Warner signs to play football for Bearcats

Standout Nodaway Valley senior athlete Trent Warner made the next steps of his academic and athletic endeavors clear Friday, Feb. 14 when he signed to play football at Northwest Missouri State University.

Warner was surrounded by his parents, Tyler and Cassie Warner, high school teammates and coaches, when he put pen to paper and declared himself a future Bearcat.

“It’s nice to get a weight off my shoulders for what I’m going to do,” Warner said. “I’m happy that it’s close. They have a great program down there and I’m ready to go play some college football.”

A power in Division 2 football, NWMSU has an all-time 59.3% win percentage, has six national titles and 30 conference titles. The Bearcats play in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), which includes schools in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.

He said that while he has excelled in wrestling (he had won third place in the state as a junior at the time of his signing and had not yet won his state championship), he’s always wanted to play college football.

Warner, listed at 6-foot-4, 275 pounds as a senior, played both ways in high school, as an offensive and defensive lineman. He is excited to focus solely on defense in college. He finishes his high school career with 131 total tackles and 36.5 tackles for loss.

“Last summer was 90% football. I mean, I went to a few big wrestling things, but it’s pretty much always been football,” Warner said, going on to explain why he likes defense. “D-line has always been more fun to me to punch people in the mouth every single play. It takes a special person for D-Line vs. O-Line. You can be a big teddy bear on O-Line and be good at that, but it takes a little more aggression and physicality on defense.”

Always big for his age, Warner said he’s grown in his physicality throughout high school. In college, he will be looking to “fill out his frame” a little more and continue to progress in all aspects of his game and physical development.

“The coaches are all really competitive and down to earth people. The big thing to me was that I felt comfortable with the coaches and could have conversations with them,” Warner said. “I’m thankful for everyone who has helped me throughout high school — all my coaches and past coaches — and my parents and family.”