FORT WORTH, Texas – Through the opening two rounds of the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations inside the historic Cowtown Coliseum, two men exited the building Friday night with perfect records intact.

And if you’ve been paying attention at all this season, you’ll recognize them both.

RELATED: Cassio Dias, 2-for-2 in Cowtown Coliseum, extends lead atop standings with third-place effort in Eliminations Round 2

Finding himself staring up at the big board following his out for the second-straight night, World No. 1 Cassio Dias had a feeling he made the whistle. But with the clock reading 7.94 seconds, the cowboy was forced to hit the challenge button, as he believed his effort warranted a closer look.

With the attention turning to Allan Jordan, the tour’s head replay official, who appeared on the board as he reviewed the ride, the rowdy crowd awaited his decision, as did Dias.

And once the judge gave his patented thumbs up to confirm the ride, the place exploded with applause as the industry’s top talent continued his perfect start during his World Finals debut. Combining his 86.75-point go aboard Sava during the opening round with a flashy 88-point strike atop Ricky Vaughn from Round 2, he trails only one man in occupying the second spot in the event standings.

That man, who, pronounced himself last summer alongside Dias during his standout rookie PBR Teams season with the Nashville Stampede, is none other than Kaiden Loud, who finds himself atop the event standings heading into night three.

RELATED: Humble Nashville Stampede star continues fiery start during World Finals debut

One of the many skilled rookies contributing towards PBR’s most talented class of first-years in more than 30 seasons of greatness (with the event standings currently dominated by three first-years in Loud, Dias and No. 15 Cort McFadden), Loud will bring a 3.75-point advantage over Dias in the aggregate into Saturday night’s showdown.

Owning the only 90-pointer of the weekend so far, he’d be wise to keep his momentum flowing forward rather than worry about Dias and the remainder of the pack lurking behind him, for this is also Loud’s first trip to the World Finals.

After seeing his good friend in No. 3 John Crimber (surprise, another rookie standout) best Doze You Down earlier this season for a rank 91 points, not only did it make Loud interested in selecting the animal athlete as his dancing partner during the Round 2 draft, but it gave him a mark to beat!

Ripping off a career-best, 91.75-point effort with said bovine, he celebrated on the dirt before entertaining a few interviews, receiving his round-winning buckle and concentrating his efforts on recovery.

Eight bulls in eight days, should he punch his ticket to AT&T Stadium, is quite the workload after all.

But we have a feeling he’ll welcome each and every opportunity.

With the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations set to continue Saturday, May 11 in Fort Worth, Texas, let’s take a look at who’s drawing into the lineup inside Cowtown Coliseum during Round 3:

