PRORODEO Sports News - March 27, 2026 Digital Edition

Team ropers Korbin Rice/Cooper Freeman set the mark to beat early and held on for the title at RodeoHouston. PRCA photo by Mallory Beinborn

RICE/FREEMAN SET THE WINNING MARK EARLY Saturday, where they placed fourth to sneak into the Shootout. They took advantage of their position, though. “We were the first right out here, and we had a really good steer,” said Rice, 24, of Hobbs, N.M. “I knew “Any of my success the past three years has come off that horse.” Freeman is still learning the ropes on his ride, Carbon, a 10-year-old gelding.

K orbin Rice/Cooper Freeman set the bar in the Final Four round at RodeoHouston. The team ropers stopped the clock in 4.6 seconds, then watched every thing unfold. Jake Smith/Douglas Rich came within a tenth of a second of catching the leaders, but that was as close as it got. “Korbin got a great start and got it on him good, and he left the hard part up to me,” said Freeman, a 23-year-old heeler from Carthage, Mo. “He did a great job all week, and (I’m) just very blessed to be here.” The blessings came late for the tandem during the three-week rodeo. Freeman and Rice finished second in the fourth of five Super Series. They advanced out of the semifinals and into Championship

“I bought him last summer, and he’s been a huge blessing to me,” Freeman said. “He came in at a time that I needed him, and it’s been good ever since.” Everyone needs a ride to a rodeo. For Freeman and Rice, they were able to rev the right engines at the right time to win highest-paying rodeo of the regular season. “It’s a great event,” Rice said. “It’s the best rodeo of the year in itself. There’s so many great competitors here, and to come out on top of a rodeo like this, it means everything.”

that if we could just go complete the course on him, we were going to win something good.” They did. Each man earned $70,750. Like most of the others, they shot into the lead on their re spective money lists. Big-time runs come from big-time mounts. “He’s a huge part of everything,” Rice said of Poparock, a horse he obtained from two-time World Champion Chad Masters a year ago. “I can’t thank him enough for selling him to me and letting me ride him before that.

MARCH 27, 2026 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE 9