Blooming Prairie High School senior Mitchell Oswald was named a 2018 Scholar Athlete by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation recently.

Oswald and the other winners, chosen for academic excellence, leadership and community involvement, will be recognized at the 11th Annual Minnesota Football Honors on April 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“Mitchell’s success in school and athletics does not happen by chance,” Awesome Blossoms coach Chad Gimbel said. “It happens because of the hard work, focus and dedication he has towards his goals. As good of a student and athlete Mitchell is, he is an even better person. It starts with his personality. He has a great sense of humor, bringing smiles to everybody he touches on a daily basis. If you ever meet Mitchell you would quickly notice he is not your typical teenage kid. He doesn’t get wrapped up in social media. His phone is not his most prized possession. He doesn’t care about social status. He is true to himself. He cares about family, friends and his faith. The highest praise I can give is that I truly hope my boys grow up to have the morals, respect, consideration and work ethic of Mitchell Oswald.”

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 that game, he was also the Awesome Blossoms’ captain and earned AP All-State Second Team honors. Oswald was a standout wrestler for Blooming Prairie, winning two section titles.

For his combined athletic and academic efforts, Oswald earned Academic All-State recognition. He ranks first in his class and has multiple Academic All-District honors in football and wrestling and was inducted into the Minnesota Honor Society. Oswald plans to study crops and soils science with agriculture engineering technology at UW-River Falls.

Oswald’s 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.