Trent Tanking wore a smile the size of Holton after Kansas State’s Purple & White Spring Game. There was a big reason why.

Not only did Tanking come out of the spring of his senior season poised as the starting middle linebacker on a Kansas State squad that’s expected to enter the fall in the preseason Top 25, but the former in-state walk-on will also head toward the Sept. 2 season opener against Central Arkansas having already achieved a feat that years ago the special teams guru deemed far too lofty to comprehend.

He’s a team captain under Hall-of-Famer Bill Snyder.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 10. I never thought I’d be a captain,” Tanking said. “Coming in as a freshman, our captains were Tyler Lockett, Jake Waters and Jonathan Truman. You never picture yourself to be up there, but that’s what you strive for. I’m just happy my teammates voted for me to be one.”