NFR Day 4: Lummus gets key win in tight steer wrestling fight — PHOTOS
Steer wrestler Will Lummus didn’t have the best start to this year’s National Finals Rodeo.
Lummus arrived in Las Vegas leading the world standings in a tight steer wrestling field but failed to record times in two of the first three go-rounds.
The 33-year-old from Byhalia, Mississippi, picked the perfect time to get his first go-round win at the NFR. Lummus posted a time of 4.0 seconds to share Sunday night’s steer wrestling win with Tucker Allen, of Ventura, California, on the fourth night of competition at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“It felt good,” Lummus said. “I didn’t love the steer that I had drawn, but I knew I could win something if I just did my job. I rode better this night than I have the previous three nights. Some guys had bad luck and they let me capitalize and win.”
Lummus and Allen each picked up $32,824 in earnings for sharing the win. Two other steer wrestling title contenders, Tyler Waguespack and J.D. Struxness, appeared to have go-round winning runs but were given time penalties and did not receive any earnings.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to win the round on that steer, but I just lucked out,” Allen said. “Some bad luck for some other guys, I’m feeling it for them, but Will made a great run on a bad steer. It’s really impressive. It shows how much of a winner he is.”
Lummus leads the steer wrestling standings with $256,569.12 in earnings and Allen is second at $233,316.26. After not having the best nights at the beginning of the NFR, Lummus said he’s focused on winning the most money each night.
“At this point right now, I’ve put the gold buckle (the world championship) to the side,” Lummus said. “If we have a chance, that’s great. I’m here to win money. I’m here try to win $37,000 every night. If I do that, then I will have a chance at the end, maybe not an average check (extra money for the average of the best runs at NFR), but I have a chance.”
With the middle days of NFR approaching, more attention is being paid to the aggregate standings, which pays extra money to the athletes who have the best average time over the course of the 10 days.
‘Tough to win’
Lummus is 15th in the aggregate, which was hurt by his two no-times after the first three days. Allen is second in the aggregate. There is a total payout of $354,851.11 for the top eight in the aggregate with the winner getting an extra $94,035.54.
“It’s tough to win against the 15 best guys in the world and I feel like this is an extremely tough set of guys,” Lummus said. “It’s the toughest set of guys I can remember in the last couple of years and guys have been showing it.”
Lummus is seeking his first steer wrestling world title in his eighth NFR appearance. Last year, Lummus entered the final day of NFR leading the standings, but was jumped after Struxness picked up a bonus of more than $8,000 by finishing eighth in the aggregate. He beat Lummus by $1,508 for the title.
“It’s really hard to win,” Lummus said. “I’m glad I was the guy tonight. These last four rounds, it’s just been a lot of ups and downs. I knew missing my first one that I could probably slip in the bottom and get an average check and then (Saturday) night we go down on another steer … that’s not a comfortable spot for me, but I’m also dangerous when I get backed into the corner. That’s where I’m at.”
Ty Erickson, who is first in the aggregate, is third in the standings ($209.601.56), Waguespack (fifth in both standings) and Struxness (sixth in both standings) are not out of it.
“You cannot back off. You have to go for it and take chances every night,” Allen said. “There’s a lot of reward.”
Allen, who entered the NFR fifth in the standings, shared Lummus’ sentiments that he isn’t thinking about the aggregate and is just trying win go-rounds.
“I’ve got to throw haymakers every night and figure out if we have a chance to win, if not, win as much (money) as we can,” Lummus said.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
Back-to-back team roping champs get win
Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp are the two-time defending team roping champions.
It didn't look like it when they entered Las Vegas eighth in the standings. And after the duo did not record a time after their first three runs through the start of the 2025 National Finals Rodeo.
They looked like the champions on Sunday. Wade and Thorp shared Sunday's go-round win with a time of 3.8 seconds. They shared the win with Levi Lord and Dustin Egusquiza.
"It's a sigh of relief," Wade said.
Said Thorp of their run: "It went good. (The) steer ran a good pattern. It felt like Tyler got a good start, got it on him and finished good. Hopefully, that got the ball rolling."
The duo each received $32,824 in earnings for the win. Wade ($186,190.20 in total earnings) is 10th in the headers standings and behind leader Andrew Ward ( $235,150.60). Thorp is also 10th in the heelers standings ($186,190.20) and behind leader Jake Long ($233,404.05).
Wade said with the experience he and Thorp have, they don't get "too high and we don't get too down on each other."
"I've had years out here before and no matter the next night coming up, you're better off being here than you are anywhere else," Thorp said. "Being grateful to be here, I think a lot of it is just kind of staying in the game and ready for a chance. It's not always going to go your way. It could definitely turn around in a hurry."
Wade and Throp have won eight events in 2025. Wade said the mindset is to "ride the wave" and go win as many more go-rounds as possible to try and get up in the standings.
"It's not always going to go good every year," Thorp said. "You can't expect to dominate all the time. We do everything we can to put ourselves in the best chance. I feel like we've done the groundwork to be here and be successful. You can only do so much. There's some things you can't control. You just got to control the things you can."
Other go-round winners
Wacey Schalla, Arapaho, Oklahoma, in bareback riding (87.25 points).
Stetson Wright, Beaver, Utah, in saddle bronc riding (88.5 points).
Kincade Henry, Mount Pleasant, Texas in tie-down roping (7.1 seconds).
Tricia Aldridge, Sanger, Texas in barrel racing (13.42 seconds).
Bryce Jensen, Huntsville, Texas, in bull riding (87.5 points).
Alex Wright Review-Journal
