Nicky Northcott has been on team roping fans’ radars for years, making his domination as the 2025 Resistol Rookie Heeler of the Year rather unsurprising.
The 19-year-old from Stephenville, Texas, added his name to the elite list of Resistol Rookies of the Year, walking away with $111,029.01, a $65,055.57 sweep over second. And while the Resistol Rookie crown marked a major achievement, Northcott’s eyes were truthfully set on another prize.
“I really didn’t think about [the rookie title] a whole lot because I knew if I just did my job and tried to make the NFR at that time, then it would just work out how it’s supposed to,” Northcott admitted.
Longtime coming
For Northcott, hitting the road was never a question of timing–he’s known forever he would buy his PRCA card when he turned 18. And when two-time World Champion header Clay Smith called to partner up heading into Oklahoma’s Guymon Pioneer Days in May, Northcott knew he made the right choice.
Smith and Northcott had roped before, too. When Northcott was 15, Smith asked him to rope with him at an Ariat World Series of Team Roping qualifier in Athens, Texas.
“I was freaking super pumped about that, and I won with him,” Northcott said. “Then we just kept roping a little bit here and there when his third partner couldn’t go or second partner couldn’t go. Then it kind of worked out he needed a partner, and I guess he wanted me to heel for him. So it worked out great; I was super excited.”
From there, Northcott settled into his rookie run—a year that came with its own mix of highs and lows.
“I started off the season pretty rough,” Northcott remembered. “I didn’t really rope good the first week, and then I kind of got it lined out. We won pretty good, and I always wanted to go to a lot of those rodeos. I always seen them on TV or heard my dad tell stories about them and stuff, so it was pretty fun to go do that.”
Northcott doesn’t have just any old dad, either. His ten-time NFR qualifier father Steve was the 1996 world champion heeler and NFR average winner, and he was a large helping hand in the success of young Northcott’s 2025 season.
Watch Mega Match II with Steve Purcella & Steve Northcott vs. Matt Tyler and Kory Koontz on Roping.com
“I don’t know if I could have done it without him,” Northcott said. “He was great. I mean, I could have done it without him, but he sure made it easier for me. He drove a lot, and those all-nighters when I needed to get some rest so I’m not tired in the morning, he did it. He’d even saddle my horse if he needed to. He was just great for me as far as I was always rested up. A lot of people were tired and I wasn’t, you know what I mean. He’s done it before, so he knew all the rodeos, or most of them anyway, so he knew how to get around.”
Having grown up hearing rodeo tales from his dad, plus having his fair share of childhood memories on the road, Northcott wasn’t too overwhelmed by the realities of rodeo as a rookie.
“It was less than I was expecting,” Northcott said. “All the arenas are pretty much the same, and it’s pretty much the same start everywhere. I mean there’s obviously some that are different–Cheyenne and Pendleton’s weird. But for the majority, they were pretty similar. It was just heel the steer. It wasn’t nothing special or really anything crazy.”
What was special, however, was the year Northcott had. The youngster ended up in the NFR heartbreak hole at No. 16 in the PRCA world standings when the regular season came to an end. Not many rookies can say they even came that close, though. In fact, three-time World Champion Junior Nogueira was the last team roper to qualify for the NFR in his Resistol Rookie season back in 2014. Northcott isn’t settling on 16th, however.
“I guess catch more two feet,” Northcott said with a laugh. “I just need to do a better job and I might make it next year or keep making it. You just got to stop the clock faster than everybody else and more times, and you make it in the Top 15.”
