Cody Carter and Blake Bentley made quick work of their first trips to the Texas Circuit Finals, taking home the 2025 average title Oct. 10, and $6,409 apiece.
The Stephenville team roped four steers in 26.4 seconds to claim their first Texas Circuit Finals titles, as well as punch their tickets to the 2026 NFR Open.
“It is definitely one of my goals to make circuit finals, and then of course you’d always want to do good there,” Bentley, 27, said. “And to have that happen my first time, that was a pretty big win. I’m looking forward to the NFR Open.”
From getting married the fall of 2024 to now preparing for his first child, the circuit finals win is another major mark in Carter’s biggest year yet. Between work and life priorities, Carter didn’t have much opportunity to ProRodeo prior to the 2025 season. But with his wife’s encouragement and r else falling into place, the timing was right to rodeo this year.
“Blake and I were really good buddies when we started roping, and that was just one of our goals, to get to the circuit finals,” Carter, 41, said. “And then I really hadn’t told him, but my goal was to win the average because we went and rodeoed this summer, so we couldn’t be around to try to catch Clay (Tryan) for the year-end; the next best thing was the average. So, going into it, that’s kind of how I was wanting to rope, more toward the average. It’s somewhere that I’ve always wanted to try to be and be a part of and win, so it’s kind of a bucket list win.”
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Winning in Waco
Carter and Bentley drew a steer they recognized for Round 1, and they were excited for the opportunity to run him. But their week in Waco didn’t kick off conventionally with a 9.3-second run.
“Our goal was just make sure I caught all four by two feet, and I messed that up on night one,” Bentley said with a laugh. “So, I had to be mentally tough. I was like, ‘Alright, just don’t make that mistake again,’ and see how it just plays out.”
They moved past the hiccup and got back on the right track with a 5.6 in Round 2, getting by a stronger steer.
“He come left really hard, and I always like trying to throw on my second swing because that’s where a lot of the money’s won,” Carter said. “I had to take an extra swing, because he was coming into me so hard, to make sure and head him. Blake did a really good job getting him caught.”
A 4.3 in Round 3 pocketed them $1,165 a man and set them up in the top three of the aggregate heading into the fourth and final round.
“We were third in the average coming in and fourth was only behind us by half a second or less, but they kind of messed up,” Bentley explained. “So I was like, alright. Ours was a little stronger than we thought. Cody ran up there and just made sure he caught, so I was like, I want to make sure I catch him and we hold our average spot. Then the next two teams messed up, and it just kind of worked out for us.”
Their 7.2-second run won fourth in the round for $583 apiece and clinched the average title for another $4,661 a man. On the head side, Carter rode a dun gelding he calls “Sunny.” Bentley called on the horse that made it possible to rodeo again. Carter and Bentley amateur rodeoed together in 2020 before Bentley’s good horse got hurt. Bentley spent the next few years building up his horsepower when he purchased the sorrel he rode in Waco from his father-in-law.
“My soon to be father-in-law bought him and was going to let me ride him for him, and I had him like, six or seven months here at my house riding him,” Bentley explained. “I was like, ‘Hey, this horse is pretty cool. Can I buy this horse from you?’ And he let me buy him. It kind of got me back, and I told Cody I thought I had a horse again that I could go on. And that’s when we started amateur rodeoing again in 2024, and then here we are today.”
On to 2026
The 2026 ProRodeo season is already shaping up with opportunity for Carter and Bentley. In August, they won the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo qualifiers in Denton and Wichita Falls, Texas, securing their return to Fort Worth after finishing second there in 2025.
“We get to go back to Fort Worth again, and we get the NFR open, so I’m going to do my dangdest to maybe try to find a few sponsors and enter a little differently,” Carter said.
