Tyler Calhoun Claims Tie-Down Rookie of the Year After Breakout 2025 Season

The 2025 Tie-Down Resistol Rookie of the Year was awarded to Tyler Calhoun after a fairytale first season in the PRCA.

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The National Finals Rodeo marked the end of the 2025 rodeo season and it was an epic one. Records were broken and rookies came into the arena for the first time and made quick work at becoming the best of the best. During the NFR, Resistol named the tie-down Rookie of the Year and the honor went to Tyler Calhoun after winning over $50,000 more than the runner-up. 

Tie-Down Rookie of the Year Missed NFR By Two Spots

20-year-old Calhoun spent his year following in the footsteps of former world champion Shad Mayfield. He found himself traveling alongside Mayfeild throughout the season, who had to be an incredible mentor for the young cowboy. Not only was he surrounded by one savant in the sport, eight-time World Champion Joe Beaver was in his corner as well. 

Mayfield guided Calhoun both in and outside of the arena, including how to enter rodeos and which ones to enter, along with help mapping routes, so Calhoun would know exactly where he needed to go. This surely had to help take pressure off the new-comer as establishing an entering strategy is easily the hardest part about professional rodeo. 

A Strong Support System Follows Calhoun

Calhoun may have had a solid support system surrounding him, but he had a strong one underneath him as well. He credits a lot of his success this year to his young bay gelding, Lil Wayne. He’s been riding this horse since Calhoun was 13 years old, marking the partnership as something special. 

Calhoun claims he won nearly 80% of his season earnings on the back of Lil Wayne but after an injury at Puyallup, he had to make the tough decision to turn him out for the rest of the year despite being on the bubble for the NFR. Hopefully the gelding is healed and ready to go before the start of the 2026 season, a year Calhoun hopes ends with a trip to the Thomas & Mack. 

While the adjustment to pro rodeos wasn’t easy for Calhoun, his hard work obviously paid off as he became the most successful tie-down rookie this season. He earned $110,637 and learned more than just how to be a better roper, but the logistics that come with competing at this level. 

Calhoun is now looking towards the future, and since he finished inside the top 20 in the world last year, he will have qualified for all of the high-dollar winter rodeos, which will set him up to propel into his first finals. This was a storybook type of year for the young man, and now he is ready to keep the ball rolling.

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