Meet The Gazette's 2017 Male Athlete of the Year finalists

Today, The Gazette reveals its 2017 finalists for its high school Athlete of the Year awards.

The awards were inspired by the longtime sportswriting career of Jack Ogden.

Athletes of the Year are chosen based on exception athletic and academic achievement. This is the 35th year of the awards, which began in 1983.

Read on to learn more about this year's male finalists.

Winners will be announced next Sunday.

A four-year state qualifier in wrestling, he placed fifth at 220 pounds as a sophomore, then won back-to-back Class 1A titles at 285.

Qualified for the Drake Relays and the state track and field meet in the shot put three times each.

Won the Class 2A title in May and was a Drake runner-up twice. His effort of 65 feet, 2 inches ranks No. 4 all-time in Iowa.

A three-year, two-way starter on the line for a football program that won state titles in 2014 and 2015 and was the runner-up last fall, and a two-time first-team all-stater.

Will play football at the University of Northern Iowa.

A four-year state participant in track and field, he was a key member on the 2015 team that won a Class 3A state championship.

Captured titles in the 400 meters (2016 and 2017), the 400-meter hurdles (2016) and the 1,600-meter relay (2015), along with three runner-up finishes.

Concluded his career with 10 varsity letters — four in track, three apiece in basketball and football.

He was a first-team all-district performer in football as a senior, and a first-team all-conference basketball player.

Future plans are undecided.

The Gatorade state football player of the year after catching 85 passes for 1,272 yards and 14 touchdowns as the Trojans advanced to the Class 4A championship game.

An all-American in swimming, he won eight state championships. Seven of them came in relays, then he capped his career with his first individual title in February, a 20.72-effort in the 50-yard freestyle.

West won two state team titles in the pool during his career.

Hit .426 last season for a state runner-up baseball team.

Will play football at the University of Michigan.

Played on two Class 4A state-championship basketball teams, as a freshman and as a senior.

He ranks second on the West all-time scoring chart with 1,379 career points. He is No. 4 in rebounds (391) and tops in assists (451).

As a senior, he averaged 19.6 points per game and shot 52 percent from the floor. A two-time 4A first-team all-stater.

Also a first-team all-stater in baseball, leading West to a runner-up finish in 2016.

He hit .407 and led the team in home runs (eight) and runs (42).

Will play baseball and basketball at the University of Iowa.

One of the best throwers in state track and field history, he ranks No. 2 all-time in the shot put (67 feet, 0 inches) and No. 5 in the discus (195-2).

Five-time state champion in track and field.

Won the Class 2A state wrestling title at 285 pounds this season.

He was 98-56 in his career on the mat, improving each year from 10-27 as a freshman to 31-17, 36-9, then 21-3 as a senior.

Three-time all-district and two-time all-state in football as an offensive lineman. Two-year letterwinner in baseball.

Will play football at the University of Iowa.