2015 Recipients of Ed Widseth and Crooskton Chamber Agassiz Bowl Scholarships Recognized

CROOKSTON, Minn.- The University of Minnesota Crookston Athletic Department recognized the recipients of the Ed Widseth and Crookston Chamber of Commerce Agassiz Bowl Scholarships Sat., Oct. 17 at a breakfast on the UMC campus and at half-time of the UMC and Northern State football game.

The Ed Widseth Scholarship recognizes those qualities epitomized by Ed Widseth – outstanding athletic, leadership and academic achievements.  A scholarship of $4,000 is awarded, with preference, to an incoming freshman or a college transfer football player and is renewable for up to four years.  A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required to receive this distinguished award.

Ed Widseth, a Gonvick, Minn., native began his football career here in the fall of 1929 at the Northwest School of Agriculture graduating in 1932. He went on to star for the Minnesota Gophers and was a Co-Captain of the 1936 National Championship Team. Widseth was actually a candidate for the Heisman Award and was on Lindy’s All-Century Team for Defensive Line. He was the first player drafted by the New York Giants in 1937, played five years in the National Football League (NFL), and was the NFL MVP in 1938. A member of the National Collegiate Hall of Fame, Widseth also was selected in 1991 as a charter member of the Gopher’s Men’s Sports Hall of Fame and as one of the 20 greatest Gopher athletes ever.

The 2015 award winners are Rodney Stewart (Fr., WR, Fort Worth, Texas/Health Science), De’Shaun Diggs (Fr., TE, Haslet, Texas/Software Engineering), Aeric Berner (Fr., DB, Aniwa, Wis./Health Science), Will Cross (Fr., LB, Turtle Lake, Wis./Business Management) and Duke Smith (Fr., OL, Roanoke, Texas/Business)

For more information about the Ed Widseth Scholarship Endowment Fund, contact Garret Kollin (
Development Officer) at (218) 281-8436 or Dan Svedarsky at (218) 281-8129.

The Crookston Chamber Agassiz Bowl Scholarship is a $600 scholarship presented to a student-athlete preferably from the local area. The Crookston Chamber Agribusiness sponsors this scholarship and is working hard to promote agriculture and strengthen the very important relationship with the University of Minnesota, Crookston. The 2015 recipient of the Crookston Chamber Agassiz Bowl Scholarship is Sully Breckheimer (Fr., LB, Luverne, N.D./Agronomy)

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.