GRETNA, Neb. — Gretna boys’ soccer standout Mikey Stukenholtz is hoping to lead his team back to the Class A state title game. The Dragons won it all in 2022, and were runners-up in 2023.
- Stukenholtz is the reigning Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year for boys’ soccer.
- He is committed to play at UNO this fall.
- Stukenholtz hopes to lead the Dragons to their second state title in three years.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
For the last four years, Gretna’s Mikey Stukenholtz has been a force to be reckoned with on the pitch.
“I’m glad he’s on my team and I’m not having to play against him,” Dragons head coach Tyler Ortlieb said.
Consistently one of the top scorers in Class A, the senior started focusing on soccer his sophomore year.
“I always knew I was quick,” Stukenholtz said, “so I tried to learn how to be quick with the ball at my feet too.”
“Mikey’s a little bit more modest when he talks, but Mikey has been good from a very young age,” Ortlieb said. “When you’re that fast with the ball and that technical, it changes everything.”
And it’s only been up from there.
“He’s a very competitive individual,” Ortlieb said. “So any little ounce of someone saying something to him he’ll feed off of. That’s when he’s at his best. You’ll start to see him kind of make individual battles with defenders and then he’ll go off.”
But Stukenholtz admits he doesn’t do it alone.
“I get the goals a lot from Brett (Perkins) and Maguire (Perkins) so that makes it easier,” he said. “Obviously assists too, Maguire being a finisher. So the assists and goals just kind of come naturally with the team.”
He and the Perkins brothers will reunite on the field at UNO this fall.
“It was probably my dream school honestly with UNO,” Stukenholtz said. “They were one of the first schools to look at me too. They have a great school, great program. I love the coach, it was kind of an easy option.”
But he’s got some business to finish at Gretna first.
He could win back-to-back Gatorade Player of the Year Awards, but his main goal is getting Gretna its second state title in the last three years.
“I think I could top that by winning state with the team,” Stukenholtz said. “If Gatorade Player of the Year comes with it, that’s great, but I’m really looking to win state this year.”
