CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Montana Tech football team's 2026 opponents have seen firsthand how effective Orediggers placekicker Casey Kautzman has been in his senior campaign.
Wednesday, his performance garnered the Butte native some national recognition.
Kautzman was one of 41 college football players nationwide to earn a spot on the Fred Mitchell Award's 2026 Midseason Watch List, the Chicago-based nonprofit announced. The Fred Mitchell Award honors the top placekicker in all of non-Football Bowl Subdivision college football — NCAA Division I FCS, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA.
He was one just five NAIA placekickers to earn the honor and one of only two players in Montana to do so.
The reigning Frontier Conference special teams player of the week, Kautzman is 10-for-12 on field-goal attempts through seven games this season and 32-of-34 converting points-after-touchdowns. Also the punter for the No. 5-ranked Orediggers, Kautzman is averaging 37.6 yards-per-punt with just one touchback in 14 attempts so far in 2026.
Kautzman was a first-team All-Frontier Conference East Division honoree at kicker in 2025, his first season with the Orediggers after transferring from NCAA Division I Montana State. He was a second-team pick at punter and earned first-team Academic All-America honors from College Sports Communicators.
He currently leads the NAIA with 62 kicking points, and his 10 made field goals rank tied for second in the country.
The award is named for Fred Mitchell, a longtime Chicago Tribune sports columnist who enjoyed a distinguished career as one of the nation's first prominent small-college placekicking specialists at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
While the midseason watch list recognizes excellence on the football field, community service remains an essential component of the Fred Mitchell Award. At the conclusion of the regular season, the selection committee will evaluate each kicker's community and civic service participation alongside their on-field accomplishments.
The recipient of the 2026 Fred Mitchell Award will be announced in December.
Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.
###
