Michael Fessler -- a former wrestler for 16 years who now has a bachelor's degree in Biblical and Theological Studies from Bethel University -- takes on the subject in his brand-new 103-page book, "Faith and Wrestling: How the Role of the a Wrestler Mirrors the Christian Life", published by CrossBooks.
Meet Mike Fessler
Fessler was born in Texas, but grew up in Missouri. He was raised in what he described as a wrestling family, first taking up the sport himself at age 6. All four Fessler brothers were Missouri high school state championship finalists; Mike won his state title for Oak Park High School in Kansas City as a freshman.
Seeking a new start, the Fessler family moved to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area the summer after Mike won his Missouri championship; his father was employed by Northwest Airlines, which, before its merger with Delta, was headquartered in the Twin Cities. Mike enrolled at Apple Valley High School, one of the leading prep programs in the nation. He lost at the Minnesota high school state tournament his sophomore and junior year before winning the state title as a senior.
Mike Fessler"I was recruited by Cal State Bakersfield, met the coaches at the NCAAs," Fessler told InterMat. "I never visited the campus. In fact, the first time I saw the school was when I flew out there to enroll and start classes."
When asked about his career with the Roadrunners, Fessler responded, "I started for a bit. The regular starter broke his hand, and I earned his sport on the team. I won my first two matches, then never won another match in college."
"I struggled with injuries," said Fessler. "I lacked confidence."
"The only reason I picked the school was to wrestle."
"I was unhappy and in a bad place," Fessler continued. "I moved back to Minnesota, spent some time in community college. Then I started at Bethel."
"My faith had been a part of me since I became a wrestler. I became a Christian at age 6."
"When I stopped being a wrestler, I lost sight of who I was."
"I started reading the Bible more, started studying theology more."
"I thought the ministry would be something I could do," Fessler disclosed. "My intention was to possibly enter a pastoral ministry."
The genesis of the book
"I was not only engaged in religious study at Bethel, but also had reconnected with wrestling as a fan," Fessler said. "Wrestling and faith (as subjects) collided in my head. My experience as a wrestler and my faith became even more interconnected, an idea that I could not keep from swirling in my mind."
The faith-and-wrestling bond grew even stronger in Fessler's mind, thanks to some outside sources.
"I was watching the NCAAs," according to Fessler. "I couldn't help but notice that, in the finals interviews, about half of the winners specifically gave thanks to God."
"The next day, I did an online search -- "faith and wrestling" -- and found your article," referring to this writer's August 2009 InterMat article titled "Christian faith serves wrestlers on and off the mat."
Michael Fessler won a Minnesota state championship as a senior at Apple Valley High School in 2004"The article was a springboard," said Fessler. "I thought, 'Readers might want to hear what I have to say.'"
"I also looked at Flowrestling videos. So many wrestlers (interviewed) mentioned their faith. It was almost like I was getting knocked in the head about doing a book."
"I continued to have things swirling around in my head about faith and wrestling. I could no longer think of them separately."
Taking the first steps
Fessler started work on his book, first writing the introduction that poses a question about the link between wrestling and faith. Here's the opening paragraph:
"Faith and wrestling -- what's the relationship between the two? Rather than an inquiry that has people aspiring for answers regarding the relevance or functionality of this relationship, the connection between faith and wrestling becomes increasingly evident as one looks for it. Faith and wrestling have the tendency to contain somewhat of a mutual interplay, in that wrestling appears to be a physical mirroring of what so many of us combat with spiritually. And a great number of wrestlers have found it pertinent to express their faith alongside the competitive arena."
Moving beyond the introduction was far from easy. In fact, it's fair to say that Fessler wrestled with the writing process. "My biggest difficulty was writing in sections," the former mat champ revealed.
Fessler faced other challenges in bringing the book to life that forced him to put the project aside more than once.
"I would shelve the book, thinking some who accomplished more in wrestling should be writing it, not a wrestling dropout," said Fessler.
Then he came to a significant realization: "I believe God is using me to express a message."
"Look at the Bible. It's full of people who failed, but they were the ones God used. That realization became an encouraging thing to me."
That said, Fessler continued to wrestle with issues in completing the book.
"Almost a year ago, 90% of the manuscript was done, but I shelved it again."
Then he remembered a video interview that gave him new energy, and a renewed sense of purpose.
"Years ago, I saw a Flowrestling interview with Jack Spates, telling how he was stepping down as (University of) Oklahoma coach to go into ministry," said Fessler.
