The draw team of Travis Roberson, Butch Porter and Wyatt Erb topped the #18 3-Rider 2-Gate, walking away from the 2026 Cinch RSNC World Finals with $7,095 in their pockets after sorting a clean 30 head in 137.23 seconds over three rounds.
With three riders at three different levels, they each had to rely on one another, and it paid off.
“When you have a draw team, as an open rider, you know you’re going to have to take care of things,” said Roberson, of Burleson, Texas. “But Wyatt and Butch both took care of me, too. You don’t see a lot of novice riders making those kinds of adjustments.”
Rising to the Occasion
Seeing how the team was working out, Roberson made a championship-round changeup.
“I started on another horse and, when it wasn’t working, I went and got my wife’s horse,” Roberson said. “It was a pretty special deal to win on her, too.”
The 2020 mare, Shiny Rollz (Rollz Royce x Shiny Luna), known as “Roxy,” came to the Roberson family through a customer as a 4-year-old, but it was Caitlin, Roberson’s wife, who connected with her enough to buy her outright.
“She’s my wife’s pride and joy,” Roberson said. “She’s won a lot of money on her, and I knew what she could do.”
In a similar but different way, Porter’s wife also made his run possible. He stepped in as a last-minute substitute after she broke her leg earlier in the week.
“She was like, ‘You’ve got to jump in there,’” said Porter, of Milan, New Mexico. “So I jumped in with my ranch horse, and here we are.”
Porter describes the 2017 gelding Reins Last Dance (Blame It On The Rein x Cute Red Freckles) as really cowy.
“He moves good, stops good and does whatever you ask.”
First Buckles
This was also Porter’s first world championship, just four months into the sport.
“That’s crazy, isn’t it?” Porter said. “Blind squirrel finds one every now and then, I guess.”
For 17-year-old Erb, this marked his first world championship after three years attending the World Finals.
“You really just run wide open,” Erb, of Beverly, Ohio, said of the class’s appeal. “There’s calculation, but not near as much when there’s a confined space.”
Erb rode his ranch sorting partner of three years, Reys Nu Dual (Dual Rey x Special Nu Kitty), a 2017 sorrel gelding known as “Doc.”
“He taught me a lot,” Erb said. “He does real good for me. He’s really easy to get along with.”
Winners All Around
For Roberson, riding in the class led him to both a World Champion and a Reserve World Champion title with another team. He also cashed checks in the #14 Ranch Hand, the #12, the All Levels, and in the Hyer #11 Rookie for a total payout of $8,741.
Porter’s week also double-dipped in the #18 3-Rider 2-Gate with a Fast Go Bonus, plus a sixth-place finish in the #4 and another Fast Go Bonus in the Mil-Spec Liner #6/4, bringing his take-home pay to $4,351.
Erb also saw success in the Ride TV Western Heritage #6 with a fourthplace finish, bringing his week’s earnings to $3,422.
#18 3-Rider 2-Gate — 2026 World Finals Champions
| Champions | Travis Roberson (Burleson, Texas) & Wyatt Erb (Beverly, Ohio) & Butch Porter (Milan, New Mexico) |
| Winning run | 137.23 on 30 head |
| First-place payout | $7,095 |
| Total class payout | $22,758 |
Payouts
| Place | Team | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyatt Erb / Travis Roberson / Butch Porter | $7,095 |
| 2 | Travis Roberson / Brea Vardas / Jolee Storey | $5,229 |
| 3 | Emily Sperle / Kris Doornink / Sage Bach | $3,951 |
| 4 | Tritton Cloud / Brea Vardas / Bj Hilborn | $1,998 |
| 5 | Joseph Zito / Cloraldo Leal / Cloraldo Leal Jr | $1,797 |
| 6 | Kris Doornink / Emily Sperle / Waynard Schmidt | $1,599 |
| 7 | Logan Wolfe / Emily Sperle / Shyla Narachi | $1,200 |
