Mathews Land & Cattle held their World Series of Team Roping qualifier Jan. 16-18 at the Circle T Arena in Hamilton, Texas. Three days of chilly weather, big payouts and big ropings all around made Hamilton the place to be the third weekend of January.
Walking away champions of the #9.5 Heartland for $38,000, Cactus Saddlery saddles and saddle pads, was Troy Brown and Marty Larner. From the high callback position, the team’s 9.73-second run in the short round brought them to 34.80 seconds on four head.
“This was by far my biggest win,” Larner, of Waurika, Oklahoma, said while holding his brand-new Cactus Saddlery.
For the lifelong friends, this was a special one.
Their grandparents were friends, their parents were friends, and they continued the tradition right down to their own children. Brown’s son, Twister, and Larner’s daughter, Lariat Lynn, were born just eight days apart. Lariat Lynn tragically passed in a traffic accident back in 2021 at the age of 24 years old, the reason behind the pink feather Larner was wearing in his black felt when he heeled that last steer.
“When the girls were pregnant, we rodeoed in a four-door pickup with no air conditioner in August,” Larner recalled with a smile. “We just thought, it didn’t get no better. We got lots of second looks from our wives.”
“This was a family deal,” Brown, of Stephenville, Texas, added of the win.
Aboard a grade 6- or 7-year-old head horse called “Sandlot” and a black-and-white paint heel horse named “Geronimo Big Stock,” the team kicked off the Heartland with an 8.96-second run.
“I roped him around the brisket and gave him what he liked,” Brown said of their first steer.
“He made it to where I couldn’t think, I just had to rope him,” Larner added.
They sped it up on their second two steers, adding 8.05- and 8.06-second runs to the board in Round 2 and 3.
“That second steer was our best steer probably,” Lariat’s dad said. “Our third one went down, and when he came up, I knew where he was going.”
They went into the 20-team short round in the high callback position, and the door opened for them to leave as champions.
Nerves aside, Brown and Larner’s sub-10-second run took them to the top for the $38,000 payday and punched their ticket to the 2026 WSTR Finale at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
“Yeah, I was nervous,” Brown admitted of that last steer. “I didn’t play my game – I took an extra swing or two. I’m not very good at that.”
“I was ready,” Larner said. “I said, put me in, coach, run my steer ahead of those 10 because I was ready to rope him.”
“There’s nothing better than winning with your people – it’s the hardest win to get,” Brown said. “The cool thing about him and I is before we went in, it was love you, let’s do our best.”
For full weekend results, visit globalhandicap.com or click below.
