Competition is the name of the game
Staff writer
It was not unusual this fall for Centre High School senior Tanner Brunner to go from football practice after school to roping cattle on his family’s ranch near Ramona.
Sometimes he played a football game Friday evening, leading his team on its way to a 10-1 season, and was up early the next morning to head for a rodeo competition somewhere in the state.
With the encouragement of his family, he began competing in junior rodeo at age 5. It was a natural thing because his family used horses for ranch work and spent time roping calves for recreation.
Brunner, now 17, currently competes in the Kansas High School Rodeo Association, which sponsors a dozen two-day rodeos every year. The association’s season ends with state and national finals.
Brunner also competes in big regional and national junior rodeos where the competition is “pretty tough.” He also goes to several open rodeos.
“I’m probably gone to a rodeo half the weekends out of the year,” he said.
He does calf roping, steer wrestling, and team roping using three quarterhorses — Bert, Starburst, and Durfey.
He said he likes competing because it requires effort on his part and motivates him to develop his own individual ability.
“The competition is pretty exciting and there are so many variables,” he said. “You have the horses and the cattle; they are living things. You expect them to be predictable but they also can change unexpectedly.”
He said dealing with environmental things like wind, rain, mud, or dust are challenging.
Those are the same things his family contends with when working cattle on the ranch. The ranch work helps prepare his horse better for rodeo competition, he said, and rodeo competition improves his horse’s abilities with ranch work.
Brunner won his first saddle as a 9-year-old in a junior rodeo series. In 2009, he qualified for the Kansas State High School Rodeo team that traveled to national competition in Gillette, Wyo. He qualified in two events, tie-down calf roping and steer wrestling.
He also placed at the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Okla., in steer wrestling.
After the first half of the season this year in the state association, Brunner is first in steer wrestling and second in tie-down calf roping standings.
He hopes to continue in rodeo after high school if time will allow.
Football
Brunner has been involved in sports almost all of his life starting with tee-ball in first grade. He played quarterback in flag football for several years and on a 6th-grade 11-man tackle team for Chapman. He played quarterback, linebacker, and fullback positions on his junior high school team.
Brunner said football is his favorite sport. And it shows in the statistics, both in his offensive play as quarterback and defensively as a tackler.
As a junior in 2009, Brunner compiled more than 1,100 yards in both rushing and receiving, for a total of 43 touchdowns. He had 75 unassisted and 80 assisted tackles.
This year, he rushed for 1,177 yards and passed for 1,115 yards. He scored 23 rushing touchdowns and threw for 22 touchdowns.
Defensively, he had 100 unassisted tackles and 81 assisted tackles. He also had one interception and five fumble recoveries.
What does it feel like to be sacked?
“It’s a little discouraging at the moment,” Brunner said, “but I never really worried about it. I trusted in my team. We have a very good line, so it never bothered me. We block for each other so we don’t need to worry.”
Brunner credits his parents, coaches, friends, and especially his teammates for his excellence in football.
“My parents have always been there for me with encouragement and helping me get to practices and giving advice,” he said. “My coaches and friends have always pushed me to be better in the weight room and on the football field. They also made sure I kept up my grades.”
He and his senior teammates — Brian Burhoop, Cole Svoboda, Casey Kristek, Benjamin Wirtz, Rustyn Kerbs, and Jacob Jirak — have been together 12 years.
“We are pretty tight,” Brunner said. “We all help each other do as well as we can.”
He said he and his teammates were somewhat disappointed they didn’t achieve their high goal of winning a state championship, but they are happy about the time they had to play together.
Other activities
Brunner anticipates playing a post position in basketball. As a junior, he averaged 9 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and two assists per game.
He is looking forward to playing together with many of the same teammates he had in football.
“We’ll go as far as we can,” he said.
Brunner is president of the Centre FFA chapter and vice president of Future Business Leaders of America. He also is a member of the student council. He maintains a 3.25 grade point average.
Outside of school, Brunner is secretary of the Kansas Junior Simmental Association and is a member of the Mount Ayr 4-H Club of Hope, where he served as president and now is the club’s representative on the Dickinson County 4-H council. He is the reporter for the council.
Brunner serves as usher at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ramona.
Tracy and Yvonne Brunner are Brunner’s parents. They operate Cow Camp Ranch at Ramona. He has an older sister, Cat Brunner-Jenkins, 28, who lives in Wichita.
When he is not away at rodeos, Brunner works on the ranch and in the feedyard weekends during the school year and as much as he can during the summer. He partners with his father in taking care of a group of cattle.
“If the cattle make money, I get paid in cash,” he said. “If not, I’m paid in experience.”
Brunner plans to attend college after high school graduation and get a degree in ag business. He plans to continue to be involved in the farm and in rodeo.
“I don’t know if I’ll play (football) anywhere,” he said. “I’m still thinking about that. Football is a big part of my life, and I’m getting a lot of encouragement to go on.”