It is a partnership that has been tested. Now, Korbin Rice and Cooper Freeman are being rewarded.  After an impressive showing at RodeoHouston, the tandem are atop the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association’s Header and Heeler World Standings with more than $93,000 in earnings for the season.  “It’s unreal. That’s something you dream of all your life. Before it happened this early in the season it’s pretty dang cool,” Cooper said.  Their ascension to No. 1 is as unlikely as their partnership.   As teenagers, Rice, a header from Hobbs, N.M., and Freeman, a heeler from Carthage, Mo., saw each other at high school rodeo events. They knew of each other; they knew little about each other.  Rice started his career at Cisco (Texas) College, signing in March 2020. Freeman found his way to the school a year later. Finally on the same team, the pair chose to rope together.  And then, Rice decided it was time to take his talents to Tarleton State.…