Rookie Ty Vaile and veteran Riley Wilson were crowned Maple Leaf Circuit champions after a big-time showing at the circuit finals, held Nov. 26-29, 2025, in Regina, Saskatchewan, winning $11,096.80.
Wilson, 50, entered the finals sitting second in the year-end race, roughly $4,000 behind the leader on the heel side, and knew that the stars had to align for them to come out on top. Vaile, 21, was roping at his first Maple Leaf Circuit Finals.
“There were so many things that had to go my way to win it,” Cardston, Alberta’s Wilson said. “When I went into the finals, my goal was to win the average because I thought that was the only way.”
“It was pretty cool,” Babb, Montana’s Vaile said of his first circuit finals. “I’ve never been there, so it being my first year and I make the Canadian Finals and the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals felt pretty lucky. We’re fortunate to do what we get to do.”
After an illegal head catch in Round 1, it was less about the average and more about going at the rounds and winning as much as possible for the team.
That plan kicked off strong in Round 2, when Vaile and Wilson were 4.2 seconds for the round win and $1,707.20 a man.
“It’s kind of hard to go 4.2 sometimes, especially after you miss the first one,” Vaile said. “You kind of fight your head. But I mean, the rest of the rounds, I just laid it out on the table and told myself I’m going to throw as fast as possible.”
The momentum carried into Round 3, when the team posted a 4.7-second run to finish second in the round, good for $1,280.40 a man.
“Ty started getting a better start in Round 2,” Wilson added. “He really rode his horse across the line, he was aggressive, and really just set the steer up for me to heel him first hop.”
Coming down to the final steer, it was clear to the team how much was needed for them to come out on top.
They answered with a 5-second run, winning second in the round for $1,280.40 a man.
“Honestly, in my mind, we were coming down to a one header,” Wilson said of the last round. “Number one, we had to catch the steer, of course. Number two, I thought we had to be fast enough to place because by that point, I actually thought we had a chance.”
That run landed them third in the average with a time of 13.9 seconds on three head, good for $1,280.40 a man and was ultimately enough for them to be named Maple Leaf Circuit Finals champions.
For horses, it was an 11-year-old gray gelding Vaile calls “Silver.”
“I’ve won more on that horse than I have in my whole career, just on that horse,” Vaile said.
Wilson flew into the finals from Arizona and jump rode “JP,” the 14-year-old gelding owned by fellow Canadian and circuit finals qualifier Denim Ross.
Coming into the late November weekend, Vaile and Wilson had won $35,472.05 together this season. This came from a solid year of placing along and getting on a heater when it mattered.
“It was a great year,” Vaile said with a smile. “Wilson’s by far the top dog heeler in Canada – I mean, he’s made the (Canadian Finals Rodeo) 17 times.”
August 2025 watched them get on a roll, which kicked off when they split third in Strathmore, Alberta, good for $5,431 a man. From there, they placed at La Crete, Alberta; High River, Alberta; Dawson Creek, British Columbia; Cranbrook, British Columbia; Pincher Creek, Alberta; and Merritt, British Columbia.
“As you come up through the number system, you get quite accustomed to winning,” Wilson said. “But that’s the biggest part about rodeo is being able to handle the losing part of it.”
As a rookie and a veteran roping together, it was key to their success leaning on Wilson’s years on the road.
“I couldn’t have done it without Riley,” Vaile said of his heeler. “I wouldn’t have known how to enter those rodeos, so it was great. We just tried to make our run, that’s all we needed to do.”
