story by Ruth Nicolaus
Cole Quaney – photo by Foto Cowboy
Cole Quaney is in his final year of high school rodeo competition.
The seventeen year old cowboy, a resident of Cheney, Kan. and a Kansas High School Rodeo Association member, is a tie-down roper and team roper. He heels for Cole Koppitz.
Tie-down roping is his strength because he’s done it for most of his life, and he rides two different horses. The horse he rode last fall is Dunny, a 25 year old. George, a seventeen-year-old mare, is his second horse. For the heeling, he rides Cole Koppitz’s horse.
He is a senior at Cheney High School, and his favorite class this year is his automotive class. Students get to put to use the things they learn, working on their own vehicles. After learning about brakes, Cole did a full brake job on his brother’s truck and a partial job on his own. They usually work on their own vehicles, teachers’ vehicles, and the public is invited to bring in their autos, too.
A year ago, Cole picked up a hobby that is making him money. He does leather work and makes halters, leather nose bands, phone cases, and belts. He estimates he’s made and sold 200 halters, including the ones used for average prizes at the Concordia high school and junior high rodeos last year. He enjoys it, and considers the belt he made for his brother-in-law his best piece. The belt included the Oklahoma State logo and basket weave. He has a Facebook page for his business, which he calls Quaney’s Halters and Leatherwork.
In the summers, Cole works at the school, doing maintenance and mowing.
After high school, he plans on going to college, but he’s not sure where, and he’s not sure what career route he will take. He does plan on roping after college, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Cody, a PRCA tie-down roper.
He has been on his school’s Principal’s Honor Roll and Honor Roll, and for fun, he likes to work on the family’s vehicles with his dad. They have three Dodge duallies, including his own 2003 Dodge 3500 with 300,000 miles on it. “My parents bought it brand new and it’s still going good,” he says.
In addition to Cody, he has an older sister, Amanda Wilson, who is a veterinarian. He is the son of Dan and Sharon.
