On a Hockey Scholarship

by Mike McPartlin, Headmaster, Bridgedale Academy

We are proud to congratulate Bridgedale Academy grad Davis Burnside as he begins his freshman campaign with the Ohio State University.

Davis joins Cam Thiesing, older brother of Bridgedale grad Therien Thiesing, on this year's OSU squad.

Davis hails from LaGrange, IL, and attended Bridgedale while competing for the Chicago Mission '03 birth year teams. He is one of just a handful of Bridgedale student-athletes to win Bridgedale's prestigious Ductu per Agone ("Leadership through Athletics") award for the entire school year more than once, accomplishing the feat in both the 7th and 8th grades.

For the last three seasons, Davis played in the United States Hockey League. He had stints with the Tri-City Storm and Des Moines before finishing up with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, helping them to a 2nd place regular season finish in the USHL's Eastern Conference last season.

Davis also served as a captain for USA Hockey's Under-17 Select Team at the 2019 Five Nations Tournament in Fussen, Germany, winning a Silver Medal.

Davis made his verbal commitment to play his D1 hockey at Ohio State while still just a freshman in high school. The next year he was tendered by the USHL Tri-City Storm leading up to Phase 1 of the USHL draft, going 15th overall by a first-round tender. Although not selected in the 2022 NHL Draft, he'll have a year of NCAA D1 play under his belt by the time of the 2023 Draft and should be highly regarded.

(Click to see Bridgedale's college commitments.)

"Davis is a fast skating, skilled and poised player who plays a 200-foot game," said Bridgedale Headmaster Mike McPartlin. "He scored the first goal of the season for OSU in his very first game this season and he's helped them to an impressive 4-1-1 start, including a Big 10 sweep of rival Wisconsin.

"His leadership qualities will continue to come to the forefront for the Buckeyes," added McPartlin, "and I expect he'll be drafted as an over-ager in next summer's NHL Draft, just as Bridgedale grads Josh Lopina and Zak Karpa were in the last two NHL drafts."

"We're so happy for Davis," added Christina Di Pauli, Bridgedale's Academic Dean. "He was a Bridgedale student for the ages, truly personifying the high-achieving student-athlete we want all our students to become."

Congratulations to Davis (and his parents Brad and Tracy) on his scholarship to the Ohio State University.

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Bridgedale Academy is now accepting transfers for the 2022-23 School Year. 

Bridgedale Academy is an all-boys school for athletes, a prep school for serious youth hockey players. We offer grades 5 through 8 and in addition to our winning combination of sports and academics, we focus on leadership training. We use a classical academic curriculum and our graduates go on to attend some of the most prestigious high schools in the country, including Lake Forest Academy, Culver Military Academy, Shattuck St. Mary’s, Northwood School, Benet Academy, Fenwick Prep, St. Ignatius Prep, Marmion Academy, St. Francis, Latin School and Providence Catholic. We pride ourselves on being the top youth hockey prep school in the nation. Twenty-three (23) of our former or current students have already received their NCAA Division 1 college hockey commitments. Seven (7) of our former students have competed for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Two (2) of our grads have already signed their initial NHL contracts. Several are now playing NCAA D1 college hockey. Others are now playing D3 college hockey. More still are playing junior hockey, including in the OHL, the USHL and the NAHL.