From MMA Class of 1971 to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame: Jeffrey Brummet

It takes discipline to be the best, and a lot of hard work. A graduate of the Missouri Military Academy (MMA) Class of 1971, Jeff Brummet is a leader in his career in the financial industry. A vice president with Stifel Financial in Rolla, he ranks in the top 10% of Stiffel and the top 1% of the industry.

In February 2025, along with his horse Tucker, Brummet was named to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements in mounted shooting. This competitive equestrian sport combines horseback riding and target shooting.

“Discipline is the most significant lesson,” he says, commenting on what cadets learn at MMA and his path to success. “Emotional, physical (discipline) — that’s on yourself, and that’s what will get you there. Self-discipline gets you farther along to do better.”

Reflecting on his time at MMA, he says cadets benefit from all aspects of the Academy’s military educational model.

“The broad education from not only studies but also cadet life – everything they do at the Academy – will help them later in life,” he says. “Discipline is learned. Respect. Pecking order. Everything will teach that kid later in life to be successful. Everything.”

---

Above, Brummet's senior photo (Taps yearbook, 1971).

---

In 1970, Brummet learned of MMA through a family friend. Kent Yost was attending, and his father knew Brummet’s father. When asked if he would also like to attend the Academy, Brummet said, “Sure.”

“I was 13 years old,” he says. “I had no idea what I was doing.”

He entered MMA as a high school freshman. Between sophomore and junior years, he said he was ready to come home.

“I thought I sure could have fun if I stayed home,” he recalls.

But he was doing well, which had been noted by others in his small hometown of Cuba, Missouri. A local business owner he knew told him it was best to keep doing what he was doing.

So Brummet stayed at MMA. He was promoted to the cadet leadership ranking of corporal and earned a Soldier’s Bar for outstanding military courtesy, bearing, neatness, attitude, and performance of duty. By December of his junior year, he had earned the rank of sergeant first class.

“You want to be at the top? You have to work at it,” Brummet says.

---

C Company staff members Major Paul Cherches, counselor; Bill Gant, Thom McCue, Jeff Brummet, Rick Frahm, and John Reddick. (Taps yearbook, 1971)

---

“You accept what God gives you and you go with it, or you don’t,” says Brummet. “If you don’t, life is going to be miserable.”

Brummet says he became self-driven at MMA and embraced the military-style of life.

“I ate it up – for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” he says, remembering how he would often serve as a role model, paired with a new cadet who was not adapting well.

During his time at MMA, he was involved in everything he could be, participating in track and field, boxing, wrestling, and the Fusileers drill team. During senior year, he was the varsity quarterback of the Colonels football team and a member of the Honor Company for the year, Band Company. He was also the recipient of the Jerome Harris Cup, awarded to the cadet with the most soldierly qualities.

---

Chris Naeter (22) drops back to pass against Western while Jeff Burmmet (15) and Tony Wilson (20) block for him. (Taps yearbook, 1971)

---

He recalls the positive influence of several instructors and leaders at MMA, including Commandant Capt. Charles Vines and Major Kenneth Mortenson, on his development.

After MMA, he attended the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology), where he wrestled as a college athlete and obtained his degree in civil engineering.

After college, his path to a successful career in wealth management was indirect. He became a surveyor by trade before joining his father and brother in the family grocery business. He had his first taste of investments at an early age, however, picking his first stock in the New York Stock Exchange at age 12.

“Picking stocks is one thing,” he says. “Making money at it is another.”

Since joining Stifel in 1989, Brummet has proven that making money for his clients is something he is very good at it, and through his success in mounted shooting, he has also proven that his professional career isn’t the only thing he excels at.

Brummet grew up riding horses, and his wife, Jane, and children, Jared, Jacob, and Katie, have always been active riders. “I wore out three trucks over 30 years for horse shows, with three kids all involved,” he says.

After seeing mounted shooting for the first time in the 2000s, he didn’t try his hand at the sport until 2018, once his days of supporting his children’s competitions were behind him.

 A mounted shooting competition looks like this: Dressed in western attire of the late 1800, riders navigate a timed course on horseback while shooting at balloon targets at 15 feet, using two .45-caliber single-action revolvers. The revolvers must be western in design, in the style of the late 1800s and based on the Colt .45 model, loaded with black powder blanks. The blanks carry enough force to pop the balloons but are not live rounds.

To be successful, the sport requires superior horsemanship and marksmanship. Brummet says bonding and strong communication with your horse is essential. The discipline instilled in him at MMA was reflected in his early practice regimen: four hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays. “

We were both worn out each weekend,” he says about himself and his horse Tucker.

---

Brummet and his horse Tucker at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame induction, Feb. 2025.

---

A humbling first experience in a regional competition motivated him to keep working. Entering the Missouri State Fair in 2018 was his chance at redemption, and that competition sparked an incredible run of success. Competing in the Senior Men’s 1 class at world competition in Amarillo, Texas, Brummet won his first world buckle and the high point champion title in 2019, followed by his second world buckle in 2020.

Brummet combines talent and discipline to achieve success. Commenting on his second-place finish in the world competition in 2023, he admits he didn’t quite practice as much as he should. Coming back strong in 2024, he came in second by extremely slim margins, losing the top spot in the senior incentive by three-hundredths of a second in the Eastern Championships and finishing second in the senior men’s class by less than a second.

The competition in mounted shooting is growing, he says, particularly in the senior class.

“Most guys my age would love to be in my position, and I’m sure thankful for all the sport has given me,” Brummet said, quoted during an interview for the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. “What a great way to spend a weekend dressing up like my western heroes and shooting .45 caliber pistols at balloons. Win, lose or draw, it sure is fun!”

Brummet and family at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame induction, Feb. 2025.