National rodeo title — and lots of prize money — on the line for Denton 19-year-old

“We’re a little out of the public eye,” Webb said. “It’s different than baseball, football or other sports.”

Next week is one of the exceptions, when athletes like Webb step into the spotlight.

The National Finals Rodeo runs Dec. 1-10. It’s the pinnacle event in the sport, and Denton’s hometown standout will be right in the thick of it.

Webb, 19, is a national class tie-down roper and will compete each night of the NFR that will take place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Competitors in tie-down roping start from a box at the end of an arena on their horse. A calf is released from an adjacent enclosure and gets a head start.

The competitor chases the calf on his horse and lassos it. The horse stops, allowing the cowboy to jump down to the arena floor, race to the calf, toss it to the ground and tie three of its legs together with a short rope he carries in his teeth before throwing his hands in the air to signal he has finished the timed event.

The best tie-down ropers in the world complete runs in under 10 seconds. Webb ranks up there with the best of them. He enters the NFR ranked 11th nationally with $117,505 in winnings from the rodeos he has competed in this season.

Webb has wrapped up the rookie of the year title in the event and could easily double his winnings in the NFR, where more than $10 million in prize money will be on the line.

Close to $30,000 will be up for grabs on each of the 10 nights of the event in calf roping.

“Not many people my age have made it, but it has been done,” Webb said. “Winning rookie of the year and making it to the NFR in my first year as a pro is kind of a big deal.”

The landmark is one Webb seemed destined to reach. One of the first places his parents took him less than a month after he was born was the North Texas Fair and Rodeo.

Webb’s parents, Dirk and Jennifer Webb, run Webb Roping Productions and Ultimate Calf Roping. The family raises calves that are used in tie-down roping competitions as well as running calf-roping events.

“We brought Riley a pony when he was young, but we never showed him how to ride or rope,” Dirk Webb said. “He learned by watching. Growing up around roping helped him.”

Riley Webb quickly went from sitting in the stands at Denton’s annual rodeo to competing. He started out in breakaway roping. The event is essentially the first half of tie-down roping.

Competitors rope calves but don’t jump off their horse to tie the calf’s legs.

Webb played baseball when he was young in addition to roping but always knew his calling was in rodeo.

“I roped my first calf when I was 6 years old,” Webb said. “I had the bug after that. I haven’t quit roping since.”

Terry Starnes has served as the announcer at the North Texas Fair and Rodeo for 21 years and saw Webb quickly rise through the ranks of rodeo competitors. He was there when Webb won the breakaway roping and tie-down roping events in the under-21 division when he was 15.

“When Riley was 16 or 17, I told everyone that by the time he is 21, he’s going to be a world champion,” Starnes said. “I didn’t get any argument.

“He has the talent and a good eye for horses that will take him there. He also has good calves to practice on at home. He’s going to the right rodeos, knows how to rope and how to win.”

Starnes has announced rodeos around the country for years while making his annual stop in Denton.

Webb quickly became one of his favorite competitors.

“If I had a daughter, I would make her date Riley Webb,” Starnes said. “That’s how much I think of him. Win, lose or draw, he’ll smile at you.”

Webb attended Liberty Christian School until he was in the third grade before shifting to home schooling so he would have more time to focus on roping. He graduated early from White Horse Christian Academy in Stephenville.

Webb has thrived in the sport from the time he was young through his rise to the pro ranks. He won the National High School Rodeo Association tie-down roping competition in 2020.

Webb will have a chance to win an even more prestigious title when he competes in the NFR for the first time next week in what is always an electric environment.

“It’s been his dream and our dream for him to get to the National Finals Rodeo,” Dirk Webb said. “We’re proud of what he’s accomplished. I’ll be the dad crying when he ropes his first calf at the Thomas & Mack.”