Defending champion chases history while valuing faith, family and the moments that matter most.
By Jayme Sandberg
Media contact:
Jayme Sandberg, APR
On behalf of NHSFR Lincoln/KidGlov
jayme@itsallstories.com
402-937-0905
Summary: Cort Jones of Allerton, Iowa, aims to reclaim his all-around title at the 2026 National High School Finals Rodeo July 19-25 in Lincoln, Nebraska – one of the closest opportunities in years for Midwest fans to see the event.
ALLERTON, Iowa (June 10, 2026) – Cort Jones balanced on a railing, watching contestant after contestant compete in the tie-down roping finals – the one he had narrowly missed.
Several competitors in the deep field had the chance to upset Jones’ lead in the points race for all-around cowboy at the 2025 National High School Finals Rodeo.
The 17-year-old from Allerton, Iowa, had qualified for nationals in four events and positioned himself well across the first three, quietly building points toward the coveted top cowboy honor. His last event was calf roping.
“Going into the final round, I didn’t think I had a chance to win the all-around,” he said. “But then I turned in my fastest time ever-8.91 seconds.”
He was back in the running.
Then the last cowboy edged him out of the finals, known in rodeo as the short-go. Jones was relegated to the sidelines.
If his points held, he would become a World Champion.
Augusta Warren, Jones’ girlfriend, who had just notched an impressive third-place finish in her own event, sat next to him on the rail. The couple watched the drama play out in a sport where hundredths of a second often make the difference.
“Cort is really good about not getting nervous, but I could definitely tell that he was,” Warren said. “Winning all-around is a really, really big deal.”
Raised in rodeo
Jones, the middle of three brothers, has been going to horse shows, rodeos and horse-related events since he was born. His mother and father were both collegiate rodeo athletes and his dad is a $1 million rider in the National Reined Cow Horse Association and a two-time world champion in the American Quarter Horse Association. The family also operates Luke Jones Performance Horses.
“My dad trains horses, so we’ve always had a barn and facility at home. Getting into rodeo was easy because the opportunity was right there,” Jones said.
Humble by nature and nurture, Jones is quick to share credit for any success with his parents, his brothers, his girlfriend, his faith.
But his passion for the sport of rodeo? That comes from within.
“You have to really love it, because it’s not easy,” he said.
Jones is the first to say success in rodeo happens when preparation meets opportunity, but a little bit of luck never hurts.
That Saturday last July, he had all three.
When the final scores were tallied, Jones was still at the top of the leaderboard: the 2025 National High School Finals Rodeo All-around Cowboy and a world champion.
The road to Lincoln
The obvious goal for Jones’s final high school rodeo season is to defend his titles. In early June he successfully defended his all-round title at the state finals and, with his brother Lane, won the team roping state title. Now his sights are set for Lincoln.
Repeats at this level are not something easily or often done.
Staying at the top of his game means training every single day. Jones works 10 to 15 different horses daily for the family business and practices his riding and roping with five different competition horses.
This year for the national finals, Jones has another ace up his sleeve. While other competitors will haul from nearly every state and as far away as Australia, he’ll have what he considers a home-arena advantage.
Jones has spent more weekends at the Sandhills Global Event Center in Lincoln, Nebraska – about a three-hour drive from home – than any other facility. He and his older brother Will often talk about their memories there for American Quarter Horse Association Shows, like the time they built an epic fort out of pallets.
They won’t need that kind of creative entertainment at the National High School Finals Rodeo, July 19-25 in Lincoln. Along with the largest shopping and equine expo in the region and a city with nationally known museums and more than 900 restaurants, there will be nonstop rodeo action.
“This rodeo is unlike any other rodeo,” Jones said. “At other rodeos, you’ll see probably 10-12 people per event. At the high school finals, they have two arenas set up side by side and you’re watching 20-25 competitors in each event. It’s thrilling.”
When Lincoln last hosted the world’s largest youth rodeo in 2021, Jones was among the estimated 100,000 fans to pass through. Too young to compete, he still found ways to contribute.
“One of the last days, a couple friends and I went into the admin offices and volunteered to help clean up the facility,” he said.
Jones says if you need it, even your direct competitors in rodeo will help you out. They’ll give you the shirt off their back and sometimes even the shoes off their feet.
“One time I got to a rodeo and forgot my boots, so I borrowed someone else’s,” he said.
Along with his parents, the rodeo community has greatly influenced the respectful and respectable young man Jones has become. He takes great pride in being a positive role model for those coming up in the sport.
“I love being around little kids,” he said. “I always try to handle myself well and be someone they can look up to, that doesn’t necessarily have to be winning.”
The big picture
Jones has already had more success in rodeo than most competitors ever will. He’s thought a lot about what winning at the National High School Finals Rodeo means to him now, and what it will mean in the future.
“Winning matters-I like to win-but success for me this year is making good memories,” he said. “If things don’t go my way and I’m not a two-time world champion, I can be fine with that and sleep well at night.”
This year, his last at the high school level, Jones is looking at the bigger picture.
“I couldn’t tell you who won all-around 10 years ago,” he said. “Ten years from now, people might remember that I won something, but they’re going to remember if I was a nice person and how I treated them more.”
The memory Jones knows will be sharpest for him a decade from now is teaming up with his brothers in his favorite event.
In team roping, Jones is a heeler, meaning he ropes the steer’s hind legs and positions the animal for his teammate, known as the header, to lasso its horns.
“When I was a freshman, I heeled for my older brother Will. Now as a senior, I get to heel for my younger brother Lane. That’s pretty cool,” he said.
Jones has experienced the thrill of victory in this sport and the agony of defeat. At his first high school finals, Jones’ horse stumbled and he missed one of the steer’s legs in the team roping short-go. The hiccup added a five-point penalty to their score and knocked Will out of first place for his own All-around Cowboy title that year.
“In team roping, five minds have to come together,” he said. “Everything has to go just right.”
Sometimes an animal stumbles. Sometimes, it’s the cowboy. That’s rodeo and that’s life.
Jones says he’s confident going into his final weeks as a high school rodeo athlete and trusts in God’s plan for him.
Win or lose, one thing is certain: Cort Jones plans to enjoy the ride.
To learn more about the National High School Finals in Lincoln, visit NHSFRLincoln.org.
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About National High School Finals Rodeo
The National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR), sanctioned by the National High School Rodeo Association and presented by Cinch, is recognized as the world’s largest youth rodeo. Each year, the nation’s top high school rodeo athletes compete across a range of events for national titles, scholarship money and championship buckles.
About Sandhills Global Event Center
Sandhills Global Event Center (formerly Lancaster Event Center Fairgrounds) is a public nonprofit county fairground owned and managed by the Lancaster County Agricultural Society since 2001. SGEC is the home of the annual Lancaster County Super Fair and offers year-round space for up to 500 days of local 4-H/FFA and other youth education and sports activities, as well as local to national nonprofit, business, government, and family events.
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