PRORODEO Sports News - July 2, 2026

SHORT ROUND

Team Roping Heeler Tanner Tomlinson and header Wesley Thorp competed in Fort Smith, Ark. PRCA photo by Phill Kitts

WORLD CHAMPION HEELER WESLEY THORP TEAMS UP WITH TANNER TOMLINSON

BY ZACH ALVIRA

T hree-time PRCA World Champion Team Roping Heeler Wesley Thorp has teamed up with Tanner Tomlinson to begin one of the most pivotal stretches of the PRORODEO season, the summer run. The decision by Thorp to pivot away from two-time PRCA World Champion Header Tyler Wade as his part ner came after a slow start to the winter season. “We had a pretty slow winter and weren’t able to get much going,” Thorp said. “Tyler kind of wanted to stay home and compete closer to home for a little while. So, I went ahead and made a change.” Wade/Thorp teamed up for the first time in 2023 and immediately claimed their first of two (2023, 2024)

world championships as a pair. The duo won Rounds 8 and 9 inside the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas in 2023 and finished third in the average with 58.9 seconds on nine head. A year later, Wade/Thorp returned to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and topped the leaderboard yet again, claiming the world title with $361,480 in total season earnings, a new record. They placed in three rounds at the 2025 NFR and split the Round 4 win with Dustin Egusquiza/Levi Lord after a 3.8-second run. They finished 10th overall in the world. Tomlinson/Thorp’s first outing as a duo came back in April at the Angelina Benefit Rodeo in Lufkin, Texas.

48 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE July 2, 2026