The 18-year-old skater had a decent start to his high school hockey career with the Flyers as a sophomore. He posted 19 points through 28 games, which was sixth on the team in overall scoring and fourth in overall goals scored (9). Ryan got to play on a line with his older brother, Carter, for most of the season, which was a fun way to acclimate to the varsity level. Little Falls was a talented squad that year and they made it all the way to the Section 5A championship game in 2023 before eventually losing in double-overtime to St. Cloud Cathedral. 

Oothoudt then had a successful junior season by posting over a point-per game for the Flyers by earning 29 points through just 27 contests, which was fourth in overall scoring on the roster. Unfortunately, Little Falls faced heartbreak again in the postseason after a triple-overtime loss to Monticello in the section semifinals. 

The forward’s game didn’t truly explode until his senior year in 2024-25. Oothoudt became the leading scorer on the team by posting 52 points in 27 games for the Flyers, which was a whopping 17 more points than the next closest skater on the roster. Hard work and late growth spurt seem to be the main contributing factors to his rise as a Division I prospect. 

“I put a lot of work in during the offseason - lifting, off-ice, skating, doing games and camps and just all the stuff I could,” said the 18-year-old. “I hit a growth spurt and kind of found my game and put in a lot of hard work and it all just came together and I had a really good senior season.” 

The year for Little Falls ended in February of 2025 after a section semifinal loss to Cathedral but Oothoudt kept on pushing throughout the months to come to keep getting games in through showcases and camps to continue to put more eyes on his game. 

That’s when things really started to pick up for him as a prospect. He signed a tender in the North American Hockey League with the St. Cloud Norsemen and he then participated in a few showcases in May and June, which is where his recruitment as a Division I prospect started to pick up. 

After playing well and participating in an event in Blaine, Oothoudt was contacted by the United States Air Force Academy after one of the games. They eventually watched him at a camp in Fargo after that as well before he decided to attend the Falcons’ own camp in Colorado Springs a short while after. After attending that event, the Little Falls native had impressed the staff enough to receive an offer to play Division I hockey there. 

On June 24, Oothoudt made his commitment to the Air Force Academy official on his social media pages. 

“Proud to announce my commitment to play division 1 hockey at Air Force Academy. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way,” he posted to his Instagram page. 

“I’ve always wanted to play Division I hockey,” he told APX reporter Sydney Wolf in a phone call interview. “I think it was just an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. It’s a great school, I went down there and loved the town and the people and I think it was just a no-brainer to commit there.”

Although the Colorado Springs area is new to Oothoudt, he has been to Colorado a little bit in the past since he has cousins that live there. Oothoudt himself was actually born in Salt Lake City, Utah, before his family moved to Little Falls when he was very young, so he does have some roots in that general area of the United States. 

Joey Hanowski, the head coach at Little Falls, says that Oothoudt’s game has exploded over the past year and that he is a pretty soft-spoken guy but an extremely hard worker. Air Force fans can get excited about his potential as a big and fast hockey player who will continue to refine his game over the next few seasons in junior hockey. 

“He’s an elite skater, he’s 6-foot-2 and one of the most complete skaters that I’ve had in my program in the last 4/5 years,” Hanowski said. “He’s extremely offensive and he can get up and down the ice … his best game this year for us was against Cathedral where he held their first line in check and he didn’t have a point that night but the only reason we beat them was because of our goalie and because of Ryan Oothoudt.” 

After signing a tender and attending summer camp with the St. Cloud Norsemen of the NAHL, Oothoudt could wind up playing there in 2025-26 to play junior hockey or he has the option of potentially playing up in Canada as well. Either way, he has up to three seasons of juniors eligibility before heading out to Colorado Springs to play at the Division I level in the future. 

When he does eventually join the Air Force Academy, the 6-foot-2 forward will become the first person that he knows of in his family to serve in the military. He is currently thinking of studying business when he gets out to Colorado Springs in the future. For now, he is focused on continuing to refine his game and figuring out where he will play hockey this fall.