Team ropers Kolton Schmidt and Jonathan Torres didn’t arrive in Las Vegas as gold buckle contenders. In fact, they barely arrived at all. Now they are eyeing that world championship after their third round win of the week.
Entering the 2025 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo ranked 14th and 15th in the PRCA world standings, respectively, the Canadian header and Florida heeler were largely overlooked in early championship conversations. They were the last team into the finals, slipping through the door only after a long season that quite literally came down to the final rodeo in Sioux Falls.
Now, with just two rounds remaining, Schmidt and Torres find themselves in the driver’s seat for a pair of gold buckles.
The duo added another major chapter to their run, winning Round 8 with a 3.8-second run. This was good for their third trip to the South Point buckle ceremony this year. They previously won Round 5 and split the win in Round 3, quietly building momentum while the rest of the field seemed to be trading blows.
“I think it just shows the hard work that we put into it and just thankful that it is working out,” Torres said a few moments after the win. “I mean, and just grateful for everyone that is behind us and we got a couple more left.”
Schmidt followed with. “From the words of 2016 world champ Jeremy Buhler,just one steer at a time.”
What makes this story even more remarkable is that Schmidt and Torres were not full-time partners throughout the regular season. Like many team ropers navigating a long year, both entered rodeos with different partners at times. So when it came down to the end their year long partner did not make the finals, and they did.
Schmidt and Torres then teamed up in Las Vegas, and it seems to be working out alright.
Their Round 8 victory came on steer No. 21, an animal that had already gone twice at the finals without a single team winning a check. It didn’t matter for these two though. Schmidt and Torres rode into the boxes with confidence, stayed clean, and stopped the clock faster than anyone else that night.
The timing of the win added another layer of meaning for Schmidt, who hails from Alberta, Canada. On Canadian Night at the NFR, he delivered yet another important performance. There is an ever growing presence of Canadian talent on rodeo’s biggest stage.
Torres, a Floridian, brings a different background to the team, but the contrast has worked. Together, they’ve brought a disciplined approach that has paid off as the pressure has increased.
Their success has also been visibly shared. Each time Schmidt and Torres walk across the South Point stage, they’re followed by a deep support system of family, friends, and sponsors who have played a role in making this all possible. Seeing their large crowd of support is an important reminder that this sport is rarely a solo effort.
Meanwhile, the team roping title race remains anything but settled.
Clint Summers and Jade Corkill were considered frontrunners until Round 8 when they suffered their first no-time of the finals. This shakes up both the average and world standings. Despite that setback, they remain very much in contention. Now no team has caught all 8 steers.
Schmidt and Torres are now leading both the world standings and the average, but the margins are slim, and it is too close to call. In team roping, we have seen things change in last minute wins.
From barely qualifying to potentially finishing on top of the world, Kolton Schmidt and Jonathan Torres have turned a late-season opportunity into a gold buckle chance. With two steers left, they’re proving that sometimes the most dangerous teams to watch for are the ones who arrive with nothing to lose and everything still in front of them.
Current Average Standings
1. Kolton Schmidt/Jonathan Torres, 28.7 seconds on seven head
2. (tie) Andrew Ward/Jake Long and Clint Summers/Jade Corkill, 31.3 each
4. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 45.85
Derrick Begay/Colter Todd Todd, 52.46
Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 33.8 on six head
7. Tanner Tomlinson/Travis Graves, 36.38
Dustin Egusquiza/Levi Lord, 39.29
Dawson Graham/Dillon Graham, 24.6 on five head
10. Lightning Aguilera/Kaden Profili, 25.3
11. Cyle Denison/Lane Mitchell, 29.8
12. Clay Smith/Coleby Payne, 33.2
13. Luke Brown/Trey Yates, 34.6
14. Tyler Wade/Wesley Thorp, 30.9 on four head
15. Jake Smith/Douglas Rich, 38.2.
Current World Standings
Headers
1. Kolton Schmidt, $279,074
2. Tanner Tomlinson, $276,606
3. Clint Summers, $253,055
4. Kaleb Driggers, $252,854
5. Andrew Ward, $244,022
6. Dawson Graham, $239,321
7. Dustin Egusquiza, $237,829
8. Lightning Aguilera, $208,914
9. Tyler Wade, $195,653
10. Jake Smith, $194,087
11. Clay Smith, $193,921
12. Cyle Denison, $190,445
13. Derrick Begay, $188,030
14.Luke Brown, $174,111
15. Riley Minor, $172,186
Heelers
1. Jonathan Torres, $270,808
2.Jade Corkill, $253,380
3.Junior Nogueira, $252,854
4. Travis Graves, $242,717
5. Jake Long, $242,275
6. Dillon Graham, $239,321
7. Levi Lord, $235,448
8. Kaden Profili, $207,714
9. Wesley Thorp, $195,653
10. Lane Mitchell, $191,474
11. Colter Todd Todd, $185,6781
2. Coleby Payne, $184,724
13. Douglas Rich, $183,337
14. Trey Yates, $174,111
15. Brady Minor, $172,186