The Ankeny boys’ soccer team enjoyed an historic season in 2025.
The Hawks posted a 12-6-2 record and advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament for the first time since 2018. Duplicating that success, though, will be a challenging task.
Ankeny graduated the majority of its starting lineup, including a trio of all-staters in forward Landon Benge, defender Dylan Gloviak and midfielder Austin Lundberg. Benge scored a team-high 27 goals, which ranked third in Class 4A, and was named to the all-state first team for the second straight year by the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association.
Gloviak was the leader of the team’s defensive unit that recorded four clean sheets. He joined Benge on the all-state first team and on the Class 4A all-tournament team.
Lundberg, meanwhile, earned all-state honorable mention after contributing three goals and two assists.
“We graduated a ton of experience,” said Ankeny coach Trevor Fuccio. “Not only those guys, but (Henry) McMillan, (Jack) Croskey, (Brian) Jimenez, (Andrew) Loder, (Brandon) Thaut and a lot of our leadership. When you graduate eight starters and a good chunk of the varsity bench, I think it’s realistic to have some reservations, but we’ve got a group of seniors this year that have seen a lot in this program. They saw the last time we graduated a large majority of the varsity roster, and they saw what it takes to get to state the last two years.
“We will rely on them to help lead what I anticipate to be a very young varsity roster, and we will lean heavily on their experience,” he added.
Seniors Jackson Dockendorff, Keaton Kobow, Toby Landmesser, Ty Newhard, Michael Sage and Cal Wahlberg are among the team’s returnees. Junior Canden Ganahl and sophomore Ryler Ntem are also back.
Wahlberg, a midfielder, set a single-season school record with 19 assists, which ranked second in Class 4A. He also scored eight goals, including the golden goal in overtime against Des Moines Lincoln in the substate final that punched the Hawks’ ticket to the state tournament.
Wahlberg was named to the Class 4A all-state second team. He also joined Benge and Gloviak on the CIML Conference first team.
Kobow, a midfielder, scored two goals and also had four assists. The Upper Iowa recruit joined Lundberg on the all-conference second team.
Ganahl and Newhard could help pick up some of the offensive production that was lost. Ganahl had his only goal as a sophomore during a game against two-time defending state champion Johnston, which sparked a rally from a 3-1 deficit that allowed Ankeny to forge a 3-3 tie.
Newhard, meanwhile, scored his only goal during his team’s 5-1 victory at Waukee. The Hawks went on to finish with a 3-4-1 mark in the conference.
“The offseason program had good buy in, and the boys are ready to get started!” Fuccio said.
Newhard, a forward, earned all-conference honorable mention along with Dockendorff, who received honorable mention for the second straight year. Dockendorff, a goalkeeper, played all but 65 minutes last season for the Hawks, racking up 73 saves while allowing 28 goals.
Dockendorff will be a key to the team’s success.
“For me, it will always start with how we defend,” Fuccio said. “I believe we’ve got talented players who are willing to work really hard so if we are defensively sound, I believe this group can have success.”
Ankeny will open its season on Friday with a non-conference game at North Polk. The Hawks will host defending state champion Valley in their home opener on April 7.
Fuccio is hoping that the 2026 campaign will conclude with a third consecutive trip to state.
“Our main goal for the season is to make another postseason run,” he said. “To do that, we will need to peak toward the end of May and make a lot of progress throughout the year.”