Winning Buckles in Vegas Is Nothing New for 2023 Tie-Down Roping World Champ Riley Webb

Writer Brian Hurlburt takes us into the minds and hearts of the PRCA World Champions who clinched titles during the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo®. 

Las Vegas, the NFR and 2023 PRCA Tie-Down Roping World Champion Riley Webb have a deep bond. Webb has been attending the rodeo since he was a little kid and is a former YETI Junior World Finals Rodeo champion.

His parents, Dirk and Jennifer, are rodeo through and through. Dirk is a manager of The American Rodeo and Jennifer is a secretary for the Junior World Finals. Together, they run Webb Roping Productions, a sanctioned producer of cattle for the breakaway and tie-down qualifiers for the Junior World Finals.

Webb estimates he has been coming to Las Vegas and the NFR for 11 years. Winning a title in the historic Thomas & Mack Center was a full-circle moment for the rising star.

“It was a dream come true,” Webb said about winning the PRCA gold buckle at the age of 20. “I’ve worked my whole life since I was a young kid to have a chance at a gold buckle. To be able to win it in my second year and my parents there to see it was very special. There are no words to describe the feeling of winning a world title.”

Webb credited season-long success and a fortunate draw late in the NFR for the world title.

“I drew a great calf (in Round 10) and just knew that I needed to hold my spot down,” Webb said. “It took me longer than I was hoping and it being my longest time of the week. Thankfully, I had a great year and a great showing at the NFR, so I didn’t have to go out and win the round to make it happen. All the runs and the miles we traveled throughout the year put me in that position. I’m so grateful.”

And thus far in 2024, Webb is showing he has a good chance to live the dream again. As of this writing on August 1 2024, Webb stood fourth in the world standings and had also earned five rodeo wins.

In 2023, Webb won a record-breaking $452,852, shattering the previous season earnings record. At the NFR, Webb finished second in the average standings with 82.9 seconds on 10 head, earning $172,447. He placed in five rounds, which included winning Round 3 with a 6.9-second run. 

Webb’s foundation of becoming a world champion was formed at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cowboy Christmas, home of the Junior World Finals. The facility is mere miles away from the Thomas & Mack Center. Webb said the feeling of the NFR and Junior World Finals share similarities and allows kids to understand how to be successful at the highest levels of rodeo.

“Young competitors get to come out here for the Junior World Finals and experience what is basically the NFR for the junior levels,” Webb said. “It prepares them for the NFR because the juniors get to come out here in December and be around everybody. Plus, competing in the Junior World Finals puts young competitors in high pressure situations like they could experience in the actual NFR.”

Webb won multiple Junior World Finals titles and was also the 2020 National High School Rodeo Champion. He’s been winning big for a long time, and his Vegas memories run deep.

“Pulling out of Vegas with the buckle and the lights at night for the first time in the juniors is something I will never forget,” Webb said. “But winning a Junior World Finals is pretty much the same feeling as when I won the world title as a professional at the NFR. That drive out of Vegas in 2023 was very memorable, also.”

Now that the young roper has his first professional world title, he is already looking down the road to more. 

“As I said, winning the first gold buckle was a dream come true, but now I crave winning even more,” Webb said. “I want 1, 2, 3, and as many as I can get. I always worked hard, but I want to experience that feeling of winning again. Now, I don’t want to take any days off. I can’t wait to get back in there in December and grind it out to try and have a chance at that feeling again.”