Mastrud, 13 Wildcats Earn Academic Honors

Mastrud, a business administration major with a 3.81 grade-point average, was one of 10 players nationally to earn Academic All-America honors in consecutive seasons and became the seventh player in school history to garner multiple Academic All-America accolades.

A three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 and All-District honoree, Mastrud was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team prior to his senior campaign, is a semifinalist for the 2009 William V. Campbell Trophy (formerly known as the Draddy Trophy) and a finalist for the 2009 ARA Sportsmanship Award.

This season, Mastrud caught 21 passes for 233 yards to rank fourth in the Big 12 among tight ends in each category. The Beaverton, Ore., product, who played in 48 of a possible 49 games during his career at K-State, is second among tight ends in school history with 1,201 career receiving yards, while he recorded 106 receptions to rank 11th in school history but tops among tight ends.

The 10 first team Academic All-Big 12 honorees for K-State tied the 2000 squad for the most in school history as Mastrud, Corey Adams (business administration), Ryan Doerr (business administration), Jeffrey Fitzgerald (sociology), Gabe Gantz (agricultural technology management), Tysyn Hartman (finance), Alex Hrebec (business administration), Collin Klein (finance), Kevin Rohleder (business administration) and Adrian Stryker (accounting) have all maintained a 3.20 or better GPA.

Second team selections Logan Dold (social science), Payton Kirk (secondary education) and Matt Wykes (marketing and management) all maintained a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

K-State, which currently leads the Big 12 in graduation rate for all student-athletes according to four-class average, had the fourth-most first team all-academic selections among Big 12 schools. Mastrud earned league honors for the third straight season, while Adams, Hartman and Hrebec became two-time honorees.