On the 11th day of March, the Elgin Public-Pope John’s boys basketball team will begin to write the final chapter of the 2025/2026 season.
Having earned the #1 seed in the Class D2 State Tournament, they will seek to bring the first championship home as the Wolfpack. They and their fans will have to get up early to begin their quest. Their first round game will be played at 9 a.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena, home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers men’s and women’s basketball teams. Their opponent has yet to be officially announced by the Nebraska School Activities Association.
“It’s gonna be different because we’re playing at Pinnacle Bank,” Wolfpack Coach Matt Euse said about returning to Lincoln after being there for the first time last year. “We’ve got a lot of mature guys on our team. They understand the mental preparation it takes, and they’ll be ready to go.”
If the Wolfpack win their opening round matchup, they will be guaranteed two more games – a semi-final round game Friday at 9 a.m. at Devaney Sports Center; and a championship (at PBA) or third place game (at Lincoln Northeast High School). Saturday’s games will also be at 9 a.m.
They will enter the tournament with a 24-3 record, a stellar season. The three losses were to O’Neill St. Mary’s who also qualified for the state tournament. The two teams could meet in the championship game as they are in opposite sides of the tournament bracket.
On the court the team has been led by seniors Jarek Erickson and Karson Kallhoff. Erickson has been ‘Mr. Everything’ for the Wolfpack this season, a scoring threat from any spot on the court.
“It just feels good,” Erickson said amidst the celebration after the game. “You know, we put in all that hard work of getting better every day, and we live off of that coming to practice every day. Putting in that hard work for our coach and the whole team works together like that. We’ll be back down in Lincoln, hoping to make it farther than last year, that’s our goal, and just get better and take care of business.”
Kallhoff, one of the fastest players on the court, is a scoring machine from outside the three-point line or slashing his way to the basket.
“It was kind of crazy,” Kallhoff said about the start of the game. “It was like, wow, they’re actually staying with us. They’re a pretty good team. They gave us a pretty good look the first half. But in the third quarter we started running and the shots started going in, and yeah, we finished it off with a win.”
Kallhoff said one of the reasons for the team’s success this season has been getting more players involved in the offense. “My teammates, they can put the ball in the hoop too,” he said. That keeps defenses honest when trying to guard all the Wolfpack players on the floor.
On defense, 6’5” sophomore Max Henn anchors the middle. He is one of the team leaders in scoring and rebounding.
Junior Michael Selting has stepped up when needed to help with the scoring load while sophomore Evin Pelster is one of the faster players on defense and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time to score.
In the last few games, first off the bench has been freshman Jayvin Erickson. Since coming back from an ankle injury, Erickson has been a valuable asset on offense making trey after trey when left open.
Rounding out the team are Christian Preister, Brayden Burenheide, Justice Blecher, Braedon Hinkle, Joseph McNally and Ticen Sparr (injured and unable to play). Head coach is Matt Euse joined by assistants Kellan Hoefer and Andon Olson.
