Liberty Athletics is excited to welcome FOUR new head coaches for the 2026-2027 school year!
Ross Whitson (Boys Wrestling) was hired in the Spring of 2026 to take over the Boys Wrestling program, while the other three (Mike Day, G Tennis; Leah Sax, G Lacrosse; Dr. Ibrahim Almahaireh, Swim) were all hired in the late Summer and early Fall.
Read more about this exception group below!
Ross Whitson | Boys Wrestling
Coach Whitson has an extensive coaching background in wrestling. He is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations. He later received his Master of Education also from Baldwin-Wallace with an emphasis in education/business administration and student development. Following graduation, he began his coaching career in the Olmsted Falls City School District.
Coach Whitson coached both the high school and middle school wrestling for eleven years at Olmsted Falls before coming to Olentangy Schools as an Intervention Aide and Head Wrestling and Football Coach at Hyatts Middle School. Coach Whitson has the spent the past four years at Liberty High School in the same classroom capacity while also serving as an assistant wrestling and baseball coach for the Patriots.
Mike Day | Girls Tennis
Mike is a lifelong tennis player who competed on the varsity tennis team at Grosse Pointe South High School in Michigan. During a summer in college, he ran a summer tennis camp for young players, helping develop both their skills and love for the game. An avid long-distance runner and cyclist, Michael has a strong interest in sport-specific strength and conditioning programs and how they can help athletes improve performance while reducing the risk of injury.
Mike lives in Lewis Center with his wife, a teacher at Liberty Tree Elementary, and their two children. A lifelong public servant, he has taught economics and mathematics at the community college level, worked in audit and federal law enforcement, and currently serves the City of Delaware.
Leah Sax | Girls Lacrosse
Leah returns to the program after joining last season as an assistant coach. She is a graduate of Ohio State University where she played lacrosse. During her time there, Sax was named a two-time team captain, was the recipient of the B1G Sportsmanship Award, and a five-time OSU Scholar-Athlete. She ranked second and third on the team in points her last two years of college, respectively.
Leah graduated with a bachelor's in Health Sciences (2024) and a master's in Social work (2025) and currently is a licensed social worker. She has coached youth lacrosse for 10 years, beginning in her hometown of Philadelphia, PA and continues to work with True Lacrosse for the last four year in Columbus.
Dr. Ibrahim Almahaireh | Swim
A former Jordanian national team assistant coach, Dr. Almahaireh brings a rare combination of world-class sport science and deep coaching experience to the pool deck. Ibrahim comes to us after most recently spending the past four seasons on deck with the swimming program at The Ohio State University while completing his Ph.D. in Kinesiology from Ohio State.
Prior to that, he spent six years as a head coach in Amman, Jordan, where he was twice named Coach of the Year and developed multiple national-level swimmers. He spent time completing his master's degree in Exercise Physiology from Loughborough University, the United Kingdom's premier sport science institution, where he trained within its elite swimming environment during the Tokyo Olympic cycle. He also holds an international coaching diploma from the Hungarian University of Physical Education in Budapest.
Beyond the pool, Dr. Almahaireh is a university professor of exercise physiology. His vision for Patriot swimming is simple: a team culture where student-athletes train smart, race fearlessly, support each other, and love the sport.
