NFR Miss Brings New Focus and Renewed Drive For Veteran Tie-Down Roper

With two wins already on the books for the 2025 season, the Texas native is looking to get back on track after coming up short in his bid for an 11th appearance in Las Vegas.

After missing out on a return to NFR, tie-down roper Cory Solomon is coming into the 2025 season refocused and on a mission, not just for a return trip to Las Vegas, but to win a gold buckle. / Roseanna Sales/For PRCA

No excuses. It’s a phrase Cory Solomon returns to frequently. 

A lot went wrong during the 2024 season for the Prairie View, Texas, native. His primary horse, Play, got injured and had to be sent home for recovery. At some of the bigger Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association events during the summer, his tie-down roping draws were less than favorable. After a late start to the year, he didn’t capitalize at key points when it mattered most. 

It all combined to put Solomon in a somewhat unfamiliar situation – outside the top 15 in the PRCA World Standings and without a spot at the 2024 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. It’s his first time not going to Las Vegas since 2020. 

No excuses. Solomon takes full responsibility for where he is. 

“I’m not a guy to make excuses. I have to be better. No matter how bad I’m drawing, when they load a good one, I have to take advantage of that,” Solomon said. 

The shortcomings of 2024 were a wake-up call. Solomon is the first to admit that he teetered between conflicting mentalities last season. There were days he was fired up and ready to swing a rope. And there were others when he just wanted to stay home. 

It led to slightly more than $75,000 in earnings and a 26th place finish in the standings, both of which were his lowest since 2019. 

Cory Solomon was on a mission this weekend, winning the Fort Bend County Fair & Rodeo with this 7.5-second run. pic.twitter.com/XAD23lggjS

— PRCA ProRodeo (@PRCA_ProRodeo) October 7, 2024

Along with Play coming back from injury and missing NFR, several things took place over the last few weeks that forced Solomon to rethink things. He performed well at a jackpot in Texas, picking up some confidence. He also visited with longtime friend and fellow tie-down roper Westyn Hughes. Hughes struggled with a back injury this season putting his entire rodeo future in question. 

That conversation made Solomon contemplate his own journey. 

“I was like, ‘The good Lord has given me health and strength and I still can go rope. Why wouldn’t I be all in while I can?,’” Solomon said. “Honestly, I’ve been on the fence about how hard I want to rodeo and how long I want to rodeo. Now that the rodeos pay so much money, and there’s so many rodeos and guys go all year, you’ve got to be all in. You can’t be half in it. This (past) year, I feel like I was about 75 percent in. Of course I want to do good. When I went, I went. But when we started this new year, I was like, ‘I’m all in.’”

The refreshed approach has led to a head start on the 2025 campaign – and Solomon didn’t have to leave Texas to get it done. 

Over the first weekend in October, he won the Weller County Fair and Rodeo in Hempstead, then picked up another victory at the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo in Rosenberg. Combined, the two outcomes put nearly $7,500 in his ledger for the new season. 

This is also an unfamiliar, but good, spot for Solomon. He’s normally slowed down after a season wrapped up in preparation for NFR and relied on the high-paying indoor winter rodeos to get things started. In fact, Rosenberg is only 50 minutes from his home and he hadn’t been to the event in years. 

That’s not an approach he’s willing to settle for anymore.  

Missing NFR was a hard lesson, but one Solomon is grateful for. It created a new sense of focus, something he needed. And that should put the rest of the PRCA on notice. 

“It’s just a whole new mindset. I learned a lot about my horses and myself. We’ll look back with no excuses, just need to be better,” Solomon said. “I’m attacking early. Every calf I run this year, it’s not about making the Finals. My whole mind frame is a gold buckle now.”