his total to $4,000. Kyle Irwin, who had a second place and third place finish of his own for runs of 4.0 and 4.4 seconds, took the Wildcard spot from Bracket 4.

Each night in the team roping only featured four qualified times and James Arviso/Rance Doyal and Cash Duty/Calgary Smith were the two pairs who survived the gauntlet to register two qualified times and book their spots in the Semifinals. Round 2 winners Jake Orman/Caleb Green claimed the Wild Card with $2,500.

In saddle bronc riding, Rusty Wright continued his terrific start to 2026 with an emphatic sweep of Bracket 4. He was 91 points on Rebel Yell in Round 1 and 88 on Blue Chip in Round 2. He won $5,000, and although it doesn’t pay any extra, it is worth nothing that Wright has the highest aggregate score on two horses of the rodeo so far. Chase Brooks grabbed the other Semifinal spot while Leon Fountain is off to the Wild Card.

In a very spread out Bracket 4 in the tie-down roping, Cory Solomon and Haven Meged advanced to the Semifinals while Michael Otero got the Wild Card. All three of them made between $2,700 and $2,200.

Barrel racing belonged to Carlee Otero, who swept her way through with two of the fastest runs of the rodeo. She was 16.26 in Round 1 and 16.08, the fastest run of the FWSSR so far, in Round 2. Makenna Shook was 16.35 in Round 1, which would have won a majority of the other Go-Rounds, to take second in Bracket 4 while Acey Pinkston, who faced a similar fate with a 16.19 for second in Round 2, grabbed the Wild Card.

The bull riders have gotten better and better in each bracket and no one in the first three brackets impressed the way Luke Mackey did in Bracket 4. He was 2-for-2 with one those rides being marked 88 points to bring in more than $6,000. Dustin Boquet and Tristan Mize, the only other two to make the whistle through two rounds, advanced to the Semifinals and Wild Card respectively.

In breakaway roping, Cadee Williams turned in times of 2.0 and 2.6 seconds to win $3,500 and beat out Kinlie Brennise by $100. The Wild Card spot went to Samantha Fulton, who made $3,063.