Seventeen-year-old Cannan Wescott and 16-year-old Kase Key turned three sub-7-second runs and a clean short-round steer into a 28.05-second aggregate on four head, a $43,200 payday and the #13.5 Ariat World Series of Team Roping qualifier title at the 2026 Riata Championships.

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For two high-school seniors who admitted they had been spending plenty on entry fees without winning much of it back, the Wednesday in Guthrie came at a good time.

“I was going into debt,” Wescott joked after the win. “I’ve been going everywhere I possibly can and winning a little bit, but this $43,000 is going to help me a lot.”

Key’s assessment was about the same.

“I’m just trying to get back ahead,” Key said, his new buckle in hand.

Wescott, of De Leon, Texas, and Key, of Stephenville, Texas, gave themselves plenty of room to work with through the first three steers. They were 6.30 on their first, followed it with another 6.30 and added a 6.76 on their third steer to sit at 19.36 heading to the short round.

Wescott credited at least part of that position to drawing cattle that let them do their jobs.

“To be honest, we just really drew good,” he said. “We didn’t draw any steers that tried to outrun us, and they were simple to catch and we did it.”

By the time Wescott and Key backed into the box for their short round steer, the situation had changed. Teams ahead of them had left the door open, and instead of needing to let their hair down a little, Wescott knew a clean catch could finish the job.

“I was really seeing what Lucas Dunn (at second high call) was going to do right there,” Wescott said. “He told me that he was going to try to go at him, and I was thinking he could put the pressure on us right there and let us go blast one. And then he didn’t draw the best steer right there. So, then it opened the window, and I was thinking, yeah, we already got this won, just had to catch the cow clean.”

Key may have known they had room, but that didn’t make the wait any easier.

“Nervous,” Key said. “My heart was pounding through my chest because I couldn’t talk to anybody. It was just me over there.”

His first instinct was still to go fast.

“I was wanting to throw first hop, but I figured I better just track and make sure I catch,” Key said.

The decision paid off. Their 8.69-second fourth run gave them the 28.05 on four and the $43,200 win.

The horses underneath them were just as important to the day.

Wescott headed on 13-year-old Poker Playin Bailey, by Poker Playin Ike, a horse his parents helped him buy from Colton McCarley about five months ago after his older mare began showing her age.

“That’s been a lifesaver,” Wescott said. “That horse is awesome.”

For a World Series setup, Poker Playin Bailey’s strength starts at the barrier.

“He is very fast across the line,” Wescott said. “On a World Series start, you can get him to tuck his nose and just score, and then so fast across the line.”

Key heeled on his 10-year-old mare Mc Rey N Nick, by Reynshine and out of Ac Cindy Checkers. Key bought her about a year and a half ago through Billy Bob Brown, and it didn’t take him long to realize what he had.

“I ran the first steer and I said, ‘Holy crap, this one’s pretty legit,’” Key said.

Now, he is trying to make her last as long as she can.

“She might be the best horse I’ll ever have in my life,” Key said. “I’m trying to save as many runs as I possibly can on her.”

Mc Rey N Nick gave Key another check in Guthrie, earning the $6,000 Rope Horse Rewards bonus as the highest-placing eligible heel horse. Rope Horse Rewards horses that place in the aggregate are eligible for the #13.5 Rope Horse Rewards Finals at the Ariat WSTR Finale in Las Vegas, in addition to earning a separate qualification to the Finale under WSTR rules.

That puts Vegas ahead for Wescott and Key. But after four steers, $43,200 and another $6,000 on the heel side, Wescott’s immediate assessment of the day was considerably simpler:

“Not a terrible Wednesday.”

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