DeWITT, Neb. - Two Southeast Nebraska athletes who have competed in sports with - and against - each other for most of their lives signed to continue their athletic careers at in-state colleges as a signing day at Tri County Public School on Wednesday afternoon.  

Cooper Stokebrand and Cole Spahr have been playing sports together for as long as they can remember, including the last four years where both have been multi-sport athletes at Tri County. 

Now that they’ve identified that that football would provide the best path forward for their future endeavors, Wednesday’s signing day represented a mission accomplished and a dream achieved for the two young athletes.  

“I’ve been wanting to be in this position my entire life, been wanting to punt, been wanting to go play college football my entire life, and it’s finally here. So I’m excited to finally sign off and say, yeah, I’m definitely doing it,” said Spahr.  

“It was kind of just a normal day for me, I knew this day would come eventually, throughout the year and throughout playing football. I was a little nervous because I was like, man, I’m taking my next step forward, but I was excited for it,” said Stokebrand.  

After a lifetime of playing on the field together, their paths are set to diverge, though only somewhat. Both said Wednesday that they have long dreamed of pursuing an education while playing football in college, and now both will have the opportunity to do so at local NAIA schools. 

Spahr was a multi-purpose player who led the Trojans in rushing this season while also seeing some time at quarterback, and is signing with Peru State as a punter, a role he filled for most of his four years at Tri County. 

“When I tell people I play football, I wrestle, I play baseball, I do track, I do all that, and they say, ‘You want to go to punt?’ And I’m like, yeah. I enjoy it, I get to kick a ball, I don’t have to worry about the big guys – I mean, the big guys are running at me but I don’t have to worry about them hitting me every play,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve wanted to do it since I was a little kid, so it’s a dream come true, honestly.” 

Meanwhile, Stokebrand finished his high school career with 150 tackles and 27 tackles for loss as a four-year featured member of the defensive line, and is moving on to be in the defensive mix at Concordia in Seward, a rapidly rising NAIA program that just missed out on the postseason last fall. 

“It feels good because it let me know that all the steps I was taking to get myself forward, it finally paid off for me,” he said. 

They’ll have plenty of time playing sports together this year at Tri County with wrestling season still underway, but as they took the Tri County stage alongside their families and coaches on Wednesday, this week’s signing day marked the close of at least this chapter in the lives of these two longtime teammates. 

“I knew that we’ve both been working hard in all of our sports, we worked hard together, and we both put in the time. So it was great to sign our papers at the same time, basically,” Stokebrand said. “Since we were really young, we’ve been competing with each other and against each other, so that’s always been fun. I’m happy that we’re being able to end this and move on to our next future together. I’m happy for him, and I bet he’s happy for me too.” 

The feeling was certainly mutual.  

“It’s always been in the talk even since we were in junior high. We both knew what we wanted to do with sports, and life in general. We both knew we wanted to play football, and wanted to see where we’d go,” said Spahr. “For a while we wondered if we’d go to the same place, and we eventually parted ways, but it’s for the better. I think we’re going to enjoy our time where we’re going.”