Longstanding Friendship Carries Team Roping Duo Into Contention for World Title

Tyler Tryan and Nicky Northcott have themselves in position to make NFR together, boosted by late July success.

Team roping partners Tyler Tryan (right) and Nicky Northcott (left) have put themselves in position to make NFR and contend for a world title thanks to recent success. | CFD photo by Laura Storey

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  Turns out the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo was exactly the spark Tyler Tryan and Nicky Northcott needed. 

After some solid earnings from a pair of rodeos during the Fourth of July weekend, the team roping duo limped to a little more than $3,000 each through the middle of the month. They were each still inside the top 10 of their respective World Standings, but needed something to solidify their position. 

CFD provided just that. 

After placing in the preliminaries and semifinals, the pair went on to capture the championship with a time of 7.6 seconds in the short round. 

“We haven’t done great the last month or so. We’ve kind of been stuck barely getting small checks. It felt good to finally kind of get a big one,” Tyran said after CFD. “It was good and we just need to keep on winning and keep them rolling.”

Added Northcott: “The money is good here and we really needed it. It’s a big rodeo.”

Cheyenne put $12,600 in each of their ledgers. More importantly, it kickstarted their finish to the back end of the season. 

Since the victory in Cheyenne, the pair have won the average at the Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup, then posted the top times at the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo in Castle Rock, Colo., and Mountain Valley Stampede in Heber City, Utah. Along with round money from the War Bonnet Round Up in Idaho Falls, the pair have amassed $24,755 each in additional earnings since CFD. 

It’s a big return to form for the longtime friends and first-year roping partners, at least at the PRCA level. 

Tyran grew up in Lipan, Texas, about 30 minutes away from Northcott in Stephenville, Texas. They’ve known each other for years, roping together at junior and high school level events. Tyran's father, Clay, won PRCA Team Roping World Titles as a header in 2005, 2013 and 2014. Northcott's dad, Steve, was the 1996 PRCA Team Roping World Champion as a heeler.

Professionally, the up-and-coming pair have competed at jackpots as each other’s second partner. Like many young ropers in the industry, both opted for more veteran partners to start their respective PRCA careers. 

Last year, Tyran finished 19th in the world, earning more than $102,000 with partner Denton Dunning. Northcott was the first man on the bubble in terms of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, placing 16th in the World Standings with slightly more than $111,000, competing with partner Clay Smith. Northcott earned Resistol Rookie of the Year honors as a heeler last season.

When the 2026 schedule began, the pair began talking about their respective plans for the coming year. 

“We’ve been roping since we were 10 years old and we’ve always just done really good together,” Tyran said. “We both just kind of wanted to do something different and kind of just asked each other the same day. And it just ended up happening.”

What has unfolded has not only put them in contention to make the NFR, but to be bonafide contenders for world titles. Tryan is fourth in the PRCA Header World Standings with more than $115,000 earned, while Northcott is third on the heeler leaderboard with more than $116,400. 

What happens over the final two months will determine if they can stay in the race. But if recent results are any indication, they’re certainly up for the challenge. 

“We’re both young and usually young guys don’t rope together, but we had roped so long and are best friends, we get along great. It’s been the most fun summer I’ve ever had out here,” Tyran said.