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HNS speech team claims third straight State title
KEARNEY — The Hartington-Newcastle Wildcat Speech team won its third straight state championship Friday at the NSAA C2 State Speech Championship in Kearney.
The team medaled eight entries and scored 128 team points to take home top honors. Elmwood Murdock finished runner up with 116 points. Cedar Catholic finished in third place with 106 points.
The 2026 championship marks the first three-peat in program history.
“The coaches are proud of the way each student on this team competed at state,” coach Kyle Stevens said. “It’s not easy to make the medal round at state—there are ups and downs all day–-and our whole team supported each other and rose to the challenge.”
The State title came with a few other streaks, as well. Dane Gotch and Issac Santiago were crowned State Champions for their Duet Acting performance. This marks the second straight year the duo has claimed the state title.
This also marks the school's ninth state title.
The competition for the top spot was close—with Hartington- Newcastle and Elmwood Murdock tied for most finals and Cedar Catholic one behind with seven entries. Stevens said the competition was challenging all day long.
“The students who made finals really showed an amazing amount of talent, grit and competitiveness,” Stevens said. “It was close going into finals— things could have easily been different—but we were able to perform our best when it mattered most.”
The Wildcats were paced on the day and all season long by its seniors Issac Santiago, Dane Gotch, Hazel Hochstein, Trynity Zach, Lainey Morten, and Carter Kelly. Every senior qualified for state in 2026. Stevens said that the 2026 seniors displayed great talent and leadership.
“We have so many great seniors on our team, and each of them provided such great leadership throughout the season and their careers,” Stevens said. “These seniors have been a cornerstone of this program for four years. This group earned a lot of medals, career accomplishments, and they are just great people. You just don’t replace that.”
Stevens said the 2026 Hartington-Newcastle team highlighted talent, work ethic, and dedication to the success of themselves and the team.
“It’s hard to maintain consistent success at anything you do,” Stevens said. “Our team’s accomplishments at state and all season are a testament to each students’ drive to work hard and accomplish their goals and support each other no matter what.”
State Medal Winners Dane Gotch and Issac Santiago—State Champion—Duet (Second straight championship) Hazel Hochstein—State Runner Up—Informative Dane Gotch—State Runner Up—Serious Prose Trynity Zach—State Runner Up–-Persuasive Emily Climer—3rd Place—Entertainment Trevon Hopping—4th Place—Program of Oral Interpretation Hazel Hochstein—5th Place—Persuasive Alyk Zach—5th Place—Poetry See Page 12 of this week's Cedar County News for more from the State Speech meet in Kearney.
