ProRodeo Sports News - March 8, 2019

IN HIS OWNWORDS: TYLERWORLEY ROPER OFF TO FAST START AT HOUSTON

A fter the first round in Houston, we knew we had made it back. After that it was like, OK, we can take a deep breath and know that now we are just trying to make money. The third round – after we had won the first two – we had a steer that popped really fast, and I thought, I have to try to heel him before he gets to running fast across the arena. It was like, man, if I catch him great, if not, I’ll be mad at myself, but still it’s not going to ruin my day, we’re OK. But then when we finished in the third round, Matt smiled, it was kind of funny, like, are you kidding me, this is crazy. It’s a huge blessing, because $9,000 is always awesome to win. To win that much money is crazy. We’ve had a rough go this year. ... To finally go and capitalize on three in a row, I felt like it’s a huge blessing. I’ve never made the National Finals before, and that’s my goal. Matt’s won the world title twice, so to him, I’m sure he’s used to having a good winter. To me it’s awesome. I’ve never had a winter this good. To have about $17,000 feels As of March 6, team roping heeler Tyler Worley was 39th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $8,446. The 25-year-old from Berryville, Ark., will take a big leap once RodeoHouston concludes March 16. That’s because Worley and heading partner Matt Sherwood, a 49-year-old, two- time gold buckle winner, won all three rounds of the Super Series III, earning $9,000 each. Last year, Worley finished 27th in the heeling standings with $51,742, a season that started inauspiciously and ended with him winning the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up and narrowly missing qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

really good. It feels like we’re on track to win some and to give ourselves a chance to make the Finals. Honestly, roping with someone like Matt takes a lot of pressure off me because I know he’s going to do his job, and I know he’s going to do the best he can. He puts so much stock in trying to make it easy on me that it makes my job easier. I know he’s doing everything he can to make it easier for me to catch. If I do miss, he takes it upon himself, like, hey, I could’ve done better, don’t worry about it. My wife, Brittany, and I got married last May, almost a year ago. She is (ProRodeo Hall of Famer) Bobby Hurley’s daughter. She was a registered nurse. We were going to move fromArkansas to Stephenville, Texas, (where they live now). Last summer, I told her, why don’t you quit early before we move and you could come with me the rest of the summer. She thought I was crazy at first. So, I talked her into quitting her job and she hasn’t started back to work yet. It’s been awesome. She takes great care of the horses, probably better than I do. Talking to Bobby, he has confidence that I’m going to be OK and this is my livelihood. He’s supportive of it, and that’s awesome. He helps me understand the mindset. My mom and dad are really supportive of me, my whole family is. When I roped with (ProRodeo Hall of Famer and seven-time world champion team roper) Jake Barnes – and I still think it’s cool I have his number in my phone – he told me one time, ‘You’re never going to get any better if you go home.’ So I told him, I’m not going to go home, no matter what. I’m going to stay out there, and I’ll figure it out.

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ProRodeo Sports News 3/8/2019

ProRodeo.com

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