When they’re on the ice together, senior defenseman Kody Reuter and junior forward Colton Kramer don’t even have to say a thing. They each know what the other is going to do.

Knowing and playing with each other for as long as they have will have that effect.

“After so many years, you get the sense where each other is going to be at,” Reuter said.

Reuter and Kramer, both natives of Sioux City, Iowa, have known each other for over a decade – well before they were both integral parts of one of the top American Collegiate Hockey Association teams in the country.

The two first met while playing youth hockey in Sioux City, but both have since seen their journeys lead them to the Austin Bruins of the North American Hockey League and eventually to the Cyclones.

They don’t recall when exactly that first meeting took place, but growing up the two got the chance to know each other well as a result of playing on the same team every other year. Even just as kids, both of them quickly recognized the strengths that make the other a successful player to this day.

“Back then, [Reuter] was always a bigger kid,” Kramer said. “He’d kind of throw the body around, he was a stay-at-home defenseman. That’s kind of always how he’s played.”

But while Reuter plays a more physical game at 6-foot-4, Kramer features a finesse style of play at 5-foot-9.

“Kramer’s definitely a smaller, skill guy,” Reuter said. “He’s kind of always been that way. He’s sort of sneaky and he finds a way past defenders, so I think he’s done that his whole hockey career and he’s only continued to get better at that.”

The two briefly went their separate ways when they reached high school, as Kramer left Sioux City to play midget hockey in Omaha, Nebraska, while Reuter spent time with the Sioux City Musketeers.

However, their paths would cross again when the two joined the Austin Bruins, where they went on to play with two more members of the current Cyclone Hockey team, juniors Tony Uglem and Jake Arroyo. The Bruins play in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), one of the top junior leagues in the country, and the team itself has three alumni, Christian Folin, Eamon McAdam and C.J. Smith, who are currently signed with NHL teams.

Much like the NHL, the NAHL also has a draft, and teams are able to sign players to contracts, trade them and release them as well. Reuter was a late-round draft pick of the Bruins, while Kramer was signed by the team as one of their seven tendered contracts.

In Austin, the two became team leaders and both played roles in helping lead the Bruins to the Robertson Cup Finals two years in a row. Their contributions while in Austin, as well as their tough individual styles of play, leadership and work ethic, gained them the admiration of teammates and coaches alike. Among those admirers was then-assistant coach Jamie Huffman.

Huffman, now a scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins, reflected back on his time with Reuter and Kramer, as well as Uglem and Arroyo, with great fondness. He notes the four fit the tough-as-nails mentality the team tries to instill in all of their players to a “T,” and they would consistently run practices and hold players accountable for their actions on and off the ice.

In addition to their toughness and leadership, Huffman also emphasized not only are all four great players, but great people as well.

“They grew every which way you could, not only on the ice, but off the ice as well,” Huffman said. “They’re young men that I would take down a dark alley, and have no problem [with them] being around my family.”

While Huffman and the other coaches in Austin would give players advice about college choices, none played a role in any of the players winding up at Iowa State. That was mostly the players’ doing.

Reuter came to Ames a year before Kramer did, and he, along with other incoming recruits, helped play a part in getting Kramer to join them as Cyclones.

“We always stayed in touch throughout juniors and stayed good friends,” Kramer said. “He ended up coming here and said it was really fun, and I also knew three other guys were coming here as well. All my friends were here, so I decided to come here.”

Now upperclassmen at Iowa State, Kramer and Reuter are seen as part of the glue that holds the No. 11 team in the country together. Both have had great careers to this point, with Reuter likely being the team’s best defensemen and Kramer being a part of the team’s top scoring line since his freshman year.

They’ve also continued the trend of being recognized as two of their team’s leaders. Reuter was voted the Cyclones’ captain before the season, and Kramer remains widely admired for his unselfish style of play.

“They’re gritty, they both play with an edge all the time and they’re both competitive as hell,” said Cyclone Hockey assistant coach Mark Huber. “Every shift that they both log, they’re fighting. To have that in both guys, that’s the best trait a hockey player can have, to play with that edge day in and day out.”

That similarity in attitude on the ice only helps with the unspoken connection the two share from knowing each other for so long. Also helping is the fact that the two frequently hang out together off the ice as well, doing things like playing Xbox (Mario Kart is a favorite) and finishing homework together.

While the team as a whole is close and hangs out frequently, according to Kramer, both him and Reuter acknowledge that their hometown roots will always make their bond a little tighter, with Reuter saying the bond is almost second nature.

“We’re all pretty good friends on the team, but me and Kody [Reuter] are a little closer,” Kramer said.