The ProRodeo world started to spread out as August rolled in with rodeos from the infamous Kansas “Sweat Tour” to the Wilderness Circuit’s hot streak of good paying rodeos and calf ropers put on the miles again to try to grab every dollar.

With just two months to go in the 2024 regular rodeo season, the top 15 in the ProRodeo World Standings has been holding pretty steady for much of July but there are a lot of good ropers keeping things close and with lucrative rodeos still giving guys a chance at $10,000 and $15,000-weekends, there’s really no chance this race is going to get boring any time soon.

World leader Shad Mayfield went home for a week of needed rest and guys like Ty Harris, Riley Webb and Haven Meged kept noses to the grindstone to erase the gap between themselves and the season leader.

On the other end of the standings, Hunter Herrin continues to hold down 15th in the standings, flip-flopping with Beau Cooper at 16th for the second week as both ropers have won more than $66,000 this year.

Warming up Riley Webb

2023 PRCA World Champion Riley Webb has been nothing short of phenomenal since buying his card in 2022 when he turned 18 — he’s checked off the accomplishments like they’re easy . . . . Rookie of the Year, Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifications, World Championship.

Maybe 2024 has seemed a little quieter for the Denton, Texas cowboy after the fireworks of regular season and total season earnings records a year ago as he clinched his first World title.

But make no mistake: Webb is still all in for another gold buckle and has been stalking the leaders all season with that one goal in mind.

With gathering momentum, he has picked up NFR Playoff Series rodeo victories weekly beginning with the Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo in Casper, then with a gold medal at the Utah Days of 47 in Salt Lake City leading into August.

Staying in high gear, Webb and his hauling group that includes Dylan Hancock and Cole Clemons used their youth to successfully burn up the road last week.

“We started at Phillipsburg, then Dodge City on the 31st, and then Dalhart, Texas but it got rained out there so we had to turn out,” Webb noted. Undeterred, the crew went to Colorado for Castle Rock then onto rodeos in Utah and Idaho before catching a flight back for the short go round in Dodge City on Sunday night, August 4.

“We roped in the first set and I was winning it and then they came on the last day and tied me up so it tightened it back down pretty good,” Webb noted. Webb entered the final round knotted up with Zane Kilgus with pressure from a stacked field behind that included Hancock and world number two Ty Harris.

Roping second to last, Webb got his calf down quick but missed his string on the front leg. In a blink so fast most didn’t notice, Webb pulled off a straight string and stopped the clock at 8.5 seconds.

Only Hancock would go faster in the round, winning it with an 8.2 second run, and Webb easily clinched the average with 25.5 seconds on three head, nearly two seconds better than Harris. Webb placed in every payoff, roping all three under 8.5 seconds each to bank $10,704.

“That’s good and bad,” Webb laughed off the mistake with the string. “I’ve actually done that a lot practicing so guess it’s just a reaction.”

World Champs tend to make mistakes look like brilliance and that’s how it went in Kansas as Webb claimed his first Dodge City (Kansas) Round-Up victory.

“It’s a cool rodeo,” Webb said. “I made the finals there as a rookie but didn’t have any luck last year.”

Webb earned the career win on his 21st birthday, though the driven young roper didn’t take time to tip one up to celebrate.

Too much still to do.

“Winning a Tour rodeo this time of year is huge,” Webb said. “It’s important to make sure you get into Puyallup [the Playoff Series’ first stop] and then, if you can be sure you’re seeded all the way to Sioux Falls, that just makes things easier.”

The Cinch Playoffs Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls on the final weekend of the regular season offers a huge purse for both those trying to scratch their way to Las Vegas for the Finals and for those like Webb eyeing gold.

“With Shad taking a break, Ty’s still winning . . . ,” Webb said. “There’s so much at the Finals to win so a lead is only worth so much but you got to stay out here and keep pushing.”

Webb did sneak home to Texas for a couple of days, double checking on a knee injury that occurred in Cheyenne. Fortunately, he reports just a bone bruise with no long term ill effects.

“It was refreshing to be home,” Webb admitted after two months of the long, summer road. “Maybe if I had more Tour points, I would have stayed home but I’ve got to stayed hooked.”

For his long weekend of work, Webb earned $17,643 and moved up to third in the World Standings. Adding to the fun, Hancock won over $8,000 to stay No. 9 and Clemons is inside the top 15, too.

“Luckily, I’ve got these two guys with me entering too,” Webb noted. “Hopefully, we can keep it rolling for all of us.”

Zack Jongbloed Coming Up Clutch in the West

Another cowboy who hit a heater over the weekend was Iowa, Louisiana’s Zack Jongbloed. After spending time inside the top 15 in early summer, Jongbloed had dropped all the way to 27th at July’s end.

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After roping sharp in some dogfights during the first weekend of August, Jongbloed grabbed up three big wins at Great Falls, Montana, Idaho Falls and Preston, Idaho to put $15,094 in his standings column.

Each was impressive—with a 7.5 second effort taking the win in Preston and a 7.7 ensuring victory at Idaho Falls. In Great Falls, 17.1 on two was the magic number. He made hay in Castle Rock and Heber City, too to pull back to 20th in the standings as he’s hoping to get back to his second NFR.

Costa, Hooper and Henry continue working at it

World Champion Marcos Costa continued to refuse to go away as well, splitting the win in Preston with Jongbloed. Costa scored in Heber City, Utah as well to pick up $7,988.

Meanwhile, the Douglas County Fair & Rodeo in Castle Rock, Colorado was good to Cash Hooper.  The Pampa, Texas roper stopped the clock in 8.3 seconds to edge out top five cowboys John Douch, Ty Harris and reigning World Champ Webb by just four tenths of a second. Along with some Dalhart (Texas) earnings, Hooper picked up $6,468 for the week.

Kincade Henry reigned in Heber City, Utah, outlasting an incredibly tough roping that saw only 1.8 seconds separate the fifteen money holes. Henry was best at 8.0 seconds, taking home $5,252. Henry was also solid in Dodge City, picking up another $4,798 there to hold his top 10 position steady in this week’s standings.

What’s Next

The second week of August brings three more NFR Playoff Series rodeos stretching from New Mexico to the Northwest as contestants start to zero in on important Playoff Series points. Just over three weeks remain before the August 26 cut-off date for qualification to the Puyallup Rodeo, the first of two steps in the lucrative Cinch Playoffs.

Ropers will wind from Lovington, New Mexico to Logan, Utah to Hermiston, Oregon as they seek to climb inside the top 23 of the NFR Playoff Series standings.

Elsewhere, there’s big money up at the Sikeston (Missouri) Jaycees Bootheel Rodeo, the Lawton (Okla.) Rangers Rodeo, and the Omak (Wash.) Stampede.

PRCA World Standings as of August 5, 2024