2020-21 Football
2-O Chuck Maxwell WR
2-D Evan Annis LB
3 Robert Washington RB
4 Matt Ross WR
5-O Ben Nimz QB
5-D Alex Carrillo DB
6 Ollie Reese WR
7-O Trey Stablein WR
7-D Akil Mitchell DB
8 Jadarius Horton DB
9 Cam Livingston WR
10-O Solomon Davis WR
10-D Jaxon Peifer LB
11-O Gabe Lawson QB
11-D Henry Hebda DB
12 Jordan Bingham WR
13 Braden Contreras WR
14-O Chris Duncan QB
14-D Marvin Rushing DB
15 Doug Haugh RB
16 Noah Carlton K
17 Deuce Larose WR
18 David Hebda DB
19-S Patrick Oliva P/K
19-O Tytus Ragle WR
20 Austin Chilton DB
21 Anthony Sciarroni DB
22 DJ Hutcherson DB
24 Trey Psota LB
25 Riley Allison RB
26 Brian Robinson RB
27 Luke Patterson WR
28 Gavin Twigg LB
29 Kohlton Sherman DB
30 Darius Lane RB
31 Keyon Turner DB
32-O Henry Helgeson WR
32-D Jacob Cleaver DB
33-D Josh Gholston DB
33-S Ben Niesner K/P
34 Cade Bishop DL
35 Donovan Earles DB
36 Trey Hayes DB
37 Malek Williams DB
38 Dominic Backes DB
39 Drew Engle RB
40 Josh Vargas DB
41 Dayvonne Greenwood LB
43 Jake Marinelli DL
44 Preston Ruud LB
45 Trejuan Purty DL
46 Austin Martins DL
47 Mason Maple K
48 Holden Hodge WR
49 Carter Puckett LS
51 David Drs OL
52 Adam Mekky LB
53 Dalton Guthrie LB
54 Trent Miller DL
56 Fletcher Christian DL
57 Liam O'Connell TE
58-D James Doerer LB
58-S Mitchell Knotek K
59 Chase Folkestad DE
60 Tyler Eberhart OL
61 Jon Kelley OL
62 Carter Woody OL
63 Daniel Heinrich OL
66 Josh Leathers OL
67 Joe Monahan OL
68 Aaron Byrd OL
69 Stone Dixon OL
70 Jeremiah Orr OL
72 Drew Parrish OL
73 Danny Files OL
74 George Trojanek DL
75 Jon Stone OL
76 Nolan Garrard OL
77 Brendan O'Doherty OL
78 Keith Szczepanski OL
79 Andrew Covert OL
81 Josh Becton WR
82 Alex Conlin TE
83 Connor Milks WR
84 Brett Bittner TE
86 Seth Broussard TE
87-O Garner Jones WR
87-S Brian Bartholomew K
88 Diego Del Castillo WR
89 Jake Vickers TE
90 Sam Hafner DE
91 Tommy Palmer DL
92 Drew Gedrys DL
93 Kurt Kessen DL
94 Nathan Orlandini DL
96 Cameron Germain DL
98 Nicholas Price Jr. DL
99 Evan Satoski DL
Full Roster
Ben Niesner

#33-S Ben Niesner

Pos. K/P
Ht. 6-0
Wt. 190
Yr. Sr.
Hometown Black Diamond, Wash.
High School (Prev. School) Tahoma (Portland State)

Fall 2021 All-PFL First Team
Fall 2021 FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team
Fall 2021 Phil Steele All-PFL First Team
Fall 2021 FCS Bowl Selection 
Fall 2021 FCS Bowl Special Teams MVP
Fall 2021 Tropical Bowl USA Selection
Fall 2021 Phil Steele All-PFL First Team
Fall 2021 2x PFL Special Teams Player of the Week (Oct. 9, Oct. 30)
Fall 2021 FCS Punter of the Year Preseason Watch List 
Spring 2021 PFL co-Special Teams Player of the Year
Spring 2021 All-PFL First Team
Spring 2021 FCS National Punter of the Year Semifinalist 
Spring 2021 Academic All-PFL First Team
Spring 2021 2x PFL Special Teams Player of the Week (March 21, April 4)
2x STATS FCS Perform National Player of the Week Honorable Mention (April 5, 2021; Oct. 9, 2021)
Spring 2021 Team Special Teams Player of the Year
2019 All-PFL Honorable Mention 

