Pictured- SE of Saline Athletic Director Doug Minneman

GYPSUM — Southeast of Saline started its 2025-26 school year on a high note with one state team championship and one runner-up finish as well as numerous individual accomplishments.

The high point was the Trojans’ boys cross country team claiming a Class 3A state title, while football fell one game short of successfully defending its 2024 Class 2A championship.

“The first half of the year, our fall sports had lots of success at various levels,” Southeast athletic director Doug Minneman said. “If you look at the two sports our boys competed in, in football and cross country, you bring home a state title and a state runner-up in those two sports and it’s a pretty successful year.”

“That speaks very highly of our kids and our coaches, the time and effort that they put in over the summer to build those programs. It’s pretty amazing.”

Boys cross country back on top

Southeast’s boys, who won three straight team championships from 2018-20, finally ended a four-year run of second-place finishes this fall in the 3A state meet in Lawrence with all five scorers finishing in the top 25.

Senior Brayden Walker finished second, Jacob Bircher 17th and Zach Carlin 20th, giving the Trojans three individual medalists. Edgar Calzado in 22nd place and Brooks Carlin in 25th fell just short of the podium, while Cole Franklin and Caleb Knopf rounded out the team.

While the Trojan girls did not advance as a team, that did not stop junior Piper Brown, one of three Southeast individual qualifiers, from claiming a fifth-place medal. Ava McGraw and Anna Jackson also qualified.

Football falls one game short

Southeast was on track for a second straight unbeaten season heading into the Class 2A championship game against Nemaha Central in a rematch of last year’s final. The Trojans fell behind early and were unable to recover, falling 35-6.

Despite losing starting quarterback Gannon Jacobson with an injury early in the season, the Trojans did not skip a beat with junior backup Tiernan Ptacek stepping in.

Senior running back Grady Gebhardt, son of head coach Mitch Gebhardt, eclipsed 2,000 yards rushing and was one of three Trojans named to the Class 2A all-state team, joining lineman Brody Chambers and defensive back Malachi Hopkins.

Backs Jacobson, Ptacek and Amarion Holub all received honorable mention along with linemen Tristan Swank and Drew Weller, plus linebackers Kanyon Douglas, Bryson Lippold and Killian Vaughan.

Volleyball team welcomes new coach

The Trojan volleyball team took its lumps under first-year head coach Shandi Olson while facing stiff competition in the North Central Activities Association, finishing with an 11-26 record.

“Our league, as far as volleyball, is incredibly deep,” Minneman said. “So, the competition we faced this fall on the court in volleyball was very tough.”

Even so, two Southeast players received individual recognition, with senior Suttyn Douglas named to the all-NCAA first team and sophomore Reese Heinrich garnering honorable mention.

Girls basketball off to strong start

The Southeast girls basketball team took a 4-2 record into the holiday break, including a victory over perennial power Hesston.

The Trojans won their first three games before suffering a road loss at Beloit, and also fell at home to Hillsboro. The victory over Hesston came at a price with three-year starter Abigail Pearson suffering a broken hand, though she is expected back shortly after the break.

Injuries, late start slow boys basketball

The injury that sidelined Gannon Jacobson in football carried over to basketball, where he was the Trojans’ top returning starter. Tristan Swank, another football standout, missed the first three games with an injury as well as Southeast dropped its first five games.

The Trojans closed out the semester on a positive note, beating Hillsboro for their first victory.

“We were very beat up after football and had limited practices too when we played on that Tuesday (following a Saturday championship game),” Minneman said. “It has been a rough start based on those things, and the competition we’ve played has been pretty good.”

Wrestling returns two state champions

Injuries and illness have sidelined both of Southeast’s defending state champions to start the season, though the Trojans return three Class 3-2-1A placers from a year ago.

Brody Chambers is back for his senior season after winning the 285-pound title a year ago and is No. 1 in the most recent state rankings. Roman Tuttle won the 120-pound title as a freshman.

Senior Killian Vaughan, who finished fourth at 165 last year, is ranked No. 1 in that class this year.

Southeast also started a separate girls program this year, though they have had individual girls wrestle in the past. In fact, junior Annabelle Soell is ranked No. 2 at 140 pounds after placing last year.

“You look at all the accomplishments across the board, boys and girls,” Minneman said. “We’ve got really good coaches leading all these programs and just fantastic kids that love to compete and wear the purple of Southeast of Saline.”