Free State winter sports athletes from right, Madison Piper, basketball, Corey Schultz-Bever, swimming, Jacob Pavlyak, basketball and Sky Carey, wrestling.

After preparing throughout the summer and fall, the offseason is finally over and some of Free State High’s winter sports teams will begin play today.

Here is a look at what all of the Firebirds’ programs expect out of the upcoming season:

Boys basketball

After posting a 15-7 record and finishing a couple points short of a trip to the Class 6A state tournament, Free State’s boys basketball team has its eyes set on taking the next step.

The Firebirds have a long list of returners including seniors Cameron Clark, Jay Dineen, Shannon Cordes, Jacob Pavylak and Sloan Thomsen. It’s one of the reasons the Firebirds were ranked sixth in the KBCA preseason coaches poll.

“We have a lot of experience back,” second-year coach Sam Stroh said. “We have to figure who’s going to be kind of the go-to guy, which could be the open guy. I don’t think anyone is going to be like Hunter (Gudde) last year who got us 20 points a night.”

Along with several returning starters, the Firebirds hope to see a strong season from junior point guard Garrett Luinstra.

Stroh said the Firebirds will work on figuring out their roles in the first few weeks, plus they’ll have a challenging schedule in December against several state-tournament teams.

“We did that on purpose to try to challenge ourselves,” Stroh said of the schedule.

The Firebirds will play Barstow (Mo.) in the 810 Varsity Tipoff Classic at noon Saturday at Liberty (Mo.) High.

Girls basketball

For the first time in 14 seasons, Free State’s girls basketball team will feature a new coach after Ted Juneau replaced Bryan Duncan.

But on the court, the Firebirds still have many of the same faces that led the team to a 14-8 record last season.

Entering the year ranked 10th in 6A, the Firebirds will have plenty of talent in the backcourt with the school’s all-time leading scorer and Santa Clara signee Madison Piper, point guard Cameryn Thomas, shooting guard Jaelyn Two Hearts and guard Jaycie Bishop.

Then the Firebirds are confident they’ll see strong seasons from sophomore transfer Sam Lawrence and freshman guard Caely Kesten.

The biggest concern entering the season?

“Lack of height and the need to have an inside presence,” said Juneau, who noted 5-foot-10 junior Caroline Patton will be the tallest player in the varsity lineup.

The Firebirds open the season playing host to Kansas City (Mo.) East at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Boys swimming

For the past two seasons, Free State’s boys swimming and diving team finished third at the state meet and it has no plans on placing below that mark.

The Firebirds will be led by Minnesota signees Jordan Portela and Evan Yoder. Portela is the defending state champion in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly, breaking his own state record in the 100 butterfly.

Then there’s plenty of talented returners including Evan Eskilson (school record holder in the 100 backstroke), Corey Schultz-Bever, Matthew Wilkus, Skylar Eklund, Sydney Lin, Kyle Sadosky, Chad Anderson, Cameron Hodge, Dean Stuart, Jake Viscomi, Adam Ziegler and diver Chad Bourdon, who took third at state.

There’s also hope that newcomers Aiden Goertz and John Loos will contribute points to the team’s score at each meet.

“Returning swimmers bring state experience,” 16th-year coach Annette McDonald said. “Newcomers bring talent.”

Free State begins at 3:30 p.m. today with a home quadrangular.

Wrestling

It’s a new era for Free State’s wrestling program, which tied for ninth at state last season and was third in the Sunflower League.

Free State junior Tate Steele won a Class 6A state title at 132 pounds last season — the school’s first state champion — and will open the year as the top-ranked wrestler at 138 pounds.

Along with Steele, junior Gage Foster is ranked No. 3 at 170 pounds, freshman Lou Fincher is No. 4 at 106 pounds and junior Isaiah Jacobs is sixth at 126 pounds. As a team, the Firebirds are ranked 10th in Class 6A.

“A lot more buzz,” coach Mike Gillman said. “When you get your first state champion and stuff, a lot of people kind of look at you little bit like, ‘Hey that’s a pretty good kid.’ But you’ve also got partners in the room that are just as good. We’ve got some potential state champions in our room that could do really well this year.”

The Firebirds will compete in a double dual against Bishop Miege and Olathe East at 6 tonight at FSHS.