Tim O'Connell Tops the Field in the CFD Bareback

When it comes to bareback riding, the best in the business, as of right now is Tim O'Connell from Zwingle, Iowa. He came into the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo ranked #1 in the PRCA standings and left Cheyenne with a shiny new saddle and big paycheck by winning the bareback.

In the first round, O'Connell posted an 87 which was the best effort of the round, and that put $6521 in his pocket. He followed that up with a tie for first in the 2nd round with an 86so he won $5750. He took 1st in the championship short go on Sunday with a whopping 89 so he took home $1615 for that. O'Connell won the aggregate with 262 on 3 and that gave him another $9741.

This is a guy who already has won the Calgary Stampede this year and has posted wins in San Angelo, Nashville, Redmond, and Weatherford, Texas. He's also a 3-time world champion in the bareback from 2016-18. Last season, he was 2nd in the world standings and 3rd in the average of the National Finals Rodeo.

O'Connell has plenty of experience in the rough stock events, He was the Wisconsin high school state champion in the bull riding and made it to the National High School Finals four times. He also qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper twice.

This guy is certainly used to winning and won a Cheyenne Frontier Days championship back in 2017. As long as he stays healthy ( and that's not easy to do in this event) he should be a shoo-in for another appearance at the NFR.