NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

Goal No. 8: ENTHUSIASM.

#8 Ty Zentner

Redshirt Senior | 6-2 | 200 lbs. | Topeka, Kansas

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Punter/Kicker
• Previous College: Butler Community College
• Projection: Starter
• Status: On Scholarship

Tyler Jeffrey Zentner (b. June 7, 1998) is a former community college punter and kicker who transferred in from Butler Community College. He has two years left to play two seasons.

Zentner served as a kickoff specialist in four games in 2019 as he retained his redshirt year.

He held a 60.3-yard average, had 14 touchbacks on 18 kickoffs and set a career high with a 63-yard average against TCU with four touchbacks, the latter being a mark he tied at Texas.

Zentner served as the primary kickoff man in 2020 and split punting duties with Jack Blumer throughout all 10 games. He punted 28 times for a 40.8-yard average, with 14 punts landing inside the opponents’ 20-yard line and none of his attempts going for touchbacks.

Zentner ranked third in the Big 12 in punting average, kicked off 47 times for a 60.1-yard average and 29 touchbacks, and had a season-high average of 49.5 yards against Texas.

He boomed a season-long punt of 65 yards at TCU, a game in which he also had a season-high three punts land inside the Horned Frogs’ 20-yard line, and had a career-high six touchbacks on kickoffs against both Oklahoma and Kansas.

Prior to arriving at K-State, Zentner played two seasons under head coach Tim Schaffner at Butler, where he was rated the best junior college kicker in the Class of 2019 by ESPN, while he was ranked second according to 247Sports.

He earned first-team all-conference honors as a punter in 2018, helping the Grizzlies to earn a 8-4 record that included a win in the Midwest Classic Bowl, and held a 39.5-yard average on 64 punts as a sophomore, landing 28 inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Zentner had a season-best 48.3-yard average against Ellsworth, which included a 70-yarder that came on the heels of a 45-yard average at Fort Scott.

He also was 9 of 16 on field-goal attempts and 31 of 37 on extra-point attempts in 2018.

Zentner connected on all four field goals in a three-point win at Dodge City.

He punted 14 times and was 1 of 3 on field-goal attempts as a freshman in 2017, during which he was a teammate of former Wildcats Parker Bruce, Chris Dugan and Justin Eichman, plus current KSU teammates Dawson Delforge, Noah Johnson and Taiten Winkel.

Zentner played football during his senior season under head coach Jason Swift at Shawnee Heights High School, where he earned honorable mention all-state honors from The Topeka Capital-Journal and The Wichita Eagle as a senior in 2016.

He also lettered three years in soccer (he was a soccer goalkeeper for the Thunderbirds, earning two all-state honors) and two years in basketball (he was a starter on the basketball team that captured the Class 5A state championship his senior year, when he was named to the all-state tournament team), and also prepped with former defensive end Wyatt Hubert.

Zentner picked K-State over interest from Michigan State. His primary recruiter was former special teams coordinator Sean Snyder and he is majoring in physical/health education, earning first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors following the COVID-plagued 2020 season.