Top 5 Lay of the Land
Heading
There’s a new Texas sheriff at the top of the USTRC Resistol Jr. heading standings by the name of Colt Hilley. Hilley took no prisoners when he went to battle at July’s Stephenville Qualifier. Combined with the points he’d already earned on the season, he takes first in the standings with 50 points, giving him a 21-point lead on the competition.
For the No. 2 spot, Ace Ashford bested former leader Tyler Mota’s 28 points by one single, solitary point after an impressive 29-point roundup at the late June USTRC roping in Hamilton, Texas.
Mota, from New Jersey, now occupies the No. 3 position in the standings and, behind him, Top 5 newcomer and Texan Jayson Lee is hot on his heels with 25 points earned at the Stephenville Qualifier.
Hegan Burton maintains his previously reported 24 points for fifth place, which he shares with fellow Texan Hunter Helton.
Top 5 Lay of the Land
Heading
This month, Texan Kelby Frizzell maintains his 2-point lead over Alabama’s Brit Smith with 40 and 38 points, respectively, with no change to the points reported in late June.
Things are heating up in the remaining Top 5 heeling spots, though, which are filled entirely by new names this month.
Jade Philipp of Texas moved into third place when he won the entirety of his 31 points at the USTRC roping in Hamilton. Behind him, a tie for fourth place is shared by fellow Texan Trey Toft and Oklahoma’s Hazen Suit, who each have 27 points and just a single-point lead over the next tie in the standings.
Winning headers
Colt Hilley got an early-season warm-up with 8 points won in the #7 at May’s Cowboy Capital Classic when he won third place. The 13-year-old from Mineral Wells earned a second, third-place win in Hamilton a month later, but when he followed up in July with a trip to the Stephenville Qualifier, he won every. single. hole. in the #7 from first through fourth. Winning the top four spots gave the 4 header a lucrative 34 points to add to his early 16 points for 50 total.
Ace Ashford, 17, headed to Hamilton’s Circle T Arena in late June, not far from his hometown of Lott. There, the 4.5 header dominated the #8.5 by winning the first two holes for 10 and 9 points, respectively. On the following day, he again took first, this time in the #9.5 Jeep, for another 10 points. The total 29 points gives him just enough leverage to edge Tyler Mota into the third hole of the standings.
The No. 4 header Jayson Lee, 15, of Cuero, also made his Top 5 mark in one fell swoop at the Stephenville Qualifier. There, the 4.5 header won the #9.5 for 10 points and returned right back to work in the #8.5 to win the third- and fourth-place holes, worth 8 and 7 points, respectively, for his total of 25.
Coming in hot with 24 points is Tolar’s Hunter Helton. Helton, 17, went to the Cowboy Capital Classic in May and kicked off his season by winning second in the #12.5 for 9 points and fifth in the #10.5 for 6. When he went to the Stephenville Qualifier in July, the 6 header roped for another 9 points with a second-place finish in the #14.5, putting him in a tie for No. 5 in the standings with Hegan Burton, who maintains his last-reported points.
Winning heelers
Huntsville, Texan Jade Philipp turned 16 in August and, in late June, went to work at the USTRC roping in Hamilton. There, he took third in the #10.5 for 8 points and, in the #8.5, heeling for No. 2 header Ashford, Philipp won second and 9 points. He concluded his efforts in the #7 when he won on two entries, earning 8 points for third and 6 points for fifth.
Behind Philipps is a 27-point tie for No. 4 between Brookesmith’s Trey Toft and Ames’ Hazen Suit. In early June, 15-year-old Toft started his season right at the West Texas Championships when he won first place and 10 points in the #9.5. A few weeks later, he headed to Hamilton to win another first place and 10 points, this time in the #8.5, before taking fourth place and 7 points in the #9.5 Jeep roping.
Meanwhile, Suit, also 15, closed out the month of June at the Oklahoma Championships. There, he commandeered first place in the #15.5 for 10 points and was a repeat, first-place offender in the JR #10.5 for another 10 points. On July 1, he entered the #11.5 to wrap up his efforts with a fourth-place finish and a final, 7 points. TRJ
