The first round of the 2025 NFR team roping kicked off with plenty of variety, from early bobbles to first-time winners. We tapped seven-time World Champion Clay O’Brien Cooper to see what he thought of the runs from Round 1.
Table of contents
- Lightning Aguilera & Kaden Profili
- Kolton Schmidt & Jonathan Torres
- Luke Brown & Trey Yates
- Riley Minor & Brady Minor
- Jake Smith & Douglas Rich
- Dawson Graham & Dillon Graham
- Cyle Denison & Lane Mitchell
- Tyler Wade & Wesley Thorp
- Andrew Ward & Jake Long
- Clay Smith & Coleby Payne
- Dustin Egusquiza & Levi Lord
- Clint Summers & Jade Corkill
- Derrick Begay & Colter Todd
- Tanner Tomlinson & Travis Graves
- Kaleb Driggers & Junior Nogueira
Lightning Aguilera & Kaden Profili
- Round 1: 4.0
- Round Winnings: $36,667.95
- Total NFR Earnings: $36,667.95
- World Standings Earnings: $161,403.70; $160,203.50
- Average: 4.0 on 1; 1
- World Standings: 8;7
Champ’s take: Lightning and Dustin (Egusquiza), they probably got the fastest triggers. So, Lightning did what he does. He just pinged the barrier and had him spun right there. Kaden did a good job by getting him caught and sticking a 4.0 on them, and it held all the way through.
Kolton Schmidt & Jonathan Torres
- Round 1: NT
- Round Winnings: 0
- Total NFR Earnings: 0
- World Standings Earnings: $129,938.20; $121,672.10
- Average: 0 on 1; 11/12/13/14/15
- World Standings: 15
Champ’s take: Just a misfire on the head side–that’s all you can say.
Luke Brown & Trey Yates
- Round 1: NT
- Round Winnings: 0
- Total NFR Earnings: 0
- World Standings Earnings: $133,302.92
- Average: 0 on 1; 11/12/13/14/15
- World Standings: 14
Champ’s take: Luke did a great job. I don’t know what happened. Trey it was like he was going to throw and then maybe decided not to, but it came out of his hand. It was just something real quirky, and you just never see that hardly ever.
Riley Minor & Brady Minor
Round 1: 6.9
Round Winnings: 0
Total NFR Earnings: 0
World Standings Earnings: $135,025.27
Average: 6.9 on 1; 8
World Standings: 12
Champ’s take: Pretty strong steer and just didn’t get much finish. I think they made a decent run, but just didn’t get any finish.
Jake Smith & Douglas Rich
Round 1: 4.8
Round Winnings: $21,882.48
Total NFR Earnings: $21,882.48
World Standings Earnings: $157,419.51; $146,669.50
Average: 4.8 on 1; 4
World Standings: 10;11
Champ’s take: That was a good run. Jake really did a good job of hitting the barrier, getting it on him, and Douglas just did what he normally does. He gets to a good spot and puts down a good shot and bam, made a run.
Dawson Graham & Dillon Graham
Round 1: NT
Round Winnings: 0
Total NFR Earnings: 0
World Standings Earnings: $141,934.01
Average: 0 on 1; 11/12/13/14/15
World Standings: 12
Champ’s take: There were several guys who lost their rope. They unfortunately, just couldn’t get to the peg.
Cyle Denison & Lane Mitchell
Round 1: 6.6
Round Winnings: $5,914.19
Total NFR Earnings: $5,914.19
World Standings Earnings: $157,916.56; $158,946.08
Average: 6.6 on 1; 7
World Standings: 9
Champ’s take: Missed this run.
Tyler Wade & Wesley Thorp
Round 1: NT
Round Winnings: 0
Total NFR Earnings: 0
World Standings Earnings: $153,366.47
Average: 0 on 1; 11/12/13/14/15
World Standings: 11; 10
Champ’s take: Again, just a misfire on the headshot. The steers looked a little strong, and that steer kind of looked like he was moving, maybe changing directions just a little bit in this shot. I mean, they’re coming with it so fast that if there’s a little bit of misdirection there, then it’s just a guess. And sometimes they’re already throwing and the steers are moving a little bit in a different direction.
Andrew Ward & Jake Long
Round 1: 4.2
Round Winnings: $28,979.51
Total NFR Earnings: $28,979.51
World Standings Earnings: $188,034.26; $186,287.71
Average: 4.2 on 1; 2
World Standings: 3
Champ’s take: That was, to me, the best run of the night. It was just so controlled. Andrew just did exactly what Andrew can do, set the run up and that steer just handled perfect. Jake read that just right, and they just smoked one down. That was nice.
Clay Smith & Coleby Payne
Round 1: NT
Round Winnings: 0
Total NFR Earnings: 0
World Standings Earnings: $168,489.89; $159,293.26
Average: 0 on 1; 11/12/13/14/15
World Standings: 7; 8
Champ’s take: Missed this run. BUT, Champ’s advice to the teams with no times?
“If it was me, you can place deep in the average on nine steers; heck, sometimes you can win the average on nine steers,” Cooper said. “So, don’t abort the mission. Try to be fast, but catch. Be consistent and start over, and start racking up your runs and racking up some money along the way. If you draw really good, you can win first or second and still not be too crazy.”
Dustin Egusquiza & Levi Lord
Round 1: 9.0
Round Winnings: 0
Total NFR Earnings: 0
World Standings Earnings: $170,703.39; $168,321.88
Average: 9.0 on 1; 10
World Standings: 6
Champ’s take: Dustin just did his signature deal: had him wearing it right there. Levi got a little to the inside and a little tight, and that steer was kind of out to the right of him and he just kind of spiked the leg. But they got him down. It’s a rare leg shot for Levi.
Clint Summers & Jade Corkill
Round 1: 5.1
Round Winnings: $15,376.88
Total NFR Earnings: $15,376.88
World Standings Earnings: $186,618.49; $186,943.71
Average: 5.1 on 1; 3
World Standings: 4; 2
Champ’s take: I look for them to just kind of make that kind of run all week long and get money most every night. Their style of run, it seems like it’s going to kind of fit this deal all week and be able to get through all the runs and then have a shot at the end.
Derrick Begay & Colter Todd
Round 1: 10.0
Round Winnings: 0
Total NFR Earnings: 0
World Standings Earnings: $176,201.94; $173,849.59
Average: 10.0 on 1; 9
World Standings: 5; 4
Champ’s take: Again, Derrick did a good job and stuck it on him. They were down far enough that the round was relatively easy to place, so it looked like Derrick wasn’t just trying to spin one to be 3, but to be 4. And then Colter just roped leg.
Tanner Tomlinson & Travis Graves
Round 1: 5.7
Round Winnings: $9,462.70
Total NFR Earnings: $9,462.70
World Standings Earnings: $203,269.81; $169,381.58
Average: 5.7 on 1; 5
World Standings: 2; 5
Champ’s take: They salvaged a run. They were kind of towards the end and realized they could get good money just making a good run and not going too fast to mess up. So yeah, good run.
Kaleb Driggers & Junior Nogueira
Round 1: 9.3
Round Winnings: 0
Total NFR Earnings: 0
World Standings Earnings: $208,497.72
Average: 9.3 on 1; 11
World Standings: 1
Champ’s take: That run set up Nice. Kaleb did his job and spun him right there, and Junior just got a leg.
