The Ropes Used at the 2025 NFR: Every Team Roper's Rope Choice

By The Tack Review Staff · Updated October 27, 2026

Every December, the Team Roping Journal asks the top 15 headers and heelers which rope they'll use at the National Finals Rodeo. We've grouped their 2025 answers by rope, so you can see which models showed up most and in which lays. Where we've covered a rope, you'll find a link to its spotlight page.

Ropes listed, most popular first

14 different ropes across 30 ropers. Lays are shown in brackets.

Classic Powerline Lite

Listed by 13 ropers

Headers

Tyler Wade (S)
Cyle Denison (S)
Dawson Graham (S)
Jake Smith (XS)
Luke Brown (S)
Kolton Schmidt (S)

Heelers

Junior Nogueira (HM)
Dillon Graham (HM)
Brady Minor (HM or M)
Trey Yates (HM)
Douglas Rich (HM)
Kaden Profili (HM)
Jonathan Torres (M)

See our Classic Powerline Lite spotlight: specs and price →

Cactus Xplosion

Listed by 2 ropers

Headers

Andrew Ward (S/MS)
Riley Minor (S)

Heelers

None

Classic NV4

Listed by 2 ropers

Headers

None

Heelers

Wesley Thorp (HM)
Lane Mitchell (HM)

Classic Powerline

Listed by 2 ropers

Headers

None

Heelers

Colter Todd (HM)
Jade Corkill (HM)

Rattler Triton

Listed by 2 ropers

Headers

Kaleb Driggers (MS)
Clay Smith (S)

Heelers

None

See our Rattler Triton spotlight: specs and price →

Cactus Mojo

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

None

Heelers

Jake Long (HM)

Cactus Thrilla

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

None

Heelers

Levi Lord (MH)

Fast Back Natural

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

Lightning Aguilera (XS)

Heelers

None

Lone Star Frio

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

Tanner Tomlinson (S/MS)

Heelers

None

Lone Star Helix

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

Dustin Egusquiza (MS)

Heelers

None

Lone Star Helix Pro

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

None

Heelers

Travis Graves (HM)

Lone Star Thunderbird

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

Derrick Begay (XS)

Heelers

None

Rattler GT4

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

Clint Summers (XS)

Heelers

None

Rattler GT4 Lite

Listed by 1 roper

Headers

None

Heelers

Coleby Payne (HM)

Sources and notes

The Ropes the Top 15 Headers Will Use at the 2025 NFR (Team Roping Journal, Dec 1, 2025)
The Ropes the Top 15 Heelers Will Use at the 2025 NFR (Team Roping Journal, Dec 1, 2025)
Begay's row is listed in the source table as "Lone Star, XS, Thunderbird". The article counts three Lone Star headers, so we list it as a Lone Star Thunderbird.
The source article's summary text gives slightly different brand totals than its own tables. We've followed the tables.

Checked October 27, 2026. Rope choices are as reported by the source before the event and may have changed during competition. The Tack Review is not affiliated with or endorsed by the athletes mentioned.