No. 8 | $143,366.47
- Age: 30
- Hometown: Stephenville, Texas
- World Titles: 3 (2019, 2023-2024)
- Career earnings: $2,037,125
- NFR Average Titles: 1 (2019)
- NFR Qualifications: 10 (2016-25)
- Major ropings: BFI; Spicer Gripp Memorial; The Sandhills Invitational; Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping; Priefert Ranch Open.
- Major rodeos: NFR; CNFR; Spanish Fork (Utah) Fiesta Days Rodeo; North Dakota (Mandan) Roughrider Cup; Deadwood (S.D.) Days Of ’76 Rodeo, the Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo and the Washington State Fair Pro Rodeo (Puyallup, Wash.); Northern Pro Tour Team Roping (Ellenburg, Wash.); San Angelo (Texas) Cinch Chute-Out Rodeo; Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo.
- Star Horsepower: RayJ (Little Hickory Boon); Lexus (Million Dollar Lexus); Juice (Juiced Up Cat)
- Rope Choice: Classic NV4 HM
Wesley Thorp’s success came as no surprise, considering his journey to three gold buckles started over a decade ago.
If team roping has child prodigies, Thorp fit the bill. Raised in a ranching family in Throckmorton, Texas, Thorp cut his teeth in the USTRC becoming one of the top money earners in Cinch USTRC NFTR history. Thorp won the #11 Shoot-Out in 2012, #13 Prelim in 2013, #13 Prelim and #13 Shootout in 2015 and #15 Shoot-Out in 2015.
“Going back to the US Finals when I was 12, 13 years old, having a chance to win a lot of money, that prepares you for a lot,” Thorp told The Team Roping Journal’s Chelsea Shaffer in 2019. “Being a young kid, backing into the box for $50,000 or $100,000, just crazy numbers at a young age, I’ve been used to that and I’ve had a lot of failures in that spot—I roped a leg at the American one year for $350,000.”
Thorp’s young success was only a glimpse of what was to come. His career hit high gear in 2016 when he won the College National Finals Rodeo in June, then just days later won the BFI with Zac Small. His storybook year landed him inside the Thomas & Mack that December for his breakout NFR.
“The College Finals were pretty neat,” Thorp said. “It was something that I set a goal to win. It was pretty fun. I expected to do good at the College Finals, but the BFI was the first time there. I just wanted to do good. I didn’t really have super high expectations. I just wanted to get through the roping and win what I could, and it ended up working out good. It’s one of those deals that went my way—back to back.”
Thorp finished ninth in the world that year with $138,221, setting in motion the start of 10 straight trips to the Super Bowl of Rodeo.
Roping with Cody Snow, Thorp won his first world title in 2019, thanks to winning the average at the NFR with a 43.8 on nine head. Snow and Thorp won Round 7 and placed in six rounds to earn $161,885 a man at the Finals.
“I set a really broad goal at a young age,” said Thorp, who finished his first gold-buckle season with $249,181. “I never told myself I wanted to win a world championship. I never even set a goal to do that. I always told myself I wanted to be the best heeler in the world. I wanted to know that myself and it be point blank. And I am not. I’m honest enough with myself to know that. I hope to be there. This is a pretty good milestone to help prove that. Even though I won a world championship, and it’s such a cool accomplishment and the biggest thing I’ve ever accomplished in roping, but honestly I have a lot more that I want to do to prove to myself.”
An NFR mainstay, Thorp picked up friend and then five-time NFR header Tyler Wade after the winter rodeos in 2023. The first leg of their partnership had its share of battles and started off relatively slow before hitting high gear in late July. Wade and Thorp made quick work of their time in Utah, winning the Fiesta Days Rodeo in Spanish Fork and the Odgen Pioneer Days. The wins came as a steady push of momentum to get not only their summer ball rolling but also their fight to Las Vegas.
“It seemed like the momentum kept going,” Thorp said. “I think it was good to kind of just get a little confidence under our belt, too. Not that it had been going terrible, it just seemed like we weren’t really getting anything going yet. But now it just kind of all ran together.”
They stayed in the headlines the remained of the year, and Thorp entered the NFR No. 1 in the world standings. They finished third in the aggregate and raked in $153,131 a man, placing in four rounds highlighted by a pair of go-round wins in Rounds 8 and 9. Wade added his name to the book of world champs, and Thorp claimed his second world title. And make no mistake–that second buckle was that much sweeter than the first as he won it with his partner; in 2019, Thorp’s partner Snow fell behind Clay Smith for the heading title.
“It was split, and it was a crappy timing,” Thorp said. “Covid was the next year, and things were weird, and it just felt like—it didn’t feel like I won. I didn’t know if I deserved to win the world. I really didn’t know. I just didn’t feel like a world champion either. I didn’t feel like a world champion going into it. And I roped good at the Finals, and I left being a world champion. And it kind of messed with my whole perspective. So I got through all that and changed my whole perspective and outlook so I don’t get caught up too much in counting the trophies.”
In 2024, Wade and Thorp proved their 2023 gold buckles had nothing to do with luck. They placed in six rounds at the NFR, highlighted by the wins of Rounds 1, 2 and 5. They pocketed a whopping $169,742 inside the Thomas & Mack Center to break the team roping earnings record with $361,480 won on the 2024 season. But their time in Vegas wasn’t all highs. Their world championship was far from guaranteed as they rode into the box in the tenth round, but their 3.8-second run to win second in Round 10 sealed the deal on his third gold buckle (and Wade’s second).
Thorp will head into the 2025 NFR behind now two-time World Champion Wade at No. 8 in the world with $143,366.47 won on the regular season. Thorp will also be throwing his hat in the ring at the Cinch Timed Event Championship in 2026.
“There’s guys that have won the world that don’t jackpot as good, or there’s guys that jackpot really good that haven’t ever had high success at the rodeos. I really wanted to complete the package, in my mind. I just figured if I could get to that point, the gold buckles would take care of themselves.”
Wesley Thorp
More with Wesley Thorp
- Wade & Thorp to Tackle Cinch Timed Event Championship: World Champs to Try 5 Events, 25 Head at Lazy E
- No Fluke: Tyler Wade, Wesley Thorp Repeat as PRCA Team Roping World Champions in 2024
- Thorp’s Gator Brings $91K for Charity at BFI Auction, Sells to Rafter P Construction *THEN* Resells to Rolling Ranch Boutique
- Signs of Greatness: How Today’s Best Climbed the Number-System Ranks
- Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp Are 2023’s PRCA World Champion Team Ropers
- Thorp and Juiced Up Cat Win ARHFA Heeling World Title in Dominant Fashion
- The BFI Win with Wesley Thorp
- SPLIT: 2019 PRCA Team Roping World Champions Clay Smith and Wesley Thorp