ROUND 3 MATCHUPS Jean Fernandes Pereira vs. Ridin’ Salty Grayson Cole vs. John 14:6 Claudio Montanha Jr. vs. Tchoupitoulas Lucas Divino vs. Cracker Jack Jake Morinec vs. Muss Bus JaCauy Hale vs. Haymaker Silvano Alves vs. Army Slasher Andrew Alvidrez vs. Cliffhanger Callum Miller vs. July Ezekiel Mitchell vs. Seth Wadley’s No Bull Conner Halverson vs. Wishful Thinking *Bob Mitchell vs. The Undertaker Mason Taylor vs. Schott In The Dark Jesse Petri vs. Black Ice Wyatt Rogers vs. Bugatti Ednelio Almeida vs. Washita Red Paulo Eduardo Rossetto vs. Blown Away Boudreaux Campbell vs. Boomerang Mauricio Gulla Moreira vs. Big Chew Felipe Furlan vs. Black Gold Sage Steele Kimzey vs. Tulsa Time *Daylon Swearingen vs. Hoka Hey Keyshawn Whitehorse vs. Bruised Ego *Alex Cerqueira vs. Pneu-Dart’s Chief Wahoo Cody Jesus vs. Blackstone Julio Cesar Marques vs. Fierce’s Dirtnap Kaique Pacheco vs. La Grande Caden Bunch vs. Manaba Brady Fielder vs. I’m Legit Too Joao Ricardo Vieira vs. Ugly This Koltin Hevalow vs. Ghost Face Vitor Losnake vs. Chupacabra Thiago Salgado vs. Baldy Qynn Andersen vs. Red Mosquito *Dener Barbosa vs. Pookie Holler Dawson Branton vs. Hang ‘em High Leonardo Castro vs. God Bless America Cort McFadden vs. Regulator Alan de Souza vs. Wild Card Dalton Kasel vs. Jersey Tuff *John Crimber vs. Brown Bomber Eduardo Aparecido vs. Umm Kaiden Loud vs. Renegade *Cassio Dias vs. Norse God *Denotes a rematch OUT DUE TO INJURY/OTHER Austin Richardson (Injury) Wingson Henrique da Silva (Injury) Clay Guiton (Injury) Jose Vitor Leme (Injury) Kyler Oliver (Injury) Marco Rizzo (Injury) ROUND 3 REMATCHES Alex Cerqueira vs. Pneu-Dart’s Chief Wahoo (4.73 seconds in New York, New York) Bob Mitchell vs. The Undertaker (3.61 seconds in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; 4.59 seconds in Indianapolis, Indiana) Cassio Dias vs. Norse God (4.43 seconds in Tulsa, Oklahoma) Daylon Swearingen vs. Hoka Hey (86.75 points in Nampa, Idaho; 87.25 points in Jacksonville, Florida; 88.75 points in Kansas City, Missouri) Dener Barbosa vs. Pookie Holler (3.47 seconds in Las Vegas, Nevada) John Crimber vs. Brown Bomber (88 points in Evertt, Washington) NO. 15 CORT MCFADDEN RECORDS CAREER-HIGH RIDE VIA FIRST WORLD FINALS CONVERSION The son of former PBR rider Cory McFadden, Cort may have spent a majority of his rookie season living in the shadows of Cassio Dias, John Crimber and company, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been thriving during his first year on the top tour.

If anything, we’ve been anticipating Crimber’s professional debut for what seems like a decade. And after watching Dias finish just one ride score short of two-time PBR Teams MVP Jose Vitor Leme last season, we knew he would be a thing as well.

In McFadden’s case, we’d seen him make some noise here and there during his first two summer sessions with the Austin Gamblers but hadn’t seen any of it translate to the individual slate. That changed in 2024, as he was one of the most consistent riders throughout the season. Logging at least one ride in 13 of the 15 regular season contests in which he performed, the recently-acquired Oklahoma Wildcatters rider advanced those figures to 14-for-16 Friday night, courtesy of his first-ever World Finals conversion.

Which, when you consider this marks his first trip, and the fact that the qualified ride continues to rank as the contest’s second-highest scored ride, we’d say expectations for the 20-year-old have changed.

He’s not here to stay sharp for the Wildcatters. He’s here to make a world title push.

Besting his Round 2 partner Punchy Pete for a sincere 88.5 points, the Novice, Texas, native found himself at the No. 15 rank when the dust inside Cowtown Coliseum settled Friday.

Set to dance with Regulator during Saturday’s third round, will McFadden be able to stay hot and further improve his odds at securing a spot inside AT&T Stadium next weekend at the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship?

Be sure to grab your tickets for Saturday’s show or tune in to the CBS Sports Network broadcast beginning at 7 p.m. CDT!

FOLLOW ALONG Round 3’s action inside Cowtown Coliseum will begin Saturday, May 11 at 6:45 p.m. CDT and will also air live on CBS Sports Network beginning at 7 p.m. CDT.

The final round of Eliminations action will air live on CBS Sports Network beginning at 2 p.m. CDT on Sunday, May 12.

Fans can also catch the remaining rounds of the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations on the TUDN Spanish broadcast, with Round 2 primed to air on Saturday, May 11 at 2 p.m. CDT, Round 3 set to air on Sunday, May 12 and Round 4 set to round out the weekend’s coverage on Monday, May 13 at 2 p.m. CDT.

Supporters can stay tuned to PBR.com and PBR social media channels throughout the weekend for the latest scores, wrecks, injury updates and beyond as the 2024 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Eliminations invade Cowtown Coliseum May 11-12!

Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media