Colorado University Athletics
Zach Grossnickle Biography
| ZACH GROSSNICKLE 6-3, 180, PK/P Denver, Colo. (East) |
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HIGH SCHOOL?He was ranked as the top placekicker in the western region, and second overall in the nation, by Ray Guy’s prokicker.com (which also pegged him as the No. 2 combo kicker/punter nationally). Scout.com ranked him as the No. 10 kicker in the nation, while Rivals.com ranked him as the No. 21 kicker in the USA (the top kicker from Colorado and the No. 18 player overall in the state). He earned first-team All-Colorado and All-State (5A) honors by the Denver Post (he was second-team All-State by the Rocky Mountain News) as a senior, when he also garnered first-team All-Central Metro League accolades (formerly known as the Denver Prep League for football; the league name did not change for other sports). As a senior, he made 12-of-13 field goals, his only miss from 58 yards that had the distance but was wide right; the 12 makes totaled exactly 500 yards (in order: 38, 37, 43, 53, 39, 44, 42, 35, 33, 47, 39, 50), or 41.7 yards per. His season long was 53 yards against Aurora Central (a Denver East school record, breaking the mark by a yard he had set as a junior) and was 10-of-10 inside of 50 yards. He connected on 35-of-37 PAT kicks, his only two misses being blocked, thus he scored 70 points for the year, second most by a 5A kicker in the state. He averaged 40 yards per punt (39 kicks), with 10 over 50 yards and nine inside-the-20, while 92 percent of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. As a junior, he made 5-of-7 field goals, a long of 52, and 23-of-24 PAT kicks (the miss was blocked), scoring 39 points overall; his 52-yard kick was East’s only points in its second round playoff loss to Thomas Jefferson. He averaged 39 yards for 12 punts with a long of 56 (three inside-the-20), and 80 percent of his kickoffs were touchbacks. Top games his senior year included a 49-30 win over Highlands Ranch, when he made three field goals, saw nine of 10 kickoffs go for touchbacks, and punted twice for a 41.5 average; on one of those punts he made the tackle and forced a fumble in the process. When he kicked his 53-yard field goal against Aurora Central, it opened the scoring of an eventual 47-0 win after a scoreless first quarter, in which he had put both his punts inside-the-20. He was East’s special teams most valuable player both years he lettered, and he never missed a field goal under 40 yards in his career. Under coach Ron Woolfork (the former Buff linebacker, 1990-93), East was 7-4 his senior year and 8-3 his junior season, advancing to the second round of the state playoffs both years. He also lettered twice in soccer, leading East to the state and DPL championships as a senior (in fact, football and soccer are both fall sports in Colorado, so he played the pair simultaneously). He scored 13 goals and had seven assists, ratcheting up his offense when it counted most, scoring three times each in East’s first two playoff wins over Sand Creek and Liberty. He was a first-team All-DPL performer his junior and senior years, garnering second-team All-State honors in the latter.
ACADEMICS?He is interested in either architectural or biological engineering as his major at Colorado. A National Honor Society member in high school, he was enrolled in nothing but AP classes the spring semester of his senior year.
PERSONAL?He was born September 9, 1990 (09-09-90) in Denver. Hobbies include playing soccer, longboarding and hanging out with friends. His father (Reid) lettered in swimming at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. His older brother, Max, attends CU and is a sophomore majoring in physics. In the Ray Guy Academy (kicking camp) in Colorado Springs in July 2008, Zach drilled several kicks well over 50 yards, including a long of 61 (which set a camp record). He won regional and semifinal competitions in the National Kicking Combine Series the same summer.