Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord matched Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp with a pair of 3.8-second runs, worth $32,823.73 a man.
Current NFR Team Roping Results
It’s the first check of the rodeo for both perennial powerhouse teams. Egusquiza and Lord now are fourth in the PRCA world standings with $203,527 and $201,145, respectively. Wade is tenth with $186,190, and Thorp is seventh with the same amount.
Wade & Thorp
Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp stopped the clock in 3.8 at second out in Round 4. | Jamie Arviso Photo
While Wade has missed two and Thorp one over the last three rounds, the duo said Thorp’s horsepower was the main topic of conversation with fans concerned about the reigning world champs’ NFR. While Thorp started the week on current PRCA/AQHA Horse of the Year Cut Off My Spots owned by Coleby Payne, his 2024 World Champion mount (owned by Payne as well) Kadabra King (Turbo) is also standing in a stall at the Thomas & Mack ready to go.
“I didn’t even know which horse I cared to ride,” Thorp, 30, said. “It didn’t matter much to me. The only real deciding factor was that the steers hit fast and they aren’t easy to get around and throw on quickly. Turbo finishes better, so I felt like I could take an extra swing and still finish fast. That could be the difference between being 4.4 because I couldn’t get around one, versus 3.8 or 4 flat by taking a swing over. Both horses needed to be ready in the box, and there isn’t a huge difference between them. I rode Turbo more this year anyway. In the end, I’ll give the credit to everyone who kept asking why I wasn’t on Turbo.”
Wade was happy the steer they drew is one that stepped right when Egusquiza and Lord ran him in Round 1.
“It hasn’t really been the steers’ fault,” Wade, 32, admitted. “Tonight I was glad the steer went to the right where I was throwing it anyway. That made everything line up.”
Wesley Thorp got back on the three-time PRCA Horse of the Year Kadabra King to split the Round 4 win. | Jamie Arviso Photo
Wade, on his 2024 PRCA/AQHA Horse of the Year Espuela Bro, might have been ready, but Thorp really wasn’t.
“I waited to nod until Wesley was in a bad spot on purpose, so the steer would go right,” Wade joked. “By year six, he’ll have hazing figured out. Eventually he’ll realize I can’t catch him unless he stays away from the cow.”
“Watching the video, I didn’t get the go I wanted,” Thorp added. “Not that I was late, but I was trying to go and the steer really ran. I felt behind the whole time, but I wasn’t in a terrible spot. It was hard to get around him, so I took a swing over and finished. Seeing 3.8 pop up was a relief when everything felt fast in my head. These steers are leaving hard. If you don’t get a good go, you’re chasing from behind, and both horses get anxious. I wanted to get a feel for them under me. I ended up caught between decisions at the gate and we left a little late, but it wasn’t bad.”
Wade and Thorp are out of the average going into Round 5, but both said they’re not feeling too much pressure.
“Honestly, everyone else seemed more worried than I was,” Wade said. “I’ve told people before that you don’t find out how good a team is when they’re winning. You find out when they’re losing, and we’re pretty good losers. Expectations might be a little lower, but if you play the odds, we were due to catch one and win something. So we stuck with it.”
Egusquiza & Lord
Dustin Egusquiza and Levi Lord went one team later than Wade and Thorp and matched their 3.8. | Jamie Arviso Photo
Egusquiza, 30, and Lord, 29, went one team later, and they drew a steer that Riley and Brady Minor were a little late on in Round 1 and roped in 6.9 seconds.
“I knew our steer was pretty fast and liked to drift toward Levi’s side,” Egusquiza said. “The main thing was getting a start. I don’t think it was a great one, but I was close enough to the barrier to get him caught on a short rope. Levi did a great job heeling him. The steer was big and strong and wanted to run, but Levi finished it well.”
Their Round 4 steer stayed in the middle of the pen, a change from the ones they had in Rounds 1 and 2.
“Last night we had a good go but caught the steer in stride and threw over the right horn,” Lord explained. “Nothing you can do about that. This one stayed straight, we got a good start, and the run set up the way it should. It felt easy. We didn’t have to force anything.”
Lord heels on San Jo Deacon to win Round 4 of the 2025 NFR. | Jamie Arviso Photo
Egusquiza and Lord are both confident in their 2025 NFR horsepower—Snoopy Guy (a 7-year-old gelding by Three G Smooth Texan out of Nwchromehigheststraw) and San Jo Deacon (a 14-year-old gelding by San Jo Lena out of Playfox).
“He came from Pablo Robles in San Antonio,” Egusquiza said. “Pablo trained him from early on. I rode him when he was 4, and told Pablo I wanted him when he turned 6. I got him when he turned 6 last year. I probably should have ridden him here then, but I had only owned him a month and wasn’t ready. I’ve been excited all year to bring him back here.”
For Lord, his horse’s speed is a strength when it comes to getting to the right spot behind Egusquiza’s big reach in the tiny setup.
“That black horse has been great since I bought him, and I bought him with this rodeo in mind,” Lord said. “He can run, and he wants to leave the box. So keeping up hasn’t felt tough this year. The second one beat us both out there, so maybe not on that one, but overall that horse has made a big difference.”
Egusquiza and Lord are seventh in the aggregate at 17.5 on three head.
Aggregate & World Standings Race
Andrew Ward and Jake Long have made a massive push to the top of the PRCA world standings with $235,150 and $233,404 won on the year, respectively. They lead the aggregate on four wit a time of 16.2 seconds, having placed in every go round and accumulated $86,095 a man in NFR earnings. Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira are now second in the world with $223,874 each after taking a no time with a miss on the head side in Round 4. With only three teams clean in the aggregate so far, that miss only dropped them to eighth in the average—which still counts for a check after Round 10.
Round Team Roping 4 Results
Tyler Wade / Wesley Thorp3.8$32,823.73Dustin Egusquiza / Levi Lord3.8$32,823.73Andrew Ward / Jake Long3.9$15,574.02 Clint Summers / Jade Corkill3.9$15,574.02 Riley Minor / Brady Minor3.9$15,574.02 Kolton Schmidt / Jonathan Torres4.7$5,914.19 Clay Smith / Coleby Payne9.5Lightning Aguilera / Kaden Profili9.6Cyle Denison / Lane Mitchell10.5Derrick Begay / Colter Todd10.5Tanner Tomlinson / Travis Graves100Kaleb Driggers / Junior Nogueira100Luke Brown / Trey Yates100Jake Smith / Douglas Rich100Dawson Graham / Dillon Graham100