Fall 2021: Earned All-PFL First Team status for a second consecutive season... Named to Phil Steele All-PFL First Team... One of 50 players nationally named to the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team... Selected to compete in the FCS Bowl and Tropical Bowl USA... Named to the FCS National Punter of the Year Preseason Watch List... Named the Special Teams MVP of the FCS Bowl after booting six punts for 301 yards, averaging 50.2 yards per punt including a long of 63. Six of his attempts in the FCS all-star showcase went for 47 yards or more and three of them traveled at least 50 yards... Averaged 43.2 yards per punt, a mark that ranked third in single-season program history, led the PFL and ranked 16th nationally in FCS.... Played in all 11 games and totaled 56 punts for 2,421 yards while booting 13 punts 50+ yards and pinning the opponent inside the 20 on 21 occasions... Had a 17-yard run on Sept. 11 at North Dakota State... Averaged a season-high 53.2 yards per punt including a season-long 63 yarder on Oct. 9 at St. Thomas, a performance that would earn him STATS FCS National Player of the Week honorable mention and PFL Special Teams Player of the Week... Again received PFL Special Teams Player of the Week recognition after averaging 48.7 yards per punt including a season-high-tying 63 yarder on Oct. 30 at San Diego.

Spring 2021: Appeared in all six games as the team’s starting punter… Finished with a season punting average of 43.6 yards per punt, tying Greg Wood’s 2010 program and PFL record for single-season punting average… When taken to the next decimal point, Wood’s mark of 43.63 is slightly ahead of Niesner’s 43.58… Was named the co-PFL Special Teams Player of the Year, the program’s first since the honor was created in 2015… One of 10 semifinalists for FCS National Punter of the Year… Earned All-PFL First Team, Academic All-PFL First Team and Team Special Teams Player of the Year… Led the PFL in punting average and ranked eighth nationally in punting average in Division-I FCS… Booted 31 punts totaling 1,351 yards including seven punts of 50+ yards and nine that were pinned inside the 20… Averaged 40 or more yards per punt in each of the final five games of the season… Named the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week and team Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 45.0 yards per punt on eight punts including a long of 54 in the March 20 game vs. Drake… Named co-PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on April 4 after averaging 47.8 yards per punt over six punts including a long of 58 in the Week 4 win at Drake, also earning team Special Teams Player of the Week recognition… His 360 yards punted on March 20 vs. Drake were the most by any PFL player in a game all season… Averaged 44.4 yards per punt over five punts, pinning a pair inside the 20 and booting a long of 56 on April 10 at Morehead State… Had a career-long 72 yarder and averaged 42.7 yards per punt in the April 17 season finale vs. San Diego. That marked only the fifth punt of 72 yards or more in FCS this season, tied for the fourth-longest punt in the nation… Named to the PFL Academic Honor Roll… Received Valparaiso University Presidential Academic Honors…. Earned National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society membership.

2019: Received All-PFL Honorable Mention recognition... Averaged 39.4 yards per punt over 65 punts, the best mark by a Valpo punter with at least 20 attempts since Greg Wood’s 40.9 yard average in 2012… Ranked fifth in the league in yards per punt… Knocked 12 punts inside the 20 and had six punts of 50 yards or longer… Booted a 56-yard punt in his home debut on Sept. 14 vs. Central Connecticut, the longest Valpo punt since the second game of the 2016 season, when Alex Ng struck a 59 yarder at Sacred Heart… Had 10 punts for 404 yards on Sept. 21 at Truman State, becoming the 17th punter in the FCS nation with a 10-punt game in 2019 and the first Valpo player to hit double figures in single-game punts since 2013… Ran for 10 yards and a first down on a fake punt play on Oct. 5 at Drake. Booted a pair of punts for 50+ yards in that game against the Bulldogs… Had two punts of greater than 50 yards on Oct. 19 at San Diego… Averaged 40.7 yards per punt on six punts, including a punt of 48 yards and two downed inside the 20 on Nov. 9 vs. Morehead State… Member of PFL Honor Roll.

Portland State (2017-2018): Earned the starting role at punter… Averaged 38.5 yards per punt while booting rugby-style kicks… Big Sky All-Academic Team performer… Member of the Dean’s List.

High School: Competed in two years of varsity basketball… Was the National Honor Society Vice President and graduated with honors… Did not play high school football and didn’t start punting until after his senior year of high school, when he began teaching himself how to punt.

Personal: Majoring in exercise science… Birthday is Feb. 18… Son of Kenneth and Corrin Niesner… Has one brother, Austin… Hobbies/interests include video games and working out… Started school at Oregon State in 2016-17 until transferring to Portland State, where he beat out a scholarship punter and became the starter for the final game of 2017 and all of 2018… Before his first year at Portland State in 2017, hadn’t played football in his life except a brief stint of youth football.