Ask Daniel Miranda a question about the history of rodeo in the 50th state and it’s a good bet he’ll know the answer quite well.

When asked about Ikua Purdy, a National Rodeo Hall of Fame member who lived much of his life (1873-1945) on Maui, Miranda knew that Purdy worked here for 30 years, mostly as foreman at Ulupalakua Ranch.

Now Miranda, the former Hawaii High School and Maui District All Around Cowboy, is a standout freshman rodeo competitor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

He is continuing his impressive rise up the competitive rodeo ladder, most recently winning the season-long tie-down roping title at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association West Coast Regional in Las Vegas.

In June, he and five other Cal Poly men’s teammates will head to Casper, Wyo., for the College National Finals Rodeo.

“Oh man, the CNFR, it’s so cool, I can’t wait,” Miranda said Sunday via phone. “Especially as a freshman. I think there are only three freshmen, two besides me, going to the CNFR from the West and, man, it’s a huge honor.”

Miranda is the son of Morag and Ken Miranda. Ken Miranda is the Kaonoulu Ranch general manager — the family has owned the Upcountry ranch for more than 100 years — and in his first chance to do so, Daniel has made his way from standout on the state and national high school rodeo scene to being a qualifier for the CNFR.

Daniel Miranda finished on top of the tie-down roping standings in the West Coast Region after the nine-event 2022-23 season started in September and finished in Las Vegas on May 13.

Going into his final go-round, he knew he needed just a scoring mark in the event also known as calf roping. When he looked at the clock and saw his successful 9.7-second run, emotion flowed over him.

“I knew coming into the West Region (finale) that I was going to be top three for sure, but to win the whole deal as a freshman, I didn’t think I was going to win the whole deal … I just came into the finale, saying, ‘Hey, I might be the young guy, but we’re going to give them hell,’ ” Miranda said. “In my last run in Vegas I knew I just had to make points — it didn’t matter if I was first or fifth in the round, I just had to make some kind of points to win region.

“I went out there and posted 9.7 in the round and as I walked back to my horse and saw 9.7 on the stop clock, it was so relieving to know that I could do it and I just did it.”

His season-long points total of 781 was far ahead of the second-place total of 629 scored by Cole Dodds of Feather River College.

Miranda also competed in team roping, where he was 13th for the season in the West Coast Region, and steer wrestling, where he finished 12th.

The top three season-long finishers in each event in the West Coast Region move on to Casper.

“The top six in our region in the event that I qualified in are all really, really good competitors and to be top three, to be No. 1 was pretty awesome,” Miranda said. “It’s not easy by any means, the top guys are all there and they are really good.”

The event that he won involves starting out of a chute on his horse at the same time as a 150-to-250-pound calf, lassoing in the calf in full sprint, jumping off the horse, wrestling the calf to the ground and tying any three legs — the calf must stay down for six seconds for the run to be successful.

Miranda admits that he surprises himself from time to time with his success. He is part of the West Coast Region champion men’s team that will challenge for a national title in Casper, and their female counterparts also won the region team title.

Cal Poly coach Ben Londo has had several Hawaii competitors on his team in his nine seasons at the Mustang helm and he is impressed with the prowess of Miranda.

“Daniel is an extremely beneficial asset to the Cal Poly rodeo program,” Londo said via phone Monday. “He’s got the right mindset, he’s definitely got the winning mindset. He’s very coachable, he’s willing to put the work in. He’s always willing to give the extra effort and do what he needs to do to improve or get better.

“And you see that in his results as a freshman: winning the tie-down roping for the West Coast Region his freshman year and going to the College National Finals where he will surely have a good chance to step it up with the competition back there.”

Londo sees a pro rodeo future for Miranda, who has also taken his opportunities to take the microphone to announce rodeo events here and in California.

“He’s a first-class tie-down roper and we’re really excited to have him wearing the green and gold going back to Casper for the College National Finals,” Londo said.

Miranda takes great pride in showing Mainland rodeo folks precisely what young Hawaii cowboys can do. He is asked often about whether Hawaii has rodeo cowboys.

“All the time, it’s a pretty frequent question that I get asked at these rodeos,” Miranda said. ” ‘That guy,’ exactly. It’s always fun to say ‘yep” when people say, ‘Man, I didn’t even know there was rodeo in Hawaii.’ I tell, like, ‘Yeah, Hawaii had cowboys before Texas was even a state.’ ”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.