That was on display again earlier this month when the Dragons’ varsity squads played in the state championship matches on back-to-back nights in front of thousands of fans in downtown Omaha.
The Gretna girls beat Lincoln Southwest 5-2 in the championship match to extend their winning streak to 45 over three seasons. The Gretna boys came up just short of back-to-back state titles, losing 2-1 in the championship match against Creighton Prep.
And it’s two players from Gretna who were selected as the players of the year for the Lincoln Journal Star Super-State soccer teams this season — Michael Stukenholtz and Allison Marshall.
At no time before in the past 24 years had the Journal Star Super-State captains been from the same school. And Stukenholtz and Marshall are even classmates and friends, having just completed their junior season.
The all-state teams were chosen after receiving nomination ballots from 92 coaches across the state, as well as the observations of Journal Star reporters.
In the past three seasons, Gretna has had four Super-State captains, with Stukenholtz and Marshall joined by Sarah Weber (2021) and Brett Perkins (2022).
With Gretna boys coach Tyler Ortlieb and Gretna girls coach Chace Hutchison, the Dragons had two young, knowledgeable and passionate coaches.
“It goes back to the people,” said Marshall of Gretna’s success in soccer. “People that love soccer and compete in both club and high school, just to get better. And the community of Gretna soccer is always there for each other.”
Now comes the next chapter for soccer in Gretna with the opening of Gretna East this fall. How quickly will Gretna have two soccer schools?
Hutchison will make the move to teach at Gretna East and be the head girls soccer coach there. Ortlieb — an all-state soccer player for Gretna in 2011 — will remain the coach of the Dragons.
This year Marshall tried to enjoy the season and appreciate that she may not play on a high school team like this one again. The team was determined to finish this era with another championship.
Marshall will stay at Gretna next year, and she plans to play her senior season. In recent years some top high school girls players have graduated high school early to start college soccer training.
“It’s definitely going to be different. Just losing that big of a senior class is going to hurt,” Marshall said. “And then we also lose a lot of talented freshmen and sophomores that will go to Gretna East. Being split in half definitely doesn’t help us, but we will also have a very talented senior class.
“I’m excited to see what we pull off in the future.”
Marshall scored 21 goals and passed for seven assists this season while helping Gretna win its third consecutive state title.
As a sophomore, she did not become a starter until about five games into the season. But by the end of the season she had 15 goals, six assists and earned first-team Super-State honors.
Marshall had been a basketball player but only plays soccer now. She’ll play in college at Kansas State, choosing the Wildcats over Purdue.
She excels at using her physicality and skill to keep from getting the ball stolen by the defense so she can get off lots of shots. Her favorite goals are scored on headers.
There are some days when the Gretna boys team plays after the girls team, so then Marshall gets to watch Stukenholtz play.
“He’s just a beast — how fast he is, and explosive,” Marshall said. “It’s so fun to watch how he just gets around players.”
Stukenholtz showed that speed and skill at the state tournament when he scored three goals — all in a 10-minute stretch of the first half — during an 8-1 first-round win against Lincoln East.
“The challenge with (Stukenholtz) is he’s very quick, and he’s technical,” East coach Colin Smitsek said. “If he passes it off, then you got to track the run. He’s rapid. A simple ball over the top, and it’s a foot race.”
Stukenholtz scored 18 goals, and also an impressive 14 assists.
Ortlieb is convinced that Stukenholtz is just as fast when he has the ball as when he doesn’t.
Stukenholtz has never timed himself to know if that’s true. But he’s worked extremely hard to be fast while making runs with the ball.
He does cone drills, and straight ahead sprints with the ball.
“It’s a lot of practice. I practice with the ball at my feet a lot,” Stukenholtz said. “I’m a winger, so I have to be good with my feet. I got to be fast with it. It really helps in a game.”
Stukenholtz also played basketball in high school, but focuses on soccer now.
“I was just good at it, and it’s fun being good at something,” the UNO commit said.
All-state soccer: Meet the 2023 boys first-team Super-Staters
(𝑴𝑭) 𝑱𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑴𝑰𝑨𝑯 𝑯𝑻𝑬𝑯, 𝑶𝑴𝑨𝑯𝑨 𝑾𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬
(𝑭) 𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑬 𝑲𝑹𝑼𝑺𝑬, 𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑵 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑾𝑬𝑺𝑻
(𝑭) 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑰𝑵 𝑴𝑨𝑪𝑲𝑬, 𝑷𝑨𝑷𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑶𝑵-𝑳𝑨 𝑽𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑯
(𝑭) 𝑨𝒀𝑶 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑬, 𝑩𝑬𝑵𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑻𝑶𝑵
(𝑭) 𝑴𝑨𝑮𝑼𝑰𝑹𝑬 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑺, 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑵𝑨
(𝑭) 𝑴𝑰𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑬𝑳 𝑺𝑻𝑼𝑲𝑬𝑵𝑯𝑶𝑳𝑻𝒁, 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑵𝑨
(𝑴𝑭) 𝑩𝑹𝑨𝑫𝒀 𝑩𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑮, 𝑪𝑹𝑬𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑶𝑵 𝑷𝑹𝑬𝑷
(𝑴𝑭) 𝑩𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑻 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑺, 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑵𝑨
(𝑫) 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑻𝑶𝑩𝑨𝑩𝑬𝑵, 𝑶𝑴𝑨𝑯𝑨 𝑺𝑲𝑼𝑻𝑻
All-state soccer: Meet the 2023 girls first-team Super-Staters
(𝑭) 𝑺𝑶𝑵𝑶𝑹𝑨 𝑫𝑬 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑰, 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑵𝑨
(𝑭) 𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑶𝑵 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑳, 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑵𝑨
(𝑭) 𝑲𝑬𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑫𝒀 𝑺𝑼𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑨𝑵, 𝑵𝑶𝑹𝑹𝑰𝑺
(𝑴𝑭) 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑳𝑬𝒀 𝑲𝑶𝑹𝑻, 𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑵 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑾𝑬𝑺𝑻
(𝑴𝑭) 𝑲𝑨𝑹𝑳𝑰 𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑨𝑴𝑺, 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑵𝑨
(𝑫) 𝑻𝑬𝑺𝑺 𝑩𝑬𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑵𝑺, 𝑶𝑴𝑨𝑯𝑨 𝑺𝑲𝑼𝑻𝑻
(𝑫) 𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑫𝑶𝑵 𝑫𝑬 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑰, 𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑵𝑨
(𝑫) 𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑬 𝑲𝑶𝑯𝑳𝑬𝑹, 𝑵𝑶𝑹𝑹𝑰𝑺
(𝑫) 𝑨𝑵𝑵𝑰𝑬 𝑴𝑼𝑳𝑫𝑬𝑹, 𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑵 𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑻
(𝑮𝑲) 𝑫𝑬𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑰 𝑫𝑨𝑼𝑩𝑴𝑨𝑵, 𝑶𝑴𝑨𝑯𝑨 𝑾𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬
Reach Brent C. Wagner at ​bwagner@journalstar.com or 402-473-7435.
Gretna's Michael Stukenholtz (right) and Allison Marshall pose for a photo at Morrison Stadium in Omaha, where the school played in the Class A state championship matches on back-to-back nights earlier this month. The classmates are the captains of the Super-State soccer teams.