Who had Ohio's best individual performances?
You vote, you decide. MaxPreps is proud to again sponsor the Ohio Athlete of the Week awards during the 2020-21 school year.
Each week during the season (regular and post), there will be a fan-generated contest to tab weekly winners. Each winner receives a letter and award patch for their varsity jacket.
How does it work? Nominees are selected from statistics submitted on MaxPreps. Coaches who do not have current access may request their free account here. Weekly finalists are released on MaxPreps every Tuesday and voting is conducted in a special poll. Voting ceases at noon on Mondays. The winners (2-3 per week) are announced the next day along with the next week's nominees.
Participants may vote as many times as they want. It's a competition. So far this school year, over 8.5-million votes have been cast, including 352,000 last week.
Week 18 Ohio High School Athletes of the Week
* Conner Douglass, Elida WrestlingSenior
was named Most Valuable Wrestler at the Allen County Tournament after
claiming the 138-pound title. It was his third Allen County championship
(2020-2018).
* Kathleen Ahner, Legacy Christian Academy (Xenia) Girls BasketballSenior
guard hit eight 3-pointers and tallied 31 points in a 64-36 win over
Dayton Christian. Also had six 3s (23 points) in 63-61 season-opening
win over Yellow Springs.
Here is the school year's latest round of nominees...
Week 19-20 Ohio High School Athlete of the Week Nominees
* Bri Claxon, South Webster Girls BasketballJunior had three 30-point games in a four-game span. Had 36 points in a 66-65 win over Jackson, 36 points in a 67-63 loss to Oak Hill and 32 points in a 60-31 win over Minford. Also dropped 19 points in a 72-56 win over Belpre. Averaging 26.4 points per game.
* Dylan Johnson, River Valley (Caledonia) Boys BasketballSenior hit eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 30 points in a 77-70 loss to Columbus Academy. Also had 23 points in a 72-63 win over Marion Harding.
* Brendan Salo, Centerville Boys BowlingRolled a 503 series – including a 290 game- to win Fairfield’s Back to School Bash.
* Marshall Bier, River (Hannibal) WrestlingSophomore won the 285-pound title at the Fort Frye Invitational by pinning every opponent (0:54, 1:22, 0:39, 1:03 and 0:34).
* Ava Hassel, Notre Dame (Portsmouth) Girls BasketballSenior hit 7-of-7 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points in a 67-43 win over Northwest. Averaging 21.1 points per game. Has 1,128 career points.
* Aubrey Haas, Eastwood (Pemberville) Girls BasketballJunior hit 13-of-13 free throws en route to a 26-point, nine-steal and four-rebound performance in a 64-20 win over Bowling Green. Also had 26 points, five assists and four steals in a 64-37 win over Fostoria and 22 points and eight rebounds in a 61-25 win over Otsego.
* Allie Dunlap, Heath Girls SoccerSophomore had a hat trick (three goals) in a 3-0 season-opening win over West Muskingum.
Week 2
* Austin Sees, Brookfield Boys SoccerSenior goalie made 15 saves in a 2-1 win over LaBrae and 14 saves in a 3-2 win over St. John (Ashtabula). Two of the three goals he allowed were penalty kicks.
* Katie Hooley, Jonathan Alder (Plain City) Girls SoccerJunior captain had four goals and two assists in a 10-0 win over Highland and three goals and three assists in a 13-1 win over Franklin Heights.
* Kylee Kosek, Springfield (New Middletown) Girls SoccerSenior had three goals and two assists in an 11-0 win over Girard and four goals and an assist in a 14-0 win over Newton Falls.
Week 3
* Shaden Malone, Clay (Portsmouth) Boys SoccerSenior goalkeeper and striker played large part in a 2-0-1 week. Had 16 saves in a 1-0 win over Glenwood and 12 saves in a 1-1 tie with South Webster. Also netted three goals and an assist in a 5-3 win over Belpre.
* Jordan Briggs, Grand Valley (Orwell) Boys SoccerSophomore had back-to-back hat tricks (six goals total) in wins over Geneva and Pymatuning Valley. Added an assist against PV for 13 points on the week.
Week 7
Had 57, 48 and 27 assists, respectively, in wins over Normandy, Brush and Laurel. Added 20 in a loss to Riverside.
* Emily Baker, Troy Christian VolleyballJunior captain had over 20 kills (102 total) in four straight matches as the Eagles beat Newton, Legacy Christian, Brookville and Ansonia.
* Xavier Puryear, Heath FootballSenior running back scored six touchdowns and rushed for 68 yards on 16 carries in a 56-20 win over Lakewood.
Week 8
* Eric Babinchak, Howland (Warren) FootballSenior running back rushed for 290 yards and four touchdowns on 39 carries in a 27-0 win over Buchtel.
* Hannah Golden, Centerville VolleyballJunior setter had 45 and 41 assists in wins over Northmont and Fairmont and 42 assists in a loss to Springboro.
* Bryce Schondelmyer and Brennen Troutwine, Arcanum FootballTande posted huge numbers in a 57-39 win over Dixie. Schondelmyer, a sophomore quarterback, completed 21-of-31 passes for 425 yards and seven touchdowns and also carried the ball 15 times for 75 yards and a touchdown. Troutwine, a junior split end, had 10 receptions for 276 yards and four touchdowns.
