Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/944007
T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 8 >> WHAT HE DID A four-year starter on both sides of the ball, Kuntz helped lead Camp Hill High to a 33-14 record over the course of his career. The Lions won two District III championships and ad- vanced to the PIAA Class A quarter=nals his sophomore season. Kuntz racked up an impressive 2,705 career receiving yards and 26 touchdowns, averaging 18.4 yards per reception. He was also a force in track and =eld, as he won 10 dis- trict championships while participating in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, as well as the 4x400- and 4x100-meter re- lays. He won the PIAA Class AA cham- pionship in the 110-meter hurdles as a junior. An early enrollee at Penn State, Kuntz is taking classes and will partici- pate in spring practice beginning next month. WHAT HE WON Kuntz's junior season was derailed due to a foot fracture, but he earned =rst-team All-State honors at tight end following his sophomore and senior sea- sons. He also earned sec- ond-team All-Conference honors his freshman year and was a =rst-team All- Conference choice as a sophomore and senior. A member of the Rivals250, Kuntz is ranked No. 122 in the nation. He's the fourth-ranked tight end and the third-ranked player in Pennsylvania. WHERE HE VISITED Kuntz earned 17 scholarship o>ers before committing to Penn State on Nov. 26, 2016. Alabama, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pitt and Virginia Tech were the schools that he had previously visited. He was in Beaver Stadium for every home game during the 2017 season and took his o?- cial visit to Penn State on the weekend of Dec. 8-10. With his lanky frame and sure hands, it's hard to avoid comparisons to recently graduated All-Big Ten tight end Mike Gesicki. James Franklin certainly sees the resemblance. "They're both big-bodied guys who can really run," he said. "Kuntz, at 6-7, 215 pounds or so, came to camp and ran in the 4.6s for us, which is really impressive." QUOTABLE Kuntz: "Academics played a big role in my =nal decision. I know that Penn State o>ers a great education, so that was always something that I knew I could fall back on with Penn State. I re- ally like that." PHIL'S TAKE As Franklin has noted, Kuntz is very reminiscent of Gesicki. He's even taller than his predecessor at 6-foot-7, but Kuntz is very athletic, having excelled in both track and bas- ketball. With a 38-inch vertical leap and a lanky frame that could likely handle another 25 or 30 pounds, he has the po- tential to =t into Penn State's o>ense just as Gesicki did. Indeed, I expect his role to be almost identical to the one that Gesicki =lled so well the past two seasons. Kuntz will bring an extra di- mension to Penn State's o>ense by ver- tically stretching the =eld from the tight end position. I believe that he has a real chance to play as a freshman. ■ IN GOOD HANDS Kuntz was a standout re- ceiver for Camp Hill, totaling 2,705 yards and 26 touchdowns during his All-State career. Photo by Bill Anderson Penn State Athletics ZACK KUNTZ RIVALS ★★★★ | POS TE | HT 6-7 | WT 230 | HOME Camp Hill, Pa. | SCHOOL Camp Hill