Jay Acosta, 6’2” senior, had a fantastic night against Colby Friday. Jay broke two 40+ year old records during the game. The records were held by Chris Swan during the 1983-1984 basketball season. Jay is the single game record holder for 23 made field goals and 41 total points from the game against Colby. His 41 points of the 56 point game broke the school record for most points scored in a single game. Tuesday he scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds in the game against Ulysses. He is averaging about 19.3 points per game so far this season. Congratulations Jay!

Larry and Gloria Fox celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary December 22, 2024. Larry and Gloria lived for many years in Stevens County but now reside in Hutchinson to be near family. Congratulations Larry & Gloria!

Sherry Kelling’s piano students seated are Amelia and Kai Roybal. Standing from the left are Grant Niehues, Morgan Niehues, Clayton Grubbs, Tobias Grubbs, Madison Niehues, Chaney Poulsen, Alivia Grubbs, Sherry Kelling and Addison Garza. Photo courtesy of Sherry Kelling.

Sherry Kelling’s piano students performed at The Gathering Place Saturday, December 21. The students performed a variety of Christmas songs. Alivia Grubbs sang and accompanied herself with “The First Noel”.

Clayton Grubbs played “Little Drummer Boy” and Tobias Grubbs joined in with the drum on the second verse. The audience reflected quietly as Addison Garza soothed them with “Still Still Still” and Amelia and Kai Roybal played “Carol of the Bells” and “Joy to the World”.

Grant Niehues wished in the season with “Let It Snow” and Morgan Niehues did a stunning arrangement of “O Come O Come Immanuel”. Chaney Poulsen dazzled everyone with her selection “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”. Tobias’ classical arrangement of “Joyous Baroque” was a toe tapper. Madison Niehues had everyone sing along with her “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas”. All of Mrs. Kelling’s students loved sharing their Christmas piano pieces.

A big thanks again to The Gathering Place and the Hegers. Merry Christmas!

Buddy Heaton’s children stand in front of the exhibit at the Stevens County Gas & Historical Museum. From the left are Linda Brecheisen, Ted Heaton, Cindy Jo Galloway and Tom Heaton.

If you are not familiar with the history of Harold L “Buddy” Heaton, be sure to stop by the Stevens County Gas & Historical Museum located at 905 South Adams and learn how a legendary rodeo entertainer and horse trainer left a lasting impression by riding a buffalo named “Clyde” in John F Kennedy’s 1961 presidential inauguration.

A wall has been dedicated to Buddy Heaton where you can see a video, a lifelike wax figure of Buddy and a buffalo head donated by Jim Mothes.

Kaylor Regensburg and Aiden Conner are 3A State Champs in Fortnite. Photo courtesy of USD 210 Eagles Facebook.

It was a long eight hour drive from Hugoton High School to Highland Community College located in Highland, but the members of the Hugoton Esports team made it worth it as they brought home a plethora of awards, including a State Championship and runner up! Students competed in the first ever State Championship hosted by the Sunflower Showdown Esports League.

The Sunflower Showdown Esports League was started this year by the Highland Community College Esports Coach, Matt Ludwick as a model for KSHSAA to observe as they work out the details in making esports a sanctioned event. The teams started the season back in September and played once a week as they worked their way up the standings and earned a qualifying bid to the in-person State Championship.

Hugoton qualified four Fortnite teams, three Mario Kart racers, and three Super Smash Brothers players.

In Fortnite, Hugoton was heavily favored to come out on top as they held the top four seeds in the 3A bracket, and in the Grand Finals bracket which included classification. Hugoton held the first, third and fifth seeds going into the tournament. The Eagles would go on to make it an All-Hugoton finals after the Red team consisting of Enjo Moreno and Brandon Lopez defeated the 1A State Champion team from Troy.

The Crimson team consisting of Aiden Conner and Kaylor Regensburg defeated the 2A State Champion from Jackson Heights in the semifinals. Team Crimson would prove to be too much for Team Red and brought home Hugoton’s first ever Esports State Championship.

In the consolation bracket, Hugoton’s White team, consisting of the freshman duo Gage Harris and Caiden Mason, faced a huge challenge. The Eagles ran into the second overall ranked Jackson Heights team who had previously been undefeated prior to their semifinal loss to Hugoton’s Crimson team. Team White ran out to a 4-1 lead and was able to hold off the Cobra’s comeback to pull off the biggest upset of the tournament to reach the medal round. Hugoton White would end up losing to Troy earning them fourth place.

Hugoton also had a group of students who competed in the Nintendo Switch game categories of Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers.

The event held some high level competition, as there were contestants from both events that had just been awarded Regional National Championships the week before.

Jacob Payne would end up medaling in both 3A events, placing third in Mario Kart, losing to the runner up by a single point, and fourth in Super Smash Brothers.

