Winfield, IA- A wave of talent has washed over Winfield-Mt. Union for the past couple of years with multiple teams making a trip to their respective state tournaments and student-athletes continuing their playing careers at the next level. You can add another one to the growing list as Cooper Buffington signed his letter of intent to play football at the University of Montana Wednesday afternoon.
The senior offensive/defensive lineman has been integral to the Wolves’ gridiron success the last four years, collecting 25 wins, three straight trips to the postseason, and a trip to the state semifinals during his high school career. He’s a bulldozer on the offensive line as W-MU has averaged over 5 yards per carry the last three seasons, scoring 127 rushing touchdowns in the process.
Buffington talked about why he chose to become a Grizzly after the ceremony,
“Well, they came down to watch me work out. I don’t know when, but earlier on the school year and then they wanted me to come to camp, so end up going out there to camp on June 8th and then end up getting an offer later that week. I always went out to Wyoming, and I love the mountains. And I went out there and I landed, and when I got off the plane I jokingly said if they offer me [a scholarship] I’m gonna commit and then it came true, I guess. So, it’s kind of awesome.”
Despite the nearly 21-hour road trip to get to the University of Montana, a Division I-FCS power, Buffington expects to acclimate quickly to the atmosphere,
“I love the snow. I love the cold. So, I don’t think it’ll be much of a challenge or nothing. So, it’s also kind of why I picked it. Just felt like the perfect place for me and stuff. And then their football program being so good for the past years and stuff like, yeah. It just felt like home.”
The talented Wolve also caused havoc on the defensive line, tallying 145.5 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 34.5 tackles for loss, and five fumble recoveries in his career. His senior season he led the team in tackles, while producing 11.5 of 12.5 sacks in his junior season, which helped W-MU finish 11-1 and a game short of the state championship contest.
Even with the rule changes to make the game safer—rightfully so—the game of football still centers around physicality, an aspect that Buffington relishes in,
“Defensive line, I mean, you’re just you can be in the play every play I like. It’s hard nose, like in the trenches, every play, play and play out and stuff and. Like, I mean, if you’re a good enough d-lineman, you can really make an impact and stuff like just physical. So, I kind of like about that and stuff so.”
The lack of fame that comes with playing the offensive and defensive line has not stopped the senior from collecting his due praise as he has been named back-to-back unanimous District Lineman MVP and two-time First-Team All-State selection. As head football coach Scott McCarty mentioned after the ceremony, it’s obvious once you see him on the field,
“Cooper is one of those kids that a lot of things don’t show up on the stat line on Saturday morning after the game. But then when you sit back and watch film, you watch how truly dominant he is. You know, he might not be the one getting the tackle, but because of him, we were able to get a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage, so. A lot of his things were just, you know, they don’t show up on the stat book, but if you’re watching film and you know football, you know how good Cooper Buffington really is.”
Assistant football coach and boys’ head basketball coach Klay Edwards discussed how Buffington was essentially a player-coach with how he approached the game,
“It was a joy, you know, he came to work every single day. He put a ton of work in the summers weight room, getting individual skill work in. And, you know, most of all, when we would break out and do our defensive line drills and everything like there’s days where I was like, I had to be there late or something and he could coach them up and do it and knew everything that was going on, so he was just a huge leader for us.”
Buffington was always eager to help the team, even in the most creative of ways according to coach McCarty,
“I mean some, some of the things that maybe not under the lights. You know, he’s had some plays. He had his strip against HLV that he took back he got called back as a penalty, you know, but we had a formation last year where we switched our guards and our running backs, and we gave him the ball for a touchdown or two-point conversion. This year we had we had a couple plays that we had designed straight for him and every lineman thinks they’re a receiver, you know, so he’s got ideas every week on how to get him the ball and things like that. And you know he’s a good kid, you know, with a good heart, good sense of humor. And those are the kind of kids that you’re really happy for to go to the next level and be successful.”
Cooper Buffington finally scored that touchdown with a one-yard plunge during this past football season. He now marks the third Wolve to sign on to a Division I football program after Cam Buffington signed on to the University of Iowa and Abram Edwards committed to Army in a ceremony last year. For coach McCarty, he’s just been taking in the view,
“Yeah, I’ve been fortunate, right. These guys, I’ve just been able to be a part of the ride, you know, just try and give them the opportunity to let them shine. You know, as I was talking earlier, you know, it takes what it takes and those guys, they’ve done what we’ve asked and then they do what it takes to be elite, you know, and you just try and create the opportunity for them and they shine and have been able to produce and put themselves in position to go to the next level.”
As his high school career winds down, it was not a memory on the field that Buffington singled out as his favorite moment; rather, a collection of memories shared amongst teammates,
“So, we do team meals every Wednesday and probably just be them like hanging out with friends after practice. You just car rides up and then eat, like we go to jumbo or Pizza Ranch and just those type of memories and after that to go to Walmart or something. Just spending time with the teammates and stuff. It just felt like a brotherhood. It was awesome.”
He’s not quite done yet though, rejoining the basketball team after a year of wrestling for the co-op Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union team that won the conference crown last year. The Wolves picked up a season opening win against Louisa-Muscatine last night 40-38 on a game winner by Max Edwards.
Coach Edwards is ready to have a physical force back on the court,
“Extremely excited. You know, he’s starting for us. So, a little rusty, but we’re going to get all that worked out. So you know he’s a hard worker. He’s going to give 100% effort in whatever he does. So yeah, we’re super excited to have him.”
That rust included four points, three rebounds, a block, but also five fouls, which ended his night early. As he enjoys the rest of the 2024-2025 school year, he will be awaiting his trip west to join a Montana squad that is currently 9-4 and gearing up for a second-round postseason matchup against #3 South Dakota on Saturday.