Kyler Kanady didn’t plan on buying his PRCA card this year, but $26,318 into his rookie season, the Cisco College athlete is leading the Resistol Rookie race on the heel side.
Kanady, who ropes with fellow rookie contender Conley Kleinhans, has cashed in all over the place, including a Resistol Rookie Roundup average win, a round win at San Angelo, a $2,054-a-man win in Clovis, New Mexico, a $2,905-a-man tie for first at Liberty Hill, Texas, and a $2,152-a-man tie for third in Round 2 at Music City Rodeo in Nashville.
“I was honestly going to go on my permit one more year,” Kanady said. “Then Conley decided he wanted to go out there and rodeo, so I figured if I’m going to be out there, I might as well buy my card.”
Kanady didn’t start roping as soon as he could walk. He played baseball when he was younger before deciding around 13 or 14 that he wanted to rope. His dad, who rodeoed when he was younger and later put on open ropings, helped him get started.
From there, he went through Texas High School Rodeo Association in Region III, making State all four years and qualifying for nationals his senior year. Even that trip came with a curveball—Kanady roped at nationals in a cast after breaking his leg in a car wreck between state and the National High School Finals Rodeo.
Now, Kanady is rodeoing while still in school at Cisco, and he and Kleinhans have been consistent in putting their name on the results sheet. They won Round 1, placed in Round 2 and won the average at the Resistol Rookie Roundup for $4,694 a man on the weekend, then kept building from there.
At San Angelo, they won the second round.
“We drew a good steer,” Kanady said. “He was pretty straight. Conley did a good job. I just took the first shot I had, and it worked out.”
That has been the theme for the pair. Kleinhans handles the heading, entries and driving, and Kanady keeps things simple on the back end.
“We grew up together,” Kanady said of him and his header. “We’ve known each other since high school. We’ve always got along. He drives. I don’t have to do much—just catch the steer, really.”
Kanady’s horsepower comes from Texas’ Guitar Ranches, where he and his dad both work riding and starting horses. His main horses include Screech, a bald-faced gelding around 9 or 10, and Jaws, a 6-year-old he’s bringing along. Both belong to Guitar Ranches, and Kanady said he and his dad help with ranch work when they can, then get colts broke and started in the arena.
Kanady rode that momentum into Nashville, where he and Kleinhans tied for third in Round 2 for $2,152 a man. The setup was fast, and after drawing a steer in the first round that didn’t fit them, they capitalized in Round 2.
“We drew a loper on our first one,” Kanady said. “Then we broke the barrier up, which made it to where we had to go fast on our second one. We made a good run on our second one.”
They’ve also added money at Rodeo Celina in McKinney, Texas, tying for second for $1,842 a man; Big Spring Cowboy Reunion in Texas, where they placed ninth for $1,206 a man; and Parker County Frontier Days in Weatherford, where they tied for ninth for $705 a man.
Kanady isn’t much for conversation, and he isn’t big on making things sound more complicated than they are. But the goal for the summer is clear.
“Trying to win the rookie,” Kanady said. “Just trying to win as much as we can and stay out here as long as we can.”
For a heeler who wasn’t even sure he was going to buy his card, Kanady has made the most of the decision. With Kleinhans spinning steers and Kanady doing his job behind him, the 2026 Resistol Rookie contenders have turned loose on the summer run.