A Trio of Timed Event Cowboys Would Win First Gold Buckle if NFR Ended Today

The world title race has officially started to heat up.

Tucker Allen taking his victory lap after splitting round four with Will Lummus at the NFR | Nathan Meyer Photography

The NFR is far from over but that doesn't mean it isn't fun to predict who the world champion is going to be when the week is over. Some have climbed the ranks while others have their work cut out for them after they have fallen back in the average race.

The payout at this year's finals made it so that nobody was taken out of the running, no matter how far back they sat. In the men's timed events, there is only one cowboy who is on track to win a gold buckle, who has already done so, Riley Webb.

If Webb ended up taking home another world title, it would be his third in three years at just 22 years old. But, he would be the only season leader to be crowned a world champion as the drama in both steer wrestling and team roping continues to unfold.

Who Could Be Walking Away With the Gold Buckle

Nathan Meyer Photography

Steer Wrestling:
Going into round one, it was Will Lummus who sat as the No.1 cowboy in the world, but his world title race got significantly harder after he hit the dirt in rounds one and three, seemingly taking him out of the average.

While the average check at the end of the week will make all the difference, Lummus is trying to fight to stay alive through the rounds, as when he has tipped a steer, he has won a check. However, it is Tucker Allen who would be named the world champion if the season were to end today.

Allen sits as the No. 2 man in the world right now after a pair of round wins and a third-place average check. He would narrowly take down Ty Erickson, who is on track to take the reserve title in the average, but trails him in the world standings as he barely snuck in as a qualifier and had nearly $90,000 worth of ground to make up.

Nathan Meyer Photography

Team Roping:
Andrew Ward and Jake Long were the No. 7 cowboys in the world prior to throwing their ropes at the first steer, but through five rounds of competition, they have emerged as the front-runners in the race to a gold buckle.

Ward trails only Tanner Tomlinson right now in the heading world standings, but Tomlinson and his partner, Travis Graves, are back a steer in the average battle. At the same time, Ward and Long are on track to take home the $94,000 check, which would propel them to the No.1 team in the world by the end of the year, for the first title for either of them.

Nathan Meyer Photography

Tie-Down Roping:
From the get-go, the tie-down seemed to be a two-man fight between Shad Mayfield and Riley Webb. Webb came into this with a significant lead over Mayfield, and even though Mayfield dethroned him as the current leader, his journey just got a lot harder.

After taking home a pair of round wins and another two checks, Mayfield was the average leader as the front runner to this year's gold buckle. However, in round five, he faced heartbreak as his calf kicked free.

If this were to end today, Webb would win a third-place average check for over $60,000 to win back-to-back-to-back world titles.

Even though this is how the world title race looks right now it could look entirely different by the time Saturday rolls around.

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