The Wild Card Round at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo offered competitors one more opportunity to advance to the Semi-Finals and, from there, the championship round.
One of the first to secure his spot was bareback rider Leighton Berry who went 89.5 points on J Bar J Rodeo’s Shady Lounge to win the round.
It was a heartbreak for Stephenville’s J.J. Hampton who has roped all her life and is the most decorated breakaway roper in the event’s history. Hampton was the first roper out and failed to connect. Her time at this year’s stock show is done but competing here has been a dream come true and she is looking forward to next year.
Jennifer Casey, a physical therapist from Mesa, Washington, won the breakaway wild card round with a time of 2.1 seconds. While in the team roping, world champions Clay Smith and Jade Corkill topped the leaderboard.
Kolby Wanchuk of Sherwood Park, Alberta, had to work three times as hard as the other saddle bronc riders on Wednesday night to get a chance to ride at Dickies Arena again, earning and taking 2 rerides before scoring an 85.5 on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Just Bugs. That was good enough for second place behind world champion Spencer Wright.
Six-time and reigning world champion bull rider Sage Kimzey will also be among the semi-finalists after a win on Wednesday. He rode Little Big Man from J Bar J Rodeo for 88.5 points.
The semi-finals kick off tonight at 8:30PM EST, and eight contestants will be featured in each event with the top four advancing directly to Saturday night’s Championship Finals.
