World Championships Hang in the Balance With Round 5 NFR Average Update

The timed event cowboys of the NFR have experienced some costly plot twists at the midway point of the rodeo.

Tucker Allen | Nathan Meyer Photography

Monday night marked the halfway point of the 2025 National Finals Rodeo (NFR), where the World Championship races are heating up. One of the key factors in those races will be the high-paying NFR Average. As of Round 5, we have seen some unexpected twists that brought major changes to those standings.

Steer Wrestling

Tucker Allen | Nathan Meyer Photography

Eight cowboys stand to earn a check in the Average and currently seven have a time on all five steers. In the No. 7 position is NFR rookie, Gavin Soileau, with two broken barriers. Although a steer got by Ty Erickson in Round 5, landing him a painful no time, he is still No. 8.

Coming into the NFR in the No. 14 position, Erickson had moved himself back into World Championship contention. He is now No. 3 in the World and not out of the fight yet.

Something we certainly did not expect to see at this point in the rodeo is Will Lummus being down not one, but two, steers in that Average race. He still holds the lead in the World Standings by roughly $45,000.

Tucker Allen is not giving him much room to breathe, as he is No. 2 in the World and has climbed to the top spot in the Average. He has over six seconds of cushion between himself and the No. 2 cowboy.

Reminscent of 2024, we cannot count out J.D. Struxness, who came from behind to win the gold buckle. He sits No. 5 in the World currently, but is No. 3 in the Average, worth about $60,000.

Tie-Down Roping

John Douch | Nathan Meyer Photography

Nine cowboys currently have a time on all five of their calves in this event. Shad Mayfield sits No. 10, two positions out of a check. When Mayfield tied his calf in Round 5, we would have never anticipated that it would quickly kick free and earn him a no time. This was a huge blow for Mayfield, who is battling with back-to-back World Champion, Riley Webb, for the gold buckle.

Brushton Minton has quietly snuck into the top spot in the Average on five rounds, roughly five-tenths of a second ahead of John Douch. Although he is No. 4 in the World, Douch is roughly $130,000 behind Mayfield.

Webb continues to prove he is one of the best young cowboys professional rodeo has ever seen. He is now $7,000 behind Mayfield in the World Standings and No. 3 in the Average race. Consistently pursuing his third consecutive World Championship, he is the man to watch in this race.

Team Roping

Andrew Ward | Nathan Meyer Photography

With so many factors going into this event, the team roping of the NFR is one of the most difficult to predict. After Round 5, there are three teams that have caught all five of their steers. Andrew Ward and Jake Long, Clint Summers and Jade Corkill, and Derrick Begay and Colter Todd hold the top three spots in the Average. The top two are currently separated by one-tenth of a second.

The remainder of the top eight have caught four of their five steers. Kolton Schmidt and Jonathan Torres, Tanner Tomlinson and Travis Graves, Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira, Riley Minor and Brady Minor, and Clay Smith and Coleby Payne wrap up those spots.

Ward and Summers are the No. 2 and No. 3 cowboys in the heading race, separated by $11,000. Tanner Tomlinson leads the way by $4,000 over Ward, but he is currently out of the Average race.

Long leads the way for the heelers, again roughly $11,000 over Corkill in No. 2. Junior Nogueira is less than $1,000 behind him in No. 3.

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