Cinch cowboy Riley Webb secured his third straight world championship at this year’s National Finals Rodeo, becoming the first tie-down roper in more than 40 years to win at least three consecutive gold buckles.
(PRCA PHOTO BY LARA ST JACQUES)

 

Cinch tie-down roper claims his 3rd straight world championship

Four years ago, little went right for then-19-year-old Riley Webb during his first venture to the National Finals Rodeo. He placed in five rounds but finished no higher than third, which happened during the fourth night of the 2022 championship.

He finished that 10-day affair with three straight no-times. The Resistol Tie-Down Roping Rookie of the Year left the Nevada desert with $71,092.

“My rookie year here in ’22 was rough,” Webb told CalfRoping.com. “But when I left here, it lit a fire under me, and that fire’s still burning.”

Yes, it is, and it might be hotter than ever. Webb has placed himself in rare company with three straight world championships, having earned $1,483,610 during that stretch. He became the first calf roper to win at least three consecutive titles since “Super Looper” Roy Cooper did it 41 years ago; Cooper won five straight starting in 1980, as did Dean Oliver from 1960-64. Don McLaughlin had four in a row from 1951-54 and Toots Mansfield (1939-41) had three.

“I feel great,” Webb told the PRCA. “The Lord gave me the ability and talent to shine for Him. I try to emulate that every day.”

If shouting scripture from the mountaintop is the best way to preach, then Webb is in the right place to share his sermon. He just happens to do his with a rope, a heavy dose of athleticism and the 2025 Tie-Down Roping Horse of the Year in Rudy, a 12-year-old sorrel gelding sired by Metallic Cat out of HA Gay Freckles.

“That horse, Rudy, is so special,” he said. “I’ve talked about him the last three years here. He just lets me win.”

A Cinch endorsee, Webb won his first Montana Silversmiths gold buckle in 2023, finishing the year with $452,852 – $172,000 came at the NFR. A year later, he pocketed nearly $260,000 in Las Vegas to claim the title with $475,214.

This year, he earned another $250,000 at the NFR but finished the year with $555,533. Of that, $94,000 came in the form of his second straight average title, which he earned by placing in seven go-rounds, including the third-round win. It’s just part of a magical journey he began after his inaugural business trip to Las Vegas.

“It’s special to be the first person to (threepeat) since Roy Cooper,” said Webb, 22, of Denton, Texas. “Roy passed away this year, but he was instrumental for me growing up. I was lucky enough to rope with him and his family. It was a huge part of my roping career, and I’m honored to sit alongside him in the record books.”

There were a lot of consecutive marks for the young Texan. He established a single-season earnings mark in 2024, then he obliterated it in 2025. That comes from a combination of rodeos increasing their purses across North America and the roper’s winning formula.

In addition to winning the NFR, Webb also earned titles at 12 other rodeos, including Houston; Puyallup, Washington; Hermiston, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; and the Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo. He entered the NFR No. 1 in the world standings with more than $300,000 in earnings.

Once he arrived in Sin City, he ran away with the title. The No. 2 cowboy in the final world standings was world champion Shad Mayfield of Clovis, New Mexico, who won the 2020 tie-down roping crown and the 2024 all-around title. Mayfield finished the year $167,000 behind Webb.

It was a profitable year for the world’s best tie-down ropers. The top six finished the season with more than $300,000 in earnings, and Webb lapped the field. The No. 3 man, Kincade Henry of Mt. Pleasant, Texas, more than $200k behind his buddy. It’s just further proof of the Lone Star State’s dominance in calf roping.

Over the last five years, just two men have won rodeo’s gold, Webb and four-time titlist Caleb Smidt, who won his final two crowns in 2021-22. Four others with Texas addresses have also added their name on the gold buckles since 2010: Trevor Brazile, Tuf Cooper, Tyson Durfey and Brazilian Marcos Costa, who was living in Childress at the time of his 2017 championship.

This season, though, was all about the boy from Denton who has spent his lifetime as a tie-down roper. He rode the sport’s best horse, won the sport’s best rodeo and put a new shine on a new piece of golden hardware that he’ll either wear or put in his elaborate trophy case.

This was the season was about Riley Webb, who won more money in 2025 than any other single-event cowboy and provided more proof why he will be enshrined in rodeo halls of fame for eternity.