Wright, who now lives in Springdale, described his journey into knife-making and winning applause at cutting contests for chopping and wielding as well as the quality of his work.
“I've been making knives for about three and a half years, off and on, just doing it as a hobby, but I've really grown to love it. I’ve met a whole lot of great people here. Every one of the cutters here is a good friend of mine. So I’m happy to be competing with them.”
Using an 11-inch Bowie, Wright performed admirably at every cutting challenge station, but the crowd was especially taken with his feat of chopping a hanging rope that had been taped at the end so that the contestant needed to chop through four layers of rope with one swing. He was the only participant to slice it in two, sending the cutoff piece in this reporter’s direction.
In second place was Ramsey Richardson and in third was Shane Franks. These two expert knifemen tied at 25 points, but Richardson’s faster time in chopping the two by four was the tie-breaker.
Jerry Fisk was the host of the contest, providing his irrepressibly wry one-liners throughout, as he observed that if a performer were to errantly chop the dummy in the William Tell station in the head, that performer would be disqualified. But the contest itself might have to stop, too, since, like a person, the crew only had one head.
The contest was part of the two-day James Black Bowie Knife Festival, now in its fifth year, which Fisk told the large audience gathered under a tent in case of rain that didn’t arrive, had been the idea of Forged in Fire host and longtime knife-maker and weapons expert Ricardo Vilar (who was present and who gave talks this weekend) shortly after he made up his mind to gain U.S. Citizenship and move to the U.S. from his native Brazil.
The festival has featured knife demonstrations, knife sales, hands-on chances to try out knife-making oneself and much else. On Saturday noons, the Arkansas Heritage Arkansas Arts Council’s Living Treasure recipient is also introduced. This year’s choice was Tim Trawick, renowned for excellence in the playing of the fiddle but also teaching so many students the craft over more than 40 years.
Between contestants, Trawick led a small group in performances of several songs, including “Home on the Range” and “Ashokan Farewell,” which is perhaps better known as the theme song of Ken Burns Civil War series.
Above photo: Arkansas Knife-chopping Championship official Mona Still (left) presents the 2026 winner Tyler Wright with his award Saturday afternoon at Historic Washington State Park.
Below photo: The contestants in Saturday afternoon's event pose, many displaying knives of their own manufacture.
