Olentangy Orange standout Levi Davis was selected by Dispatch.com readers as the central Ohio boys athlete of the year.
Olentangy Orange football, basketball and track and field standout Levi Davis was selected by Dispatch.com readers as the central Ohio boys athlete of the year in the 2024-25 school year.
Davis shined in all three seasons, but especially so during the winter. Davis passed for 2,023 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for 853 yards and 12 scores as a quarterback, was point guard for the Pioneers’ first Division I state championship basketball team in the winter and won long jump district and regional championships this spring. Davis, who also was district champion and regional runner-up in the high jump, has committed to play football at Ohio University.
He received 37.7 of the vote, followed by Olentangy Liberty's Andrew Leonard, who received 15%, Watterson's Mitchell Younger (14%), Fairfield Union's Andrew Walton (8.9%), Olentangy's C.J. Sanna (8.9%), Olentangy Liberty's Jake Struck (8.4%), Jonathan Alder's Ashton Martin (4%) and St. Charles' Austin Carpenter (3.3%).
Leonard, the runner-up, began his senior year by passing for 3,191 yards and 35 touchdowns during the football team’s run to their first Division I state championship. He then had 29 goals and 37 assists during hockey season, when Liberty made a regional final, and was an honorable mention all-state pitcher and shortstop during the baseball team’s run to a regional semifinal.
Younger finished his high school career by winning his third Division II state wrestling championship at 144 pounds, going 36-0 less than a year after battling health issues that put his season at risk. Younger, who has signed with North Carolina, also won state as a freshman and sophomore and was fourth at 150 as a junior. He finished high school with a record of 126-8.
Walton repeated as Division II state cross country champion in the fall, on the heels of winning both the Southeast District and regional, and this spring was state runner-up in the 1,600 and fifth in the 3,200 at state. He won the mile in a regional-record 4:12.9 — a time he bested by more than a second at state — and was third in the meet in the 3,200.
Sanna starred both on the football field and as a thrower in track and field, capping a year in which he verbally committed to Ohio State as a linebacker by winning the Division I state discus championship in his final state track meet. Sanna was district and regional champion in the district runner-up in the shot put. In football, Sanna made a team-high 97 tackles and shared the team lead in sacks with seven.
Struck, named The Dispatch’s Boys Athlete of the Year at the Central Ohio Sports Awards, Struck was a three-time state champion with one title each in football, hockey and lacrosse. All of those championships were the first for their teams at Liberty. Struck accounted for more than 1,800 yards and 31 total touchdowns in football and is career goals, assists and points leader for both the hockey and lacrosse teams.
Martin, a senior pitcher and the Division IV district and state Player of the Year, Martin powered the Pioneers’ run to a regional final. The Wright State signee batted .500 with 11 doubles, five triples, one home run, 32 RBIs, 30 runs scored and 20 stolen bases. On the mound, he was 6-0 with a 0.76 ERA, 60 strikeouts and five walks in 37 innings. Martin had five complete games and four shutouts.
Carpenter powered the Cardinals to their first state swim championship since 2008, winning the 100-yard freestyle (43.21) before bringing the 400 free relay back from a 1.34-second deficit on the final leg of the final event of the Division I state meet. Carpenter, who has committed to Texas, also was on the winning 200 medley relay (1:28.04) and was state runner-up in the 100 breaststroke (53.81).
The Athlete of the Week will resume in August.
Have any questions? Email sports editor Brian White at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olentangy Orange's Levi Davis voted central Ohio's top boys athlete
Category: General Sports
