Miners' Gronewold to play in Cactus Bowl all-star game

Ashton Gronewold

Ashton Gronewold's senior season -- and career, for that matter -- have landed him a spot on the roster for the Valero Cactus Bowl, an NCAA Division II all-star game scheduled to take place Jan. 11, 2008 in Kingsville, Texas.

A two-time All-America selection (the 2007 teams will be announced in the near future) and all-region pick from the past season for the Miner football team, Gronewold is one of xx wide receivers representing the West squad on the game that will be viewed by numerous scouts from the National Football League and other professional leagues.

A regional finalist for the 2007 Harlon Hill Award, Gronewold was selected as an all-purpose player after an outstanding senior year as both a wide receiver and kick returner.

Gronewold currently ranks third in NCAA Division II in all-purpose yards as he finished with a school record 2,250 for the year, thanks in large part to his 87 receptions for 1,009 yards and his average of 28 yards per kickoff return as he had 953 yards in that category.

Gronewold was named as the Great Lakes Football Conference's receiver of the year for the second straight season, but was beaten out in the voting for the league's top offensive player by Central State running back Derrick Moss, the GLFC's rushing leader with 1,296 yards.

During the season, he broke the NCAA single-game record with 295 yards in kickoff returns and became the seventh player in Division II history to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in the same game when he brought two scores back for scores against Tiffin.

Gronewold is the holder of nearly every receiving, kickoff return and all-purpose yardage records in school history. He had totals of 278 catches, 3,708 yards and 53 touchdowns. His 58 career touchdowns also included five returns for scores. He also had totals of 1,828 kickoff return yards and 5,992 all-purpose yards which were both UMR records.

The other wide receivers on the West team include Abilene Christian's Jerale Badon, North Dakota's Weston Dressler, Colorado School of Mines' Derek Dressler, Southwest Baptist's Nick Smart and Western New Mexico's Rod Windsor.

Gronewold is the only player from a Great Lakes Football Conference school on either roster for the game that will take place in Javelina Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville.