COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University senior offensive lineman Ben Bartch (Dayton, Ore./Blanchet Catholic) was named the recipient of the 2020 Fr. Wilfred Theisen Student-Athlete of the Year Award, sponsored by the J-Club, on Tuesday, May 26. 

Theisen '52 taught physics at SJU for 47 years and was named professor emeritus at his retirement in 2005. He is a former SJU faculty representative to the MIAC and continues as treasurer of the J-Club. He received the J-Club Distinguished Service Award in 2019.

Bartch (left, with head coach Gary Fasching '01) became the 10th Johnnie to be drafted in the NFL, and the first since the Minnesota Vikings selected defensive lineman Kurt Wachtler '74 in 1974 (15th round), when he was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars April 25 with the 10th pick of the fourth round (No. 116 overall). He was the 21st student-athlete to be drafted into the NFL from NCAA Division III since 1990 and the 52nd overall with ties to the MIAC.

Bartch was the lone NCAA Division III attendee at the 2020 Reese's Senior Bowl Jan. 25 in Mobile, Ala. Although he did not play in the game, Bartch received rave reviews during the three days of practices leading up to the event. He attended the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine in late February, but did not participate in the drills or measurements due to the injury suffered during the final Senior Bowl practice.

A D3football.com first-team and Associated Press second-team All-American in 2019, Bartch earned the MIAC Mike Stam Award as the conference's top defensive or offensive lineman and started all 14 games at left tackle last fall. 

He made 27 straight starts at the position since he switched from tight end during the 2018 preseason. Through a combination of hard work in the weight room and repeated consumption of a now-famous (or infamous) protein shake recipe (ingredients include seven scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, quick grits, peanut butter, bananas and Gatorade), Bartch gained over 50 pounds and started on the line's left side immediately.

Bartch played tight end his first two seasons as a Johnnie and caught four passes for 43 yards (10.8 avg.) and a touchdown in eight games in 2017. His athleticism and size (6-foot-6, 308 pounds) attracted attention from all 32 NFL teams to Collegeville last fall.

Off the field, Bartch was honored during halftime of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 as a member of the 22-man Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. The psychology major was named to the 2020 National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame Hampshire Honor Society (minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA) in April.

Bartch studied abroad in South Africa during spring 2019, where he served as a computer lab tutor for children ages kindergarten-seventh grade at Seyisi Primary School (New Brighton, South Africa). He organized and implemented daily plans to teach the children how to use computers and tutored them as they used applications for writing, reading, mathematics and learning English.

In Fall 2018, Bartch volunteered with Catholic Charities' Meals on Wheels in nearby St. Joseph and served as an after-school tutor for a sixth-grade student at All Saints Academy in St. Joseph during the 2017-18 academic year. 

Bartch formally accepted the 2020 Fr. Wilfred Theisen Award on June 3 in Collegeville (right). Pictured, from L to R: co-defensive coordinator Brandon Novak '01, SJU executive director of university relations Adam Herbst '99, Bartch, athletic director Bob Alpers '82 and Fasching.
 
At SJU, Bartch helped raise money for a pair of SJU football's initiatives, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Tackle Cancer. He also served as treasurer for the Johnnies' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which holds an annual Kids Fighting Hunger meal-packing event every March. The 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though $8,000 of the funds raised were donated to Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army and the United Way. The remainder will be rolled over to use for the 2021 Kids Fighting Hunger event.

He volunteered at Newman, the Roman Catholic parish at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Ecumenical Religious Center, in 2017 and 2018 when visiting his grandmother during breaks in the academic year. 

In spring 2017, Bartch volunteered at the St. Joseph Community Kitchen and at the All Saints Academy's fish fry. Bartch also volunteers for the Order of Saint Benedict sisters as a cross holder and Eucharistic minister at the Sacred Heart Chapel in St. Joseph.

Past Fr. Wilfred Theisen Student-Athlete of the Year Award Recipients
2013 - Dennis Granath '13 (Golf)
2014 - Michael Coborn '14 (Soccer)
2015 - J.T. Ford '15 (Football)
2016 - Alex Niederloh '16 (Soccer)/Sam Sura '16 (Football)
2017 - Mack Farley '17 (Golf)/Carter Hanson '17 (Football)
2018 - Sam Olson '18 (Golf)
2019 - Will Gillach '19 (Football)/David Stokman '18 (Basketball)
2020 - Ben Bartch '20 (Football)