Tanner Tomlinson and Wesley Thorp lead the Ellensburg Rodeo team roping at 9.7 seconds on two head going into Monday’s short round, and nine of the 12 teams behind them are within nine-tenths of a second.
The tightest race in the building isn’t for the buckle. Lane Mitchell, No. 17 in the PRCA heeling world standings on Aug. 31, is roping second in the average with Cody Snow at 9.8. Since those standings posted, Snow and Mitchell have cashed $1,916 each at Ellensburg and $3,956 each for a share of second at the Magic Valley Stampede in Filer, Idaho. Add this week’s money and Mitchell moves to No. 15 — $1.12 ahead of Wyatt Cox, by TRJ’s projection. It’s unofficial, built from whole-dollar payoffs rather than the exact-cent numbers PRCA carries, and the short round hasn’t even run yet — the real order could go either way.
The Short Round
Twelve teams advance on two head at the $320,000-added Playoff Series stop. Rounds paid $4,334 to win this year, up from $4,049 in 2025.
- Tanner Tomlinson/Wesley Thorp, 9.7 seconds; 2. Cody Snow/Lane Mitchell, 9.8; 3. Lightning Aguilera/Kaden Profili, 9.9; 4. Hagen Peterson/Dylin Ahlstrom, 10.0; 5. (tie) Garrett Rogers/Jake Minor and Clay Smith/Coleby Payne, 10.2; 7. (tie) Brye Crites/Ross Ashford and Bryan Reay/Garrett Jess, 10.4; 9. Jake Clay/Whip Peterson, 10.5; 10. Dustin Egusquiza/JC Flake, 10.6; 11. Dawson Graham/Dillon Graham, 10.7; 12. Jr. Dees/Landen Glenn, 11.0.
Egusquiza and Flake won the first round in 4.2 seconds for $4,334 each, then needed a 6.4 in the second to sit 10th on two head. Peterson and Ahlstrom won the second round in 4.2 for the same check and sit fourth. Aguilera and Profili were second in the first round for $3,768 and are third in the average at 9.9.
Ross Ashford is the defending champion. He won the 2025 average with J.C. Yeahquo in 16.4 seconds on three head, and he ropes Monday with Crites, tied for seventh at 10.4. Rogers and Minor, who won the 2025 first round and finished third in the average, sit fifth. Minor is from Ellensburg.
Tomlinson and Thorp started roping together this summer. Tomlinson is No. 7 in the heading standings at $121,194.90; Thorp is No. 25 in the heeling standings at $83,086.87. They have won $3,046 a man here and split ninth at Walla Walla for $1,354.
The Long Shot
Thorp is a three-time world champion — 2019, when he heeled for Cody Snow, and 2023 and 2024 with Tyler Wade — and he and Tomlinson are in the field for the Cinch Playoff Series in Puyallup, Wash., Sept. 10-13. That changes the math on No. 25.
Once his Ellensburg and Walla Walla money posts, Thorp will sit at about $87,487, roughly $16,133 behind the projected No. 15 line. Puyallup pays $75,000 a side. In 2025 the finals paid $13,400 a man to win, and a team that swept both rounds of its set and the finals took home $20,420. The top four there advance to the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, S.D., where the team roping purse was $155,556 a side last year. Add an Ellensburg average check and Pendleton, and the road is long, not closed. (2026 Puyallup payout ladder not yet confirmed — 2025 figures used above.)
What’s On the Table
The average is the check that matters. In 2025 the Ellensburg short round paid $1,117 to win and six places, down to $270. The average paid $6,074 for first, $5,282 for second, $4,490 for third and $3,697 for fourth, on three head. Yeahquo and Ashford left with $10,712 a man from the second round, short round and average combined. (2026 short-round and average ladder not yet confirmed — 2025 figures used above.)
Money won so far, per man, through two rounds: Egusquiza/Flake and Peterson/Ahlstrom, $4,334 each; Aguilera/Profili, $3,768; Tomlinson/Thorp, $3,046; Rogers/Minor, $2,921; Dees/Glenn, $2,638; Snow/Mitchell, $1,916; Smith/Payne, $942; Graham/Graham, $659; Reay/Jess, $126. Crites/Ashford and Clay/Peterson made the short round without round money.
The Bubble
The Aug. 31 standings are the last official numbers, and they’re already stale — Ellensburg paid two rounds this week, and Filer, Walla Walla and Dillon all paid out on top of that. What follows is a TRJ projection: Aug. 31 standings plus per-man money from those four rodeos. It’s unofficial and leaves out the smaller weekend rodeos.
Head Side
Nelson Wyatt, No. 16 on Aug. 31 and $819 behind Ketch Kelton, won $2,035 in Filer with Jonathan Torres — that money has already posted, moving Wyatt to No. 15 at $98,547.74. Kelton and Denton Dunning took 13th at Walla Walla for $699, which hasn’t posted yet; add it and Kelton sits at $98,730.21, still behind Wyatt. Dawson Graham is No. 14 today at $98,646.40 — no Filer money to add, but once his $659 from Ellensburg’s first round posts he moves to $99,305.40, ahead of both Wyatt and Kelton. Dustin Egusquiza ($107,700 after the Ellensburg first-round win) and Snow ($106,323) have moved into the No. 10-11 range.
One heading figure needs a second look before this runs: Clint Summers now shows at No. 13 with $102,029.85 — up $3,131.14 from his Aug. 31 total, and that gain doesn’t match any result in this week’s completed rodeos. Confirm where that money came from before using his rank in this section.
Heel Side
Filer money is already in for Mitchell — he sits No. 17 today at $101,703.75. Add his $1,916 from Ellensburg, still unposted, and he climbs to $103,619.53. Cox, who split fifth in Ellensburg’s first round with Brenten Hall for $1,790 and isn’t in the short round, sits No. 16 today at $101,828.41 — still ahead of Mitchell for now — but once both men’s Ellensburg money posts, Cox projects to $103,618.41 and Mitchell moves ahead of him by $1.12. Behind them, Trent Vaught is No. 18 today at $98,995.39 (Filer money already included), and Torres is No. 19 at $98,547.74. Jade Corkill sits No. 15 at $102,029.85 — same unexplained jump as his partner Clint Summers, so treat that rank the same way: hold until the source of the money is confirmed. Coleby Payne, fourth at Walla Walla with Clay Smith for $3,493 on top of $942 in Ellensburg’s second round, projects to around $108,622. JC Flake sits near $107,700.
Brye Crites and Ross Ashford had the best week of anyone in the field: $5,087 each for winning Filer and $3,248 for winning Dillon. That’s the kind of week that moves a season.
Every one of these bubble margins is inside one Ellensburg average check. Three weeks of regular-season rodeo — including the Cinch Playoffs in Puyallup, Sept. 10-13, and Pendleton — remain before the Sept. 30 cutoff.
Playoff Series
Ellensburg and Walla Walla are the last Playoff Series stops before Puyallup, and the short round also moves the Governor’s Cup race.
Coy Rahlmann and Logan Medlin hold the eighth and final automatic spot by 6.45 points over Cory Kidd V and Carson Johnson, who cashed $3,203 in Ellensburg’s second round but didn’t make the short round. The Grahams sit 10th in points, Aguilera 11th and Snow 14th; the top eight at the Sept. 21 cutoff advance to Sioux Falls.