2024-25 Brock Badgers Male Athlete of the Year Nominees

Brock Sports is proud to announce the four individuals who have been nominated for 2024-25 Male Athlete of the Year. 

The Brock Athlete of the Year Award honors student-athletes who have excelled in their sport, significantly contributing to their team’s success and achieving individual athletic accolades and honours.  

The Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites St. Catharines Conference Centre will host this year’s Varsity Awards Gala which is set to start at 6 p.m. 

The nominees for Male Athlete of the Year (listed in alphabetical order) are as follows:

Devin Cooney – Men’s Volleyball  

Cooney, a third year outside hitter, delivered another sensational season for the Badgers and was rewarded for his efforts with his first career Ontario University Athletics (OUA) First Team All-Star selection. 

The Kanata, ON product finished second in the province in multiple offensive categories including kills (293), kills per set (3.81), points (340.5) and points per set (4.4). Both his kills per set and points per set put him among the best hitters in the country, placing fourth in those respective categories. 

On Nov. 16, 2024, against the Guelph Gryphons, Cooney registered a career-high 37.5 points in a single game to tie a modern-day program record. He registered double-digit points in 17 of the Badgers’ 20 regular season contests.

Yazdan Farokhizad – Men’s Wrestling 

Farokhizad capped off a medal-filled season with a Wrestling Canada Lutte U SPORTS Invitational Championships gold in the 90-kilgogram division and First Team All-Canadian designation. During the national championships, the native of Tehran, Iran went undefeated, highlighted by a commanding 10-0 technical fall victory over Alberta’s Thomas Rousseau in the final. 

At the OUA Championships, Farokhizad bested all challengers without surrendering a single point in the 90kg weight class to claim his first-career provincial gold medal and OUA First Team All-Star certificate. His performance helped the men’s wresting team win their ninth title in a row and 26th overall. 

During the university season, the second-year wrestler did not drop a single contested match as he captured an additional four gold medals and one silver. 

Stephen Harris – Rowing 

Harris is a former two-time Brock University Male Athlete of the Year (2021-22, 2022-23) who continues to add to his list of accolades. This past season, he was named the Canadian University Rowing Championships (CURCs) Male Athlete of the Year for the third straight time. 

At the CURCs, the Guelph, ON product won the men’s lightweight single to capture the fifth national gold medal of his career. He also added a bronze in the men’s eight event to help the Badgers capture second for the third consecutive year. 

The Master of Business Economics student also took home a gold medal in the men’s lightweight single as well as a silver in the men’s eight at the provincial regatta, giving Harris a total of seven first place finishes in his OUA Championships career.

Michael Ivanov – Track and Field 

Ivanov is a three-time Male Athlete of the Year nominee who set Brock track and field program history this past season by winning a national gold medal for the first time. His 5.12-metre performance in the pole vault helped him capture first as he finished a clear 32 centimetres ahead of the next-best finisher. 

The margin of victory for the local Niagara Falls product was even greater at the OUA Championships as he placed 35 cm in front of second place to win the second provincial gold medal of his career. 

By winning both events, Ivanov received accolades as a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian and OUA First Team All-Star. 

During the season, Ivanov won an additional six gold medals in the pole vault event and was undefeated in Canadian university competition.

The Male Athlete of the Year award along with other major award winners will be announced at the 2024-25 Brock Badgers Awards Gala on Wednesday, March 26. The event can be seen online on YouTube starting at 6 p.m.