The fight for the 2024 PRCA team roping gold buckles will come down to Round 10 of the 2024 NFR. After Round 9, there are four teams that still have a fighting chance at winning this year’s world titles, and it’s practically anyone’s game.

Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp lead the world standings with $334,856.26. Coleman Proctor is second with $296,735.62, and Logan Medlin is third with $283,502.41. Kaleb Driggers is third on the head side with $280,000.30, and Junior Nogueira is second in the heeling with $291,126.05. Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord are fourth with $278,925.40 but cannot catch the world-standings leaders. Clint Summers and Jake Long are fifth with $241,982.34 and $245,420.11.

Wade and Thorp, Proctor and Medlin, Driggers and Nogueira and Summers and Long still have a shot at the world titles, with Proctor being the projected world champion header after NFR Round 9 and Thorp the projected world champion heeler. While there are hundreds of scenarios that could happen in Round 10 to determine the world champions, The Team Roping Journal worked through a few for the Top 5 teams in the world to see how things could play out, comparing each team to standings leaders Wade and Thorp.

Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp

Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp lead the world standings going into Round 10, and they’ve won $143,118.70 a man–that rounds out to three round wins, a second place, fifth place and the $10,000 contestants receive for making the NFR. Wade and Thorp, however, are not in the aggregate and sit 11th with 19.20 on five head. The highest they can move in the average tonight is to ninth place, which is out of the money. Therefore, Wade and Thorp need to capitalize in the round tonight.

Coleman Proctor and Logan Medlin

Only $38,120.64 separates Wade and Coleman Proctor, and Thorp has a $51,353.85 lead over Logan Medlin. If Proctor and Medlin hold their spot at fourth in the average, Wade would need to win sixth or higher to continue his lead over Proctor, but Medlin would still need to win third or higher in the round with Thorp not winning any day money to catch Thorp.

But what if Proctor and Medlin do move up in the average? The highest Proctor and Medlin can win the average is second, worth $70,091.06 a man. If they were to win second in the average but nothing in the round, Wade would need to win the round to win the world, but Thorp could win as low as third in the round and win the world. If Proctor and Medlin win third in the average, the lowest Wade could win in the round to still win the world is third; if they win third in the average, Thorp just needs to place in the round to hold off Medlin.

The lowest they can drop in the aggregate is eighth, which would still win $8,150.12 a man. If they were to drop to eighth, Proctor would need to win second or higher in the round to have a shot, and Medlin would not be able to catch Thorp. If they dropped to seventh, Proctor would still need to win second or higher in the round, and Medlin still would not be able to catch Thorp. If they dropped to sixth, Proctor could have a shot by winning third or higher in the round, but Medlin would have to win the round. If they fell to fifth in the aggregate, Proctor could win as low as fourth in the round to have a shot, and Medlin would need to win second or higher in the round.

Kaleb and Junior

Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira are $54,855.96 and $43,730.21, respectively, behind Wade and Thorp. Driggers and Nogueira are also currently eighth in the average, worth $8,150.12 a man. If Driggers and Nogueira hold their spot in the average and Wade and Thorp do not place in the round, Driggers and Nogueira could not catch the standings leaders even if they won the round. If everyone ahead of Driggers and Nogueira were to miss tonight, they could jump up to third in the average.

If they were to jump to third in the average but not place in the round, Wade would have to not win any round money for Driggers to catch him, but Nogueira could catch Thorp if Thorp won fifth or lower in the round. If they win third in the average and win the round, Wade and Thorp could not catch back up to them, regardless of how they place in the round. If Driggers and Nogueira won second in the round and third in the average, Wade would need to win the round to catch back up, and Thorp would not be able to catch Nogueira. If Driggers and Nogueira won third in the round and average, Wade would need to win second or better and Thorp would need to win the round. If Driggers and Nogueira won fourth in the round and third in the average, Wade could win as low as third in the round and Thorp second. If Driggers and Nogueira won fifth in the round and third in the average, Wade could win fifth or higher and Thorp would need to win second or higher. If Driggers and Nogueira won sixth in the round and third in the average, Wade could win fifth or higher and Thorp would need to win third or better.

Driggers needs to win sixth or better in the average to have a shot, and Nogueira needs to win at least seventh to have a chance.

Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord

Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord are fourth and $55,930.86 behind Wade and Thorp. Egusquiza and Lord are 14th in the average with a 198.80 on four head. Even if they were to catch tonight and everyone ahead of them were to miss, the highest they could win the aggregate is 12th, and that’s still out of the money. Therefore, even if they were to win the round and Wade and Thorp missed, Egusquiza and Lord cannot catch them.

Clint Summers and Jake Long

Clint Summers and Jake Long are fifth in the world and $92,873.92 and $89,436.15 behind Wade and Thorp. While that sounds insane, Summers and Long are second in the average and could jump to first if Clay Smith and Coleby Payne were to miss in Round 10. If Summers and Long were to miss, they could drop to fifth, still worth $29,340.45 a man.

If Summers and Long win second in the average, they need to win second or higher in the round for Summers to catch Wade and third or higher for Long to catch Thorp. If they were to win second in the round, Wade would have to win no round money, and Thorp would have to win fifth or higher to keep Long from him. If they were to win third in the round, Summers could not catch Wade, but Long could so long as Thorp didn’t win any round money.

If they were to win the average, it would also come down to the round. If they win the average but nothing in the round, Wade and Thorp will still beat them. Summers would need to win at least fifth in the round to have a chance, and Long would need to win sixth to have a shot.

If Summers and Long were to drop to the lowest they could in the aggregate–fifth–they could not catch Wade and Thorp as they’d be over $60,000 behind them. They need to win at least second in the average to have a fighting chance.