The top three in the Team Roping Heeler Standings are beginning to distance themselves from he field. No. 3 Wesley Thorp has opened a $30,000 lead over the No. 4 man Jake Long. Levi Lord and Junior Nogueira are over the $160,000 mark as we head towards the season’s final weeks.
Here is a look at the top 20 on the Heel side.
No. 1 Levi Lord, $167,863
Lord ended August with a few big trips to the pay window. The first came at the Magic Valley Stampede where he took home the win to make $4,800. His next run came in Ellensburg where he won the opening round to make another $3,700. He would go on to place second in the average at the rodeo which made him an additional $4,900.
No. 2 Junior Nogueira, $166,234
Most weekends like Levi Lord had would create some distance between the next closest athlete, but Junior Nogueira matched him dollar for dollar. Nogueira took home over $3,500 at the Walla Walla Frontier Days thanks to a second-place finish in Round 2 and a sixth-place finish in the average. He would win another $1,700 at the Evanston Cowboy Days Rode after a second-place finish and his final win of the last week in August came at in Dillon. Nogueira took the title of the Dillon Jaycees PRCA Rodeo with a 4.6-second run to earn another $2,100.
No. 3 Wesley Thorp, $145,290
It’s a common theme among the top 3... strong finishes to the month. Thorp placed third at the Gem State Stamped with a 4.7-second run, followed that up with a win at the Golden Spike Rodeo, and took third in a round in Ellensburg over the final 10 days of August. Those three runs alone earned him $10,000.
No. 4 Jake Long, $115,558
Long’s final week of August saw him take home over $1,100 at the Magic Valley Stampede and $1,200 at the Evanston Cowboy Days. He opened September with a win at the Meagher County Labor Day Rodeo thanks to a 4.5-second run, earning him $2,200.
No. 5 Buddy Hawkins, $112,749
Hawkins has not cashed a check over $1,000 since the Lea County Rodeo in early August where he earned $2,100.
No. 6 Douglas Rich, $110,776
Rich had a nice end to August thanks to two seventh-place finishes. The first came at the Mafic Valley Stampede, which earned him $2,000. In his final run of the month, he placed seventh at the Iron County PRCA Rodeo with a time of 6.8 seconds to make another $1,500.
No. 7 Logan Medlin, $109,834
Medlin earned a nice payday at the Walla Walla Frontier Days thanks to a second-place finish in the average. He was 9.1 seconds on two and took home over $4,000 at the rodeo.
No. 8 Kaden Profili, $108,086
Dating back to August 21, Profili has seven checks of at least $1,000 which has jumped him inside the top 10. The biggest of those paydays came at the Ellensburg Rodeo where he was crowned the average champion. He earned nearly $10,000 at the rodeo after going 16.6 on three.
No. 9 Jonathan Torres, $106,697
Torres had great showings at the Gem State Stampede and the Golden Spike Rodeo. He took home the title at both rodeos on back-to-back rides. In Gem State, he was 4.6 seconds and it was a 4.4-second run at the Golden Spike Rodeo to get him the win. In total, the weekend earned him over $10,000.
No. 10 Coleby Payne, $101,507
Payne crossed the $100,000 mark thanks to a fifth-place finish at the Iron County PRCA Rodeo and a seventh-place finish at the Gem State Stampede. Combined, the two runs made home nearly $4,000.
No. 11 JC Flake, $100,143
Flake is looking for his first NFR appearance and his last few runs have gone a long way in capturing that qualification. Flake placed second in Round 2 of Ellensburg to make $3,300. He earned another $2,300 at the Lake County Round-Up thanks to a third-place finish after a 4.4-second run.
No. 12 Colter Todd, $98,954
Todd took Round 2 in Walla Walla after a 3.8-second run. While he wouldn’t earn any money in the average, the round win earned him nearly $2,800.
No. 13 Paul Eaves, $98,759
Eaves started September with a bang in Lakeview. He posted a 4.1-second run to win the rodeo and take home over $3,500.
No. 14 Hunter Koch, $96,703
Koch made a big jump in the standings after two big paydays to start September. He took home over $3,000 at the Walla Walla Frontier Days thanks to a third-place finish in the average and he made another $2,300 at the Lake County Round-Up thanks to another third-place finish.
No. 15 Brady Minor, $95,905
Minor jumped inside the top 15 thanks to a third-place finish in Round 2 and a fourth-place finish in the average at the Ellensburg Rodeo. Minor was 18.3 on three and took home over $6,000.
No. 16 Patrick Smith, $95,890
Smith is less than $50 out of the No. 15 spot as we head into September. He had a good showing in Ellensburg where he was 17.7 on three to place third in the average and take home $4,600.
No. 17 Kollin VonAhn, $94,961
VonAhn has made a nice move in the standings over the last 10 days. He placed fifth in in the average in Walla Walla, sixth in the average at Ellensburg, and took eighth at the Lake County Round-Up. In total, he made over $5,000 combined.
No. 18 Tanner Braden, $89,773
Braden’s most recent notable payday came at the Golden Spike Rodeo where he placed eighth and earned $1,155
No. 19 Travis Graves, $82,780
Graves made a jump in the standings thanks to a win at the Kitsap Stampede where he was 4.0 seconds and earned over $5,000.
No. 20 Trey Yates, $81,680
Yates’ last paycheck over $1,000 came at the Golden Spike Stampede.
