No. 3 | $140,683

One of the friends riding alongside him growing up was Tyler Tryan, another kid raised around rodeo royalty. The two won a USTRC roping together back in 2019, years before either of them could buy a PRCA card — a partnership neither one knew yet they’d pick back up as pros.

Northcott’s own path to a full-time partner ran through Clay Smith, the two-time World Champion header who first put him behind him at an Ariat World Series of Team Roping qualifier in Athens, Texas, when Nicky was only 15.

“I was freaking super pumped about that, and I won with him,” Northcott said. The two kept crossing paths whenever Smith needed a fill-in, until it turned into something permanent heading into 2025’s Guymon Pioneer Days. “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.”

The partnership paid off fast. That September, Smith and Northcott banked $92,000 at the Riata Championships Pro Futurity in Guthrie, Oklahoma, roping five steers in 34.25 seconds — Northcott aboard a green, cutting-bred bay horse named Oncena Harvest Moon. It pushed his jackpot earnings to $203,460 over the previous 12 months alone, on top of whatever he had won at the rodeos.

Underneath him for most of that season was Brown — registered name Sofisticatto — the horse Steve bought from Hunter Koch when the gelding was 7 and Nicky was still a kid learning to heel.

“I’ve ridden Brown ever since I was young,” Northcott said. “We’ve had him forever. I started riding him when I was like 13 years old. He’s just easy and consistent, and he’s going to turn in every time and give you a good throw.”

Northcott’s father stayed close through the grind of that rookie season, doing the parts of the job that most don’t ever see.

“I don’t know if I could have done it without him,” Northcott said. “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.”

That rookie season came down to $643. Northcott finished the 2025 regular season 16th in the world — one spot and a few hundred dollars short of a trip to Las Vegas.

“I guess catch more two feet,” Northcott said, laughing about it after the fact. “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.”

He still ran away with the 2025 Resistol Rookie Heeler of the Year title anyway, and his favorite run of that season wasn’t even the title chase — it was splitting a win with Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira at the Horse Heaven Roundup in Kennewick, Washington, on a 15.9 aboard Brown.

“We didn’t win very many rodeos, and that was a pretty big three-header,” he said. “So that was pretty cool.”

Last spring, short a second horse, Northcott called Paden Bray to borrow one before the Bob Feist Invitational. That horse was Cabo, registered as Tequila Dual, and the arrangement didn’t stay a loan for long.

“He was amazing,” Northcott said. “I called and asked if he’d sell him, and that’s how it worked out. Cabo’s really fast, keeps his head out of the way in the turn and gives me a good shot. He’s easy to catch on. You can ride him anywhere, and I think he’s great in all arenas.” Cabo’s only quirk, Northcott said, is that he can’t stand to be alone — he and Brown are inseparable in the pen. “I never feel set on horses, though. I think I can win on these two horses in any setup, but I’m always looking. They don’t last forever.”

This spring, Northcott’s run with Smith gave way to a change — and teaming up with an old friend who already knew how he ropes was the easy part. He and Tryan paired up in May, and the results added up quick, including a $14,734-apiece week in June alone.

Then came Cheyenne Frontier Days, where Northcott threw what he’d call a terrible loop in the biggest moment of his career so far. It worked, though, and gave him and Tryan the 2026 Cheyenne title after a tie with Driggers and Nogueira went to a second tiebreaker.

“My partner roped good, and I threw a terrible loop,” Northcott said. “It happened to go on two feet and paid good, so I’m happy about it. I think the loop was so bad that it just happened to catch.”

It was the second title of the month for Northcott. Nine days earlier, heeling for Jake Smith, he’d run a 4.3 in the finals to win the NFR Open in Colorado Springs, worth $16,000 a man. It was the payoff for the Wilderness Circuit year-end heeler title he’d claimed the season before.

The win pushed Northcott and Tryan to third in the world. A year after splitting that check with Driggers and Nogueira at Kennewick, he’d beaten the same team outright. And while that may be true, the gas pedal is down as the two best friends try to qualify for their first trip to Las Vegas.

“We need to win a lot of money,” he said of the plan between July and the end of the season.