HUTCHINSON, Kan. — If you think you have heard a new voice on the KWBW Morning Show since February or on both Hutch High and HutchCC football games, you would be correct.
Newton native Sean Boston is the newest addition to the Eagle Media Hutchinson team of sportscasters and will make his debut tonight calling the action of the HutchCC Blue Dragons as they open the 2023-24 basketball season versus Eastern Oklahoma State College.
Boston joined the Eagle Media Hutch sportscast team this past February, accepting the Assistant Sports Director/Account Executive position.
"It's time to wind down a little," Glen Grunwald, radio voice of the Blue Dragons, said. "I started calling games for Hutch at the beginning of the 1998-1999 season, assisting Rusty Hilst with football and doing the play-by-play for basketball that fall." Grunwald has called more than 3,000 sporting events since he began sports broadcasting as a hobby in 1985 at KANS in Larned.
"My college roommate, Dennis Franz, owned KANS and asked me to step in and do color for their play-by-play guy for football," Grunwald said.
"Little did I know that, by basketball season, that gentleman would be moving away and I was tossed the ball to start doing play-by-play for the rest of the sports season," Grunwald chuckled.
Ironically, Larned's basketball coach was Kevin Abbott, who lives just around the corner from Grunwald in Hutchinson.
In 1990, the Barton County Cougars came calling and Grunwald started calling their basketball and national volleyball tournament runs until Dan Deming gave him a call and talked him into making the switchover to Hutchinson in the summer of 1998.
So 38 seasons later, 26 as the voice of the Blue Dragons, the time has come to transition to the future.
"Hutchinson has always had great sportscasters. Go way back to Tom Hedrick, who got his start with KWBW in the late '50s. Gary Bender, John Rooney, Hod Humiston, Bob Watson, Jerry Kershaw, and, most recently, Rusty Hilst," Grunwald added. "I'm so proud to be part of that great group of local sportscasters."
"Sean will do a great job. We've been talking about this being a possibility for about three-years-plus. He is a great young man that has called the Hutchinson broadcast job a 'dream job.' I'm looking forward to watch him grow and prosper and couldn't be more proud of how he has embraced the position," Grunwald said.
Boston has a vast history behind the mic for being so young. The Halstead High School and Butler Community College graduate called a state championship football season for Bishop Carroll just a few years ago. He served as an intern with the KJCCC office, helping with a number of events. He has also called arena football in both Wichita and Dodge City, and was part of the Dodge City broadcast team for both Dodge City High and Dodge City Community College for 3 1/2 years. In addition to all that, he had a short stint with Eagle Media Hays in 2022.
"Sean recently got married (to Liz Reifschneider) and became a new dad when he adopted Liz's two young boys, so he is happy to make the Hutchinson area home," Grunwald added.
"It's truly an honor to be a part of the Blue Dragon broadcast crew," Boston said. "I've always had tremendous respect for HutchCC athletics and am looking forward to this opportunity. The passion that the city of Hutchinson and the surrounding areas have for Blue Dragon athletics is truly one-of-a-kind."
Both Boston and Grunwald will continue to provide broadcast coverage for the NJCAA volleyball and basketball championships when they take place in the Sports Arena.
Grunwald will continue to call Hutch High athletics for at least another year with his good friend, Dan Naccarato. Naccarato will assist Boston and Grunwald with the home Blue Dragon games, while Daren Dunn will continue to assist on the road.
"I think the transition will be great. I thank HutchCC Athletic Director Josh Gooch for allowing me to make this transition and continue this year behind the mic. Special thanks to all the fans that have made the past 26 years so very, very special," Grunwald said.
Glen Grunwald isn't going away, he will still continue to call HutchCC men's basketball who also open the season versus North Idaho at the Sports Arena Friday night. Grunwald will only call the home games for the men, while Boston will call the road women's and men's contests.
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