Thanks, didn't realize that was a pro-only property. However, using the selectedRow property doesn't appear to actually update the selection. It visually updates the grid to appear as if it is selected, but if you call
$qgrid.pqGrid("selection",{type:'row', method:'getSelection'});
The array length is zero even though all the rows now visually look as if they are selected.
What's even more odd, once all the rows have their selectedRow property set to true, from that point forward clicking any row doesn't visually update the grid. Every row in the grid visually appears to be selected permanently (until page refresh). Even calling the pqgrid removeAll selection method doesn't fix it.