KJHSRA member, Hunter Brunson
– FotoCowboy
Hunter Brunson
story by Ruth Nicolaus
Hunter Brunson loves his sports.
He’s a big fan of football, basketball, and rodeo, in that order. If he had to choose one, football would come first, but the other two are “very close,” he says.
The 14-year-old cowboy, a resident of Guymon, Okla., is a member of the Kansas Junior High School Rodeo Association. He chooses to rodeo in Kansas instead of Oklahoma because the rodeos are closer, and because his parents grew up in Kansas and it feels like home.
He does the chute dogging, tie-down roping, team roping, and ribbon roping. He heels for Morgan Robson, and she runs for the pair in the ribbon roping.
Hunter owns two lazy horses, Fred and Ned. Fred, an 18-year-old chestnut, is his tie-down horse and lazier than Ned. Ned, his heeling horse and back-up calf horse, is a ten-year-old palomino. But when it’s time to rope, both horses get fired up. His favorite is Fred, in part because he’s had Fred the longest, and they’ve had time to build a relationship.
He just finished eighth grade at Guymon Junior High, and he likes school. The best part of school last year was English class, because of his teacher Mrs. Skelton. She is kind-hearted and willing to help. “Everything that I don’t understand, she helps me understand.” He is a member of student council.
Hunter loves to hunt for whitetail deer and pheasants. When his dad takes hunting trips, sometimes he gets to go along, and he really enjoys that.
When he gets to college, he hopes to get a football scholarship to Oklahoma State. After college, he’d love to play pro football. If that doesn’t pan out, he’d like to farm with his dad or be a mechanic. His dad is a good mechanic and Hunter learns a lot from him as they service tractors and trucks on their place.
Hunter has qualified for the National Junior High finals and will be making his way to Des Moines, Iowa. June 22-28 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
The family has three Australian shepherds. Odie is Hunter’s dog, Maverick is his sister’s dog, and Snickers, the oldest, rounds out the bunch.
He has an older sister, Hagen, who is 17 and a high school rodeo member. He appreciates how she is always willing to help him, giving advice in sports and rodeo, and helping him with his studies, because she’s smart, he says.
He is the son of Troy and Dixie Brunson.
