Season of uncertainty jells for roping duo

Clint Summers was staring down the decision he’d been avoiding.

After winning the 2024 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo average title as a team roping header, he started the 2025 season on unsure footing. He had no permanent partner and was trying to figure out what was next.

Paul Eaves was gracious enough to rope with Summers at some of the bigger winter events. But Eaves wasn’t looking to do much competing later in the season.

With the rest of 2025 looming, Summers faced a lot of uncertainty. He talked to other heelers about forming a partnership, but was hesitant to commit. And then, his phone vibrated with the message he had long hoped for.

“Out of the blue, Jade (Corkill) texted me and said, ‘I’m ready if you are,’” Summers said. “I said, ‘Well, I’m ready.’ It was almost like it was meant to be.”

While they previously roped together at smaller jackpot events, the opportunity to compete at the PRCA level had never presented itself. In 2024, Corkill opted to take the entire season off, to help his wife with her horse breeding business and to enjoy time with his kids.

Corkill contemplated a return to the arena in 2025, but even as the calendar flipped, a potential comeback didn’t seem right. Summers kept asking if he might make a return. Corkill kept putting him off.

“He just stayed on me a little bit,” Corkill said with a laugh. “It was spring time I guess, early April probably. It just kind of landed where everything fell into place, and it kind of seemed like it was meant to be to do it, I guess. I just kind of went with my faith on it.”

While their partnership finally materialized, the timing put the newly formed duo well off the pace of reaching the NFR together. Despite making some runs at those high-paying winter rodeos, Summers was still outside the top 50 in the world standings. And Corkill had no earnings to his credit, leaving him completely unranked.

The situation, while tough, didn’t seem to faze either cowboy.

“Jake said, ‘I’m ready, but I can’t go and lose for a month. If I do, I’m gonna have to come home.’ I said, ‘Well listen, I’m in the same boat. If we lose, we might as well both come home,’” Summers said. “We both agreed on that. We knew what we had to do, and luckily it worked out in our favor.”

The duo picked up some earnings in April and June to get on the board, including a runner-up finish in the average at the Oakdale (Calif.) Saddle Club Rodeo and a fourth-place showing in the average at the Snake River Stampede in Nampa, Idaho.

It was a start, albeit a slow one.

Then came the Crooked River Roundup in Prineville, Ore. The pair won the first go and caught their second steer to finish in 12.1 seconds and claim the average.

That moment turned into a preview of things to come, as two days later the Cowboy Christmas run during the first week of July got underway. Over that stretch, Corkill and Summers won nine of the 10 rodeos they competed at, each collecting nearly $30,000. Instantly, the tandem went from unranked to inside the top 10 of the world standings.

“It was one of those deals where everything was kind of on point at the right time,” Corkill said. “We just were not doing too little, but not doing too much. We were just doing everything we needed to do, catching our steers, and by the end of it, it all added up.”

Over the final months of the regular season, the money continued to pile up, including a runner-up finish at the finals in Calgary, the best time in the finals at Puyallup (Wash.), and some solid money collected at The Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Heading into the NFR, Summers (header) and Corkill (heeler) were ranked fourth and third in their respective world standings, each with a little more than $161,000 in earnings during the regular season. Through eight rounds in Las Vegas, the pair collected another $91,813 apiece.

So despite Corkill’s late start, he’s now the No. 2 heeler in the world standings at $253,380, trailing leader Jonathan Torres ($270,808). Summers is the No. 3 header at $253,055, about $26,000 behind leader Kolton Schmidt ($279,074).

Summers, who finished second in the world standings last year, is happy to have his fifth qualification to this season-culminating battle via a winding road.

Corkill, a Fallon native and three-time world champion from 2012-14, is savoring his 14th NFR bid, as it was hard-earned.

Their path to the Thomas & Mack Center started as outsiders.

Now, the duo are focused on finishing the journey as world champions.

“As a kid, you dream about getting to do this and going to the NFR. So anytime you get to go, it’s a pretty big blessing,” Summers said. “One day, we won’t be good enough to go there. It’ll be a bunch of young kids coming along, and we’ll be the old guys having to watch. I’m just enjoying it, honestly.”