They are Patty Buettner, the first softball player to enter Hall, football players Curtis Deines, Jason Funk, Judd Hoos, Curt Moffat, and Doug Lytle…who was also a track All-American, basketball players Jami Huckfeldt and Jason Robinson, track and field standout Libi Malone, and wrestler Corey Arndt.
An eleventh athlete, Misty Gill-Leslie, was selected for the Hall, but is unable to attend the ceremony and will be inducted next year.
Patti Buettner (1979-82) holds a number of Chadron State softball records, but they were essentially forgotten after the school discontinued her sport following her senior year and didn’t bring it back until 2006.
CSC sports information director Alex Helmbrecht was compiling a list of Eagles’ all-time best performances last spring and rediscovered Buettner’s accomplishments.
She holds the batting average records of .448 for her senior year and .368 (112 hits in 304 at bats) for her career, the single-season records for runs scored (47) and stolen bases.
Parks and Recreation secretary in her hometown of Grand Island, Buettner played softball…first fast-pitch, then slow-pitch…for 23 years after college, and was involved in the Grand Island summer youth softball program as either a coach or an umpire for 28 years before retiring in 2010.
Curtis Deines (1998-91) was a rare four-year starter at center, snapping the ball an estimated 2,800 times, mostly to a previous hall of famer, quarterback Steward Perez.
When Deines graduated in 1991, it was reported that he had never missed a practice or a game because of an injury or illness.
Originally from Torrington, Wyo., he lives near Chadron and is a railroad conductor working out of Alliance.
Jason Funk (1990-93) was a three-year starter on defense for the Eagles, finishing with 241 tackles and 21 pass breakups.
He was a first-team choice on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Nebraska NCAA Division II teams in 1993 when he was a senior.
He’s a native of Hyannis, lives in Rushville and is a chiropractor. This fall he is also a co-chaplain for the CSC football team.
Judd Hoos (1993-96) is a Rushville native and is a rancher near there. When he graduated from CSC in 1996, then head coach, Brad Smith, called Hoos “one of the toughest, most dedicated athletes to ever play at CSC.”
He played both fullback and receiver on offense and also was chosen the outstanding special teams player as both a sophomore and a junior and was selected the Eagles’ overall MVP as a senior in 1996.
He also was one of 19 players from all levels to be selected to College Football Chronicle’s Unsung Heroes All-American team at the end of that season.
Doug Lytle (1993-98) had been a standout athlete at Niobrara County High School at Lusk, Wyo. That continued at Chadron State when he earned 4 letters on both the offensive and defensive lines for the CSC football team.
Highlights included returning fumbles for touchdowns in both 1994 and ’96, and in his senior year of 1997 having 8 tackles for a loss, rushing for a touchdown, and throwing a pass.
He also excelled in track and field. When he concluded his career, he owned the CSC records in the shot put both indoors and outdoors, the weight throw, the hammer throw and the discus.
He was named the outstanding male athlete at the 1996 RMAC Outdoor Meet after winning three throwing events, and was a five-time outdoor NCAA D-II track All-American.
Lytle played indoor pro football six years, and has coached in the sport since then. He’s currently defensive coordinator for the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League.
Curt Moffat (1992-95) came from Garden County High School at Oshkosh and was a regular at linebacker for the CSC football team four years.
As a junior, he missed three games and played with considerable pain in several others because of a broken fibula. He shared the team’s most valuable defensive award with Joe Juelfs as a senior in 1995.
The Eagles had a combined 17-4 record his final two seasons.
Moffat is employed at the Wyoming State Prison at Torrington.
Corey Arndt (1992-97) overcame several injuries before finishing his college wrestling career on a high note in 1996-97.
As a junior in 1994-95, Arndt won a match at the national tournament before suffering a separated collarbone while wrestling the defending champion. The injury required surgery and he missed the 1995-96 schedule.
He returned the following season and had an 8-3 record at 167 pounds entering the holidays. When the Eagles’ 190-pounder left the team, Arndt moved to that weight.
He went 18-2 during the remainder of the season, won the weight class at the West Regional Tournament and placed third at the National Tournament, where his only loss was to the eventual champion.
A native of Cozad, Arndt is a measurement technician with a petroleum firm at Gillette, Wyo.
Jami Huckfeldt (1993-97) was a three-year starter who excelled as a ball handler, passer and defender for CSC basketball teams in the mid-1990s. She finished her career with 347 assists and 215 steals. Both were second on Chadron State’s all-time lists when she graduated.
She set the CSC single-season record for steals with 77 as a junior and had 71 as a senior to rank second. The 121 assists her senior year tied for second all-time and the 120 as a junior was third.
She also was a starter as a sophomore in 1994-95, when the Eagles went 22-8, tied for the RMAC’s regular season championship, won the conference’s postseason tourney and advanced to the national playoffs for the only time in their history.
Huckfeldt was second-team all-conference as a junior and honorable mention as a senior. She also was a goat tier and a breakaway roper for the CSC rodeo team.
She lives near her hometown of Mitchell and owns a company that processes cattle for area feedlots.
Libi Malone-Susag (1990-93) was a two-time RMAC indoor shot put champion, a two-time All-American in the event and set the school records in the shot both indoors and outdoors as a senior in 1993.
She also was 3rd in the shot as a junior and 2nd as a senior at the RMAC outdoor meets. Her school records when she graduated were 45-8 indoors and 44-10 ½ outdoors. Only three Eagles have exceeded those marks since then.
A native of Palisade, Neb., Libi taught and coached for several years. She and her husband, Scott, now raise wheat, cattle and horses near Scobey, Mont.
She also trains horses and has qualified for the barrel race at the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association finals the past three years.
Jeremy Robinson (1992-96) was a four-year starter for the CSC basketball team, following in the footsteps of his brothers Josh and Jason. The three combined to score 5,081 points and collect 2,138 rebounds for the Eagles.
Like them, Jeremy was an outstanding athlete, extremely competitive and a team leader. When he graduated, he was ninth on the Eagles’ all-time scoring list with 1,459 points and fourth in rebounds with 667.
Robinson was named to the Nebraska NCAA Division II all-star team as both a junior and a senior and was placed on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s second-team both years.
He is a horse trainer and farrier at Vona, Colo., and also coaches girls’ basketball at Liberty High School at Joes, Colo.