In the Grand Finals, it was a different Hugoton player who made the most noise as Jesus Maldonado would make a run to the consolation semifinals where he faced off and lost to a competitor from Royal Valley. Sophomore Ethan Bowers and Freshman Kaiden Hatch both participated, but did not make it past the earlier rounds of the competition. The Sunflower Showdown League also held competitions in Rocket League, Valorant, and Overwatch.

The league plans to return in the Spring of 2025 with the State Championships taking place at Pratt Community College. The Hugoton Esports team will now get ready for their Winter and Spring seasons starting in January.

The Eagles are currently planning to participate in the Sunflower Showdown League again, as well as the national level in the High School Esports League which will host seven new games next semester including Brawlhalla, Street Fighter, and Geoguessr, all of which Hugoton is expected to fare extremely well in. The Eagles will also be joining a second national esports league called PlayVS in order to grant students more opportunities with three additional new games that are not provided by the SSEL or HSEL as well as access to Special Olympics Unified esports competitions.

The Hugoton Esports program currently consists of over 70 students and about 25 participating in after school competitions.

Wishing everyone a Safe and Merry Christmas and delivering the Sheriff’s report are, left to right, Undersheriff TJ Steers, Sheriff Ted Heaton and Deputy Cuylor Miller.

Sheriff Ted Heaton brought in his accident report for Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

Wednesday Stevens County Sheriff Ted Heaton and all of his Deputies worked an accident at the intersection of Highway 56 and Highway 25.

Vehicle one was a 2022 Kenworth and vehicle two was a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado. Vehicle one, the Kenworth driven by Shannon Thompson of Phoenix, Az. was south bound on Highway 25. She failed to stop at the stop sign, entering Highway 56. Vehicle two, the Silverado driven by Dack Downing of Moscow, was west bound on Highway 56. At Revenue Corner the Silverado struck the semi that had just entered Highway 56 still south bound after failing to stop. The semi was hauling a load of beer.

Both drivers were transfered to Stevens County Hospital by Stevens County EMS.

Sheriff Heaton sends out a special thank you to the Stevens County EMS/Firefighters for their quick response to the scene. A special thank you to the Stevens County Animal Control Officer that took the involved dog to safety. Ted also expressed his appreciation for all of his deputies for their great job of handling the situation.

Sheriff Heaton wishes to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Safe and Merry Christmas!!

Members of the Show Choir, in no particular order, are Jayden Burrows, Faith Beesley, Lelani Gerber, Morgan Niehues, Ella Beesley, Chaney Poulsen, Morgan Anderson, Ava Vertrees, Tobias Grubbs, Marco Amador, Carson Slocum, Taylan Hill, Justin Quevedo, Josephe Hernandez, Clayton Grubbs, and Joe Zambrano. Photo courtesy of Renee Beesley.

The Hugoton High School Show Choir under the direction of Renee Beesley traveled to Branson, Mo. November 20 – 24 to perform for thousands of people at the Clay Cooper Theatre, Pierce Arrow Theatre and the Mickey Gilley Grand Shanghai Theatre. This year’s show consisted of 30 minutes of Christmas songs and singing through the decades. HHS Show Choir had 100 members of family and friends travel to Branson with them to cheer them on at each show. While they were in Branson they also got to see the “Miracle of Christmas” at Sight and Sound theatre, enjoy a dinner show at Dolly Parton’s Stampede and spend half a day at Silver Dollar City, as well as work with a professional choreographer prior to one of their shows.

The HHS Show Choir will be performing their full Branson show at their Christmas Concert December 16, at 7:00 p.m. at the HHS auditorium. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Our VERY OWN Robert Williams has been selected to play in the PRESTIGIOUS Blue-Gray All American Bowl football Classic, December 16 at Dallas Cowboy’s AT&T Stadium with a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. Robert is the first Hugoton Eagle to be selected to play in this prestigious event.

Robert was selected for this event this past summer after he participated in the UT-Permian Basin Football Combine in Odessa, Texas. At the combine he was rated the #2 linebacker at the event by both Rivals and the Blue-Gray selection committee. He was the ONLY Kansas player at this event. Most of the 176 players that attended were from Texas and mostly 5A and 6A players.

Robert has been a mainstay for the Eagle football program for the past four years. He was a four year starter for the offense and a three year starter on defense. He has been a two year ALL GWAC selection on defense and was selected this year by the GWAC coaches as a First team offensive lineman. Robert has also been a STATE QUALIFIER in Powerlifting and has been a Honor Student all four years of his High School Career maintaining a 3.97 G.P.A.

CONGRATULATIONS ROBERT WILLIAMS ON RECEIVING THIS PRESTIGIOUS SELECTION!! G.A.T.A/I.G.Y.B.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The game will be Monday, December 16 at 1:00 p.m. at AT&T Stadium and will be televised on ESPN3 and on ImpactFootballNetwork.com on a delayed broadcast.