PRORODEO Media Guide - 2025

TEAM ROPING HEADER

Tyler Wade Team Roping (Header)

BACK TO BACK Wade and Thorp hold on to defend team roping titles

By Alex Dodd

Perhaps no event had as many scenarios, projections and question marks as team roping entering Round 10 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge. The door stayed wide open for a host of teams to walk through and earn a PRCA World Championship. But throughout the 10-round throwdown at the Thomas & Mack Center, the lead in the PRCA World Standings never changed hands. Header Tyler Wade and heeler Wesley Thorp landed in Las Vegas second in the world but moved to the top in Round 1. And despite a roller coaster of runs at the NFR, the duo held on to win their second straight PRCA World Championships. “It was way up in the air. There were a lot of scenarios flipped around,” Thorp said. “But when we backed into the box, probably five seconds before we backed into the box, we looked at each other and said let’s make our run. Let’s make the run we worked on coming out here.” The duo finished second in the final round with a 3.8-second run to place second and defend their titles. The tandem finished 11th in the NFR Average with 23 seconds on six head. Clint Summers/Jake Long locked up the average championship at 44.3 seconds on nine head. “I can’t believe it. It’s crazy. I never thought we’d win one, so to win two is beyond belief,” Wade said. “I’ve been stressed all week going back and forth. I’ve been fast on nights and missed the next. I couldn’t get in a consistent role where I was kicking their teeth in by any means.” Wade finished with $361,480 to best runner-up Summers. Thorp also finished with $361,480 to top runner-up Long. The duo set new single-season earnings records, besting the previous mark of $340,708 set by Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira in 2022. Wade/Thorp also avoided a potential title split, as a few projections had headers and heelers from different tandems winning their respective gold buckles. “We were like, whatever happens, we’re going for both of us winning the world,” Thorp said. “We were either winning the world or going out swinging and going down with the ship. That was our goal. We didn’t look at it like, ‘Oh you can do it if we did this.’

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World Champions