2025 Year-End Edition

DRAMA OF THE NFR: WORLD CHAMPIONS BASK IN EMOTION OF 10-DAY COMPETITION By Zach Alvira

T he Wrangler National Finals Rodeo can be grueling. Ten straight days of competition with flip-flop ping standings, the disappointment or triumph of good and bad runs and rides, and the ‘what if’ scenarios adding extra pressure in the late rounds. The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas every Decem ber has become a place where dreams become reality or fade away. But for eight individuals, the 10 days become worth every second with a new gold buckle to show for it. For some cowboys like tie-down roper Riley Webb, the 2025 NFR provided an opportunity to be immortal ized among some of PRORODEO’s greats.

“(Roy Cooper) and his family have been huge for my career,” Webb said. “To be in his presence and be the first one to do it since him, it’s huge.” From the third straight to the first ever, this year’s NFR provided it all. Barrel racer Kassie Mowry defended her 2024 WPRA World Championship. Her 2025 NFR run came without her prized horse, Jarvis. With the ongoing outbreak of EHV, she chose not to take him to Las Vegas. Instead, she rode Will, her backup horse that she believes would be No. 1 in any other stable. She also utilized a horse named Cornbread. She won rounds 1 and 6 this year and stayed atop the standings with solid runs by the two horses. The emotion of winning another gold buckle came second for Mowry. She was happiest for Will and Cornbread.

Webb secured his third straight world cham pionship this year. He became the first tie down roper since the great Roy Cooper from 1980-84, when he won five in a row, to win three straight. To be in the same

conversation as ‘Super Looper’ was an honor in itself for Webb. Coo per is someone he looked up to as a young cowboy eager to get his foot in the door in PRORODEO.

“I’m just so proud of the horses,” Mowry said. “I had four horses I ran this year. They all got a big win at some point this year. I’m just so grateful, so lucky.”

Tie-down roper Riley Webb won his third straight PRCA World Champion ship this season, joining Roy Cooper as the last cowboy to win three straight since Cooper won five from 1980-84. (PRCA photo by Lara St Jacques)

10

10

PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS