Fesler, Wesley E.
Basketball, Football
b. June 29, 1908, Youngstown, OH
d. July 30, 1989
Grantland Rice put Fesler at end on the all-time All-American team he named in 1939 and football's first historian, Parke Davis, wrote in 1931 that Fesler was "the most versatile end the game has ever known."
Fesler was a three-time All-American at Ohio State, from 1928 through 1930, and he was also on the Helms Athletic Foundation All-American basketball team in 1931.
He also coached both sports. His greatest success was in four seasons at Ohio State, 1947 through 1950, where his football teams won 21 games while losing 13 and tying 3. The 1949 squad won the Big Ten championship and beat California 17-14 in the Rose Bowl.
Fesler coached football at Wesleyan in 1942, at Pittsburgh in 1946, and at Minnesota from 1951 through 1953. He also coached basketball at Harvard from 1933-34 through 1940-41 and at Princeton in 1944-45. His overall record was 18-36-8 in football and 39-55 in basketball.