"I thought, 'If I could send him some of my manuscript, perhaps he could comment on it.'"
"I attached a segment of my book in an email to OU coach (Mark) Cody, asking him to please forward it to Spates."
"A couple weeks later, I got a random phone call from a number I didn't recognize," Fessler continued. "The caller left a voicemail. It was Jack Spates."
"We talked about the manuscript. He loved it. We did a Skype interview, then I followed up by sending him a copy of the entire manuscript. He then forwarded it to Gene Davis and Rob Bronson. They reviewed it, and helped me get it published." (Davis was a 1976 Olympic bronze medalist who is now director of wrestling for Athletes in Action; Bronson is Athletes in Action's International Wrestling Team Coordinator.)
"I hadn't even met any of these guys," said Fessler, seeming to marvel at how things came together. "Once Jack got back to me, the process accelerated."
"I now talk to Jack on a regular basis."
The purpose of the book
When asked what result he would like from the book, Mike Fessler said, "To offer a unique perspective on what it means to be a Christian. Christian faith is often portrayed as being for weaklings. Christians are actually warriors."
Fessler's biography in "Faith and Wrestling" has two lines that sum up the book simply and directly: "After stepping away from wrestling competitively, Michael engrossed himself in the world of theology and began to see his faith in a whole new light. To him, every Christian is a 'wrestler'; and wrestling itself contains a unique perspective in regard to the Christian faith."
"I want wrestlers to use their faith to wrestle with more passion, to get more enjoyment out of the sport."
"Wrestling is a gift to employ, not just for its own glory. It's for a greater purpose."
"I wrote the book to be actually easy to read. That said, there are heavy issues within the book," Fessler admitted. "However, it is not a purely academic book. I've read plenty of those for my theological classes. Instead, I wrote this to have a practical element, to help wrestlers gain practical aspects of how they can apply their faith to their wrestling, and how their sport can impact their faith."
Throughout "Faith and Wrestling", Mike Fessler brings together the Bible and the sport of wrestling to meld the two elements together in ways that speak to wrestlers, coaches, their families, and to the Christian community.
In the introduction, Fessler sets the stage for the rest of the book: "Faith is something that we live out through a certain set of beliefs. If truly part of one's life, it should have a propensity to direct one's decisions, both big and small, and deeply influence how one approaches life. Wrestling, on the other hand, is a sport. Yet anyone who has experienced it knows it's so much more than that. It directly impacts other areas of one's life, whether related to diet, social life, sleep regimen, etc. Furthermore, it's a character builder. There's the saying, 'Anybody can beat anybody on a given day,' and given the talent and devotion of wrestlers, I find this to be true today now more than ever ... Even legends fall. And we know this to be true because we've seen it. From Dan Gable to Cael Sanderson, Buvaisar Saitiev to Alexander Karelin, every legend of wrestling has experienced the heavy weight of defeat. And it's how they've dealt with that defeat that speaks to their level of character."
To further illustrate the faith-wrestling connection, here's a sample from Chapter 6 titled "Wrestling and the Human Experience": "In this chapter, we have recognized that wrestling is a part of the human experience. And as I have tried to show (and will continue to show) throughout this book, in relation to the proposed concepts, the sport of wrestling serves as physical imagery. Just as wrestling is a part of the human experience, so is the sport of wrestling a mini-life. It's sort of a life within a life. The ups and downs, wins and losses, mental lapses, growth and toughness, triumphs and setbacks, and, yes, even temptations, all take place within a single wrestling season. Moreover, the experiences all take place within a single wrestling season seem to move along a stream of time that allows no room for stagnancy. The season will continue to move along with or without you. In some respects, a wrestling season is like life at hyper-speed. There's a faster pace at play. And if you don't keep up, you'll find yourself lost, confused and altogether left behind ..."
"Faith and Wrestling: How the Role of a Wrestler Mirrors the Christian Life" provides a thoughtful, thought-provoking analysis of the interconnection between Christian faith and world's oldest and greatest sport that will speak to wrestlers, coaches, families and wrestling fans as they continue their own unique faith journeys.
"Faith and Wrestling" by Michael Fessler, published by CrossBooks, is available in both traditional printed book format as well as an e-book at major online book retailers such as Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, as well directly from the publisher at CrossBooks.com. And, be sure to check out the brief video below about Fessler and his book.
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