BP standout picked for national honor

The Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation announced last week that Blooming Prairie high School student Mitchell Oswald was named a 2018 scholar athlete.  
Oswald and the other winners chosen by for academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement, will be recognized at the 11th annual Minnesota football honors coming up later this spring. 
The Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization. Its mission is to promote and develop the power of amateur football in developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive spirit, and academic excellence in Minnesota’s young people. 
The Minnesota chapter recognizes legendary football icons, college football Hall of Famers, and Minnesota’s top high school and college football scholar athletes.
As Blossoms’ coach Chad Gimbel remarked, “This honor doesn’t happen by chance. It happens because of the hard work, the focus, and the dedication he applies to reach his goals. As good of a student and athlete Mitchell is, he is an even better person. It starts with his personality, as he has a great sense of humor that brings smiles to everyone he touches on a daily basis.
“He is not your typical teenager, as he doesn’t get wrapped up in social media, his phone is not his most prized possession, and he doesn’t care about social status,” Gimbel said. “The highest praise I can give is that I truly hope my boys grow up to have the morals, respect, consideration for others, and work ethic that Mitchell Oswald does,” he added.
Oswald is a two-time all district lineman who was selected to the Minnesota All-Star Showcase on the defensive side of the ball. Chosen as the South’s captain in the game, he was also the Awesome Blossoms’ captain and earned an AP All-State second team honors.  Oswald was a standout wrestler for Blooming Prairie, winning two section titles.
His community involvement includes mission trips with his church youth group, a toy drive and Farm Safety days through FFA, Habitat for Humanity home repair, and more. 
Oswald earned Academic All-State recognition, ranks first in his class, and has multiple Academic All-District honors in football and wrestling. He was also inducted into the Minnesota Honor society.  He plans to attend UW at River Falls and study crops and soils science with agriculture engineering technology.
The Minnesota Chapter of the National Football foundation will host the annual Football Honors on Sunday, April 29, at U.S. Bank Stadium at 4 p.m. The event is open to the public.