The tie-down roping is a young field this year at the National Finals Rodeo. The group of top 15 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association ropers is led in both the average and world standings by three-time World Champion, 33-year-old Caleb Smidt.
The World Race
Smidt entered the competition with $149,516 earned. First-place finishes in Rounds 1 and 2 netted him nearly $60,000. All said and done, he’s earned $151,071 at the NFR alone. Headed into Round 9, he has roughly a $40,000 lead over 2020 World Champ Shad Mayfield with $300,587 in world earnings.
Mayfield is second in the world standings with $269,963 earned—$66,428 of which he’s rounded up throughout the NFR.
If the average was concluded after Round 8, Smidt’s lead in the average of 64.20/8 on seven head—plus the $74,150 average championship check—would bag him the 2022 World Championship.
| World Standings | Contestant | Post round-8 rankings |
| 1 | Caleb Smidt | $300,587 |
| 2 | Shad Mayfield | $269,936 |
| 3 | John Douch | $237,121 |
| 4 | Kincade Henry | $217,107 |
| 5 | Hunter Herrin | $211,045 |
| 6 | Cory Solomon | $197,682 |
| 7 | Riley Webb (R) | $188,597 |
| 8 | Haven Meged | $188,267 |
| 9 | Marty Yates | $187,067 |
| 10 | Zach Jongbloed | $174,269 |
| 11 | Shane Hanchey | $154,908 |
| 12 | Tuf Cooper | $151,636 |
| 13 | Tyler Milligan | $135,702 |
| 14 | Macon Murphy | $130,716 |
| 15 | Ty Harris | $128,937 |
The Average Forecast
Those with seven catches heading into Round 9 are World Champions Smidt, Mayfeild, Haven Meged and Shane Hanchey; multi-year NFR qualifiers Cory Solomon and Tyler Milligan; and NFR first-timers Zack Jongbloed and Macon Murphy.
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| Aggregate Standings | Contestant | Aggregate |
| 1 | Caleb Smidt | 64.20/8 |
| 2 | Cory Solomon | 72.80/8 |
| 3 | Zach Jongbloed | 78.30/8 |
| 4 | Shad Mayfield | 92.80/8 |
| 5 | Macon Murphy | 95.40/8 |
| 6 | Haven Meged | 96.50/8 |
| 7 | Tyler Milligan | 101.60/8 |
| 8 | Shane Hanchey | 104.30/8 |
| 9 | Riley Webb | 66.80/7 |
| 10 | Hunter Herrin | 71.20/7 |
| 11 | Ty Harris | 71.20/7 |
| 12 | Marty Yates | 53.30/6 |
| 13 | Kincade Henry | 38.5/5 |
| 14 | John Douch | 31.50/4 |
| 15 | Tuf Cooper | 33.90/3 |
One thing is for certain: There are no sure bets as the ropers head back into the Thomas & Mack for Round 9. Tune in to more calf roping coverage every night on calfroping.com.