College Buddies

You might have heard about the new fitness center Planet Fitness now open inside the Frisco Station Mall in Rogers. Here are a few interesting details about the two franchisees.
Brandon Sebald and Buck Ortega played college football together about 10 years ago at the University of Miami. Ortega later spent time as an NFL tight end for a handful of teams including the New Orleans Saints during their Super Bowl-winning season.

Northwest Arkansas is, of course, a melting pot for everyone from everywhere else, but this Miami connection got your Whispers correspondents to wondering what got these guys here, just to run a gym.

Turns out Sebald runs another Planet Fitness in Miami. When the national chain made plans to expand into Arkansas, Sebald expressed interest in owning another store.

He needed a partner. Enter Ortega, his old college chum who just happens to live in Northwest Arkansas with his wife, Rogers native Emily Whitaker.

An award-winning equestrian, Whitaker was linked to NASCAR drivers Shane Hmiel and Dale Earnhardt Jr. before tying the knot with Ortega in 2008.

The person who officiated the ceremony, by the way, was former Washington County Circuit Court Judge turned reality television star Mary Ann Gunn.