Week 9
* Cidny Long, Madison Plains (London) VolleyballSenior middle hitter had 55 kills and 11 blocks in 3-0 wins over Springfield Catholic Central, Greeneview and Greenon.
* Lauren Tuttle, Northeastern (Springfield) VolleyballSenior outside hitter had a career-high 38 kills in a 3-2 win over Fairbanks. Also had 29 kills in a 3-1 win over West Liberty-Salem and 23 kills in a 3-0 win over Mechanicsburg.
* Nathan Hawks, Greenon (Springfield) FootballSenior kicker connected on three second half field goals (47, 43 and 32 yards) as the Knights beat Taft 30-28.
Week 10
* Doug Rakes, Fairview (Sherwood) FootballSenior quarterback threw for 304 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-36 win over Northwood. Has thrown for 37 touchdowns and rushed for 11 more this season.
* Tyler Welsh, Genoa Area Boys SoccerSenior goalie recorded back-to-back games with 10 saves in wins over Delta (5-2) and Pettisville (3-2).
* Janessa Koffer, Franklin Monroe (Pitsburg) VolleyballSenior had back-to-back games of 35 digs in wins over Lehman Catholic (3-2) and Ansonia (3-0).
Week 11
* Kylie Clifton, Milford Girls SoccerSenior goalie had 16 saves in a 2-1 D-I sectional final win over Seton and 10 saves in a 3-2 sectional semifinal win over St. Ursula.
* Taylor West, Tuscarawas Valley (Zoarville) VolleyballJunior middle hitter had 15 blocks (13 solo) and 12 kills in a D-IV district semifinal win over Hiland. Had 11 kills and five blocks in a district final win over Union Local.
Week 12
* Braden Anderson, Worthington Christian FootballSenior ran for 229 yards and five touchdowns on 15 carries and had 12 tackles in a 52-14 win over Bishop Rosecrans.
* Caleigh Richards, Maplewood (Cortland) Girls Cross CountryFreshman won her seventh race of the season and its was the big one. Ran 18:22.3 to finish first at the D-III state meet.
Week 13
Junior setter had 37 assists, 20 digs, six kills and four blocks in a 3-1 win over New Bremen in the OHSAA D-IV state final. Had 32 assists, 13 digs, three kills and three blocks in a 3-0 semifinal win over Dalton.
* Coley Sidloski, Strongsville Girls SoccerJunior forward had a goal and two assists in the Mustangs 3-1 win over Olentangy in the OHSAA Division I state final.
* Megan Wielonski, Mount Notre Dame (Cincinnati) VolleyballSenior setter had 36 assists and 10 digs in a 3-1 OHSAA D-I state final win over previously unbeaten Padua Franciscan. Also had 29 assists and seven digs in a 3-0 semifinal win over St. Joseph Academy.
Week 14
* Myles Blasingame and Zack McKibben, Coldwater FootballSenior tandem came up huge in the Cavaliers 38-35 win over New Middletown Springfield in the OHSAA Division VI state championship. A quarterback, Blasingame completed 11-of-20 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns and carried the ball 17 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns. McKibben, a receiver/returner, had 351 all-purpose yards, including a key 72-yard punt return in the closing seconds that set-up the Cavs game-winning field goal. Also caught four passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns and carried the ball 12 times for 82 yards.
* Mitchell Hays, New Bremen FootballSenior quarterback/defensive back completed 5-of-6 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown and ran for 60 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries in the Cardinals 31-0 win over Warren JFK in the OHSAA D-VII state final.
Week 15
* Madison Roshelle, Princeton (Cincinnati) Girls BasketballSenior forward had 29 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and an assist in a 76-48 win over St. Ursula Academy. Also had 16 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a 71-46 win over Oak Hills.
* Ethan Bell, River Valley (Caledonia) Boys BasketballSenior point guard had 27 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and four steals in a 70-54 win over Clear Fork. Had 25 points in an 84-47 loss to Worthington Christian.
* John Riley, Miami Valley Christian Academy (Cincinnati) Boys BasketballSenior forward had 17 rebounds, 11 points, three assists and three steals in a 56-54 win over Felicity-Franklin.
Week 16
* Peyton Magee, Fairfield (Leesburg) Girls BasketballSophomore point guard had 11 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals in a 75-65 win over East Clinton. Added 10 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals in a 73-50 win over Fayetteville-Perry.
* Izzy Lamparty, South Range (Canfield) Girls BasketballSenior forward had 27 points, 16 rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist in a 69-54 win over Salem.
Week 17
* Mackenzie and Mikayla Blair, Greenon (Springfield), Girls BowlingDuo
was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Cincinnati Girls Holiday
Classic by finishing first and third overall, respectively, with 412 and
404 series.
* Ogden Nijikowski, Mason Boys BowlingNamed
to the All-Tournament Team at the Cincinnati Boys' Holiday Classic
after roiling a 300 game and finishing second overall with a 517 series.
* Sam Fast, West Jefferson WrestlingSenior
notched five pins (0:39, 0:43, 0:28, 1:44 and 0:21) en route to winning
the 285-pound title at the Clear Fork Invitational.
CLICK HERE to see the winners for the 2017-18 school year.
CLICK HERE to see the winners for the 2018-19 school year.
