Ropin’ with
Jacksonville team roper Kaden Profili among best in the world
By Jay Neal Cherokee County Living
Being included in the top 12 in the world in one’ s profession escapes most people, but not Jacksonville’ s most successful cowboy, Kaden Profili.
Profili, 23, is a team roper on the professional rodeo circuit.
Profili, a heeler, and his partner Brenten Hall( Jay, Oklahoma), who handles the header duties, finished the 2024 rodeo season ranked 12th in the world standings.
For his part in the duo’ s success, the tall and slender Texan earned $ 222,684 in winnings last year.
The Profili-Hall duo capped off the year by being one of only 15 roping teams to qualify for the prestigious Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which takes place every December in Las Vegas.
Profili and Hall won Round 6 in Las Vegas and tied the Thomas & Mack Center record( 3.3 seconds) in the process.
They placed in four rounds, with each winning $ 95,848 while in southern Nevada.
“ It was exciting to qualify for the
National Finals Rodeo,” Profili said.“ I remember as a kid going out to Las Vegas with my grandfather( Kevin Blackwell) for the World Series of Team Roping and we would go to the national finals rodeo. I always dreamed about being able to be good enough to make the national finals, so being able to experience that was pretty dang cool.”
Profili said Blackwell is responsible for teaching him most of what he knows about team roping.
As the 2025 season opened up, Profili quickly proved that last year’ s success was no fluke and that he belonged in the top 15 in the world ranking, once again.
In the first week of the 2025 season, Profili and Hall garnered first place at the Fort Bend County Fair and Rodeo in Rosenberg, Texas and about a month later won the team roping championship at a rodeo in Dayton, Texas.
Profili and Hall finished in first place in Round 1 at RodeoHouston, and at RodeoAustin, came in third place in average, earning handsome paydays for each accomplishment.
“ It has been a little easier to stay up there with the best this year, because I know more about what to expect and the things to do and the bad things to stay away from,” Profili said.“ It was important to me coming into this season to make sure that I wasn’ t a one-hit wonder. I want to show everybody that I can continue to rope( at a high level).”
Profili secured his third win of the season by teaming up with his step
14 Jacksonville Progress | Summer 2025