| Mike Fessler |
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 | Class:
Senior
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| Hometown:
Tigard, Ore.
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| High School:
East Mecklenburg High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
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| Height / Weight:
5-11 / 213
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| Position:
Punter
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| Birthdate:
09/15/1977
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| Experience:
3V
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PERSONAL--Born 9/15/77 in Metairie, LA...son of Robert and Susan Fessler...his father is director of project controls for an engineering construction firm...he has a sister, Laura, 26, and a brother, David, 16...he is in the College of Home Economics and Education and is a housing and interiors major...his biggest athletic thrill as a prep athlete was being selected first-team all-state by the Associated Press...selected OSU because, "the opportunity to play Pac-10 football and baseball at the same school."
OSU--(2000--Senior)--Mike enters his senior season having started 33 straight games as a punter and having played in 34 games...he has kicked the ball 206 times in his OSU career for 8,226 yards, an average of 39.9 per kick, with a long kick of 70 yards against Oregon in 1998, which ranks as the third longest punt in Beaver history...he averaged 41.0 as a freshman in 1997, 39.1 as a sophomore and 39.7 as a junior in 1999...with his 206 punts, he has had 29 touchbacks, 25 fair catches 42 kicks stop inside the 20-yard line...he has had five punts blocked in his career...Mike’s 41.0 average as a freshman ranks as the eighth best single-season mark in OSU history...if Mike maintains his current career average of 39.9, he would rank sixth in career punting at OSU, based on average per punt...his 206 career punts amounts to the second most attempted by a Beaver...the all-time high is 280 by Tim Kollas (1990-93)...Mike was very limited during spring drills as he was involved in a minor car accident in January which left him suffering from low back pains during spring drills and he was not an active participant in spring drills until the final week...because of his back injury, Mike was only able to work participate in the bench press during winter conditioning and he had a best of 295.
OSU--(1999--Junior)--Mike entered spring drills as the Beavers' only punter and he will also go into fall camp as OSU's only punter...Mike has started 21 straight games as the Beavers' punter...his career average on 131 punts is 40.0, including 15 touchbacks, 20 fair catch punts and 21 kicked inside the 20 yard line...he has had three punts blocked in his career and his career long is 70 yards, third longest in OSU history...in the weight room, Mike has produced personal bests of 200 pounds in the hang clean, 310 in the bench press, 400 in the back squat and 250 in the incline...his vertical jump best is 28.00 inches.
(1998--Sophomore)--Mike entered spring drills as the incumbent starting punter, however, he was not as consistent punting during spring drills as he was the year before, causing some concern to the Beaver coaches...he has a strong leg but needed to step it up in fall camp in order to remain in the No. 1 punting role as Jose Cortez provided plenty of competition...Mike was OSU's starting punter in all 11 games and has started 21 straight games...Mike kicked the ball 62 times for an average of 39.1, with a long of 70 yards, 8 touchbacks and 10 kicks that landed inside the 20 yard line...had one punt blocked...finished eighth in the Pac-10 in punting...his 70 yard punt vs. Oregon was the third longest punt in OSU history...had eight punts over 50 yards during the season...had a 60-yard punt in the Stanford game from his own end zone that was fumbled by Cardinal return man Troy Walters and recovered by OSU, a play that led to the Beavers' winning touchdown...Mike was selected as the Pac-10 Conference special teams Player of the Week following the Oregon game.
(1997-Redshirt Freshman)--Mike, a walk-on, earned the No. 1 punting job during spring drills and was sharing punting duties with Jose Cortez during fall camp and wound up as OSU's starting punter in 10 games as Cortez was the Beavers' starting punter in the season opener...Mike had 69 punts during the season and averaged 41.0 per punt...he had 34 punts over 40 yards, 11 over 50 yards and a long punt of 60 yards...he ranked eighth in the Pac-10 in punting.
(1996-Freshman)--Mike spent the 1996 season as a walk-on punter...he did not participate in any games.
EAST MECKLENBURG HIGH SCHOOL, Charlotte, N.C. (1993-95)--Mike attended East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, a 4A school in the Southwestern League...earned three letters in football as a punter, linebacker and fullback under Coach Bill Dulin...also earned three letters in baseball under Coach Ron Coltrane as a catcher, pitcher and first baseman....as a senior, Mike earned first-team all-conference (Southwestern), first-team all-State (Associated Press), and first-team all-Mecklenburg County as a punter...earned all-conference honors in baseball and was captain of his team as a senior.
