BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
Riley Webb entered the NFR after breaking the PRCA tie-down roping regular season by more than $65,000 and after being pushed by Haven Meged, the 20-year-old left Vegas with his first Gold Buckle.
Webb ultimately won the World Title by about $41,000 with $452,852 in total earnings, which is a new PRCA single season record. He bested the mark set by Caleb Smidt in 2022 by more than $75,000.
“It really hasn’t even sunk in yet,” he said. “I’ll tell you how it feels in the morning when we pull through Henderson, when I see my family in a bit here, I know it’s going to sink in. I’m just so very blessed.”
After winning RodeoHouston in March, Riley Webb never lost the No. 1 spot the rest of the year.
“Some guys don’t go to all of the rodeos and they hope they can come to (Vegas) and make it happen, I didn’t want to regret anything,” he said. “I didn’t want it to be that I lost (the World Title) by a few thousand. I didn’t want to be backed into a corner where I have to win first in the 10th Round.”
That cushion proved crucial as Webb had a little trouble on the ground and made a 10.9-second run in Round 10.
“I knew I had some time, I roped the neck really good and I was pulling on the slack to keep him up, I haven’t seen the run yet, so I couldn’t tell you exactly what happened yet,” he said. “You just gotta keep going, keep tying, that’s all it was. Don’t panic, because that’s going to lead to a mistake and then another mistake.”
Webb’s Round 10 run was his slowest of the rodeo as he finished second in the NFR Average with 82.9 seconds on 10. He placed in five rounds total, including a stretch where he won Round 3 and finished second in Rounds 4 and 5 with three consecutive times between 6.9 seconds and 7.4 seconds.
Haven Meged set the Average record with 77.4 seconds on 10.
In his first two years in ProRodeo, Webb has already earned over $650,